The Aquarium of the Pacific's new $53 million wing "Pacific Visions" aims to alert visitors to climate change, and what to do about it, through high-tech entertainment. How are visitors reacting? And neighbors in West LA are fighting over a proposal to turn a grassy field into a multi-use, synthetic grass sports field. The project is meant to serve as a memorial for a 12-year-old boy who died last year. But it's erupted into a turf war that involves class, access to public space, and a fight ove...
May 28, 2019•30 min
In sunkissed Los Angeles shade is a luxury. Reporter Sam Bloch explains why, and what needs to change for Mayor Eric Garcetti to plant 90,000 trees. The exhibition “Contact High” goes back to the early years of hip hop. Graffiti and graphic artist Cey Adams talks about a career shaped by that era. Jason Wu made a splash in fashion very young. Now he passes on lessons learned to students at Otis College of Art and Design, through a love for 1950s-era uniforms.
May 21, 2019•30 min
Los Angeles-Long Beach has once again been cited the nation’s capital for dirty air, just as LA Mayor Eric Garcetti has made cleaning the air a central plank of his green new deal. We'll look at why the Southland’s air is dirty despite cleaner cars, and why automating the ports may not be the solution. And a classic modernist house is in distress and may be looking for a buyer. We tour the Lovell Health House with the owners and preservationists eager to restore it.
May 14, 2019•30 min
A bill in Sacramento called SB50 would override local zoning rules to legalize small and mid-size apartment buildings around public transit and job centers. How will the bill affect LA's historic residential neighborhoods? And fashion designer Rudi Gernreich used clothing as a medium for his progressive views on sex and gender. A new show at the Skirball Cultural Center tells his story, and shows the outlandish outfits he created.
May 08, 2019•30 min
The Wing is a new “women-centric” private club and co-working space in West Hollywood that signals femininity and feminism through design. Is the result a little bit too perfect? And what would you put inside a time capsule that would reflect Los Angeles today? The Fort Moore Pioneer Memorial near downtown LA is getting a renovation, along with a new 2019 time capsule that will include submissions from the public.
Apr 30, 2019•30 min
Just two days after the shocking fire at the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris, the French government announced an international competition to redesign the spire. But how and what exactly will they rebuild? During the week of Passover, we’ll hear about the exodus of Bauhaus-inspired architects and their impact on the Holy Land. And the best view of a stage is typically front of house. Not for photographer Klaus Frahm, who captures what theater stages look like behind the decorations.
Apr 23, 2019•30 min
DnA slaps on the sunscreen and heads to Coachella to meet the artists, designers and architects who have brought the polo fields to life with colorful large-scale art installations that pop on Instagram while creating a sense of place. Architect Francis Kéré talks about a life journey that’s taken him from a tiny village in Burkina Faso, Africa, to center stage at Coachella. Young local artist Sofia Enríquez shares her joy at designing her first installation there.
Apr 16, 2019•29 min
LACMA's proposed museum extension made a big leap forward this week, amidst heated arguments for and against the project. LA County Supervisors voted Tuesday to release $117.5 million towards the $650 million cost of Peter Zumthor's replacement building. LACMA director Michael Govan makes the case for an adventurous design for a creative city. And music lovers heading to Coachella will see one of the desert’s brighter blooms en route: Sterling Ruby’s vivid orange Specter. Ruby tells DnA why oran...
Apr 09, 2019•30 min
Fans of the rapper Nipsey Hussle are remembering his music as well as his contributions to South LA, where he was raised. The 33-year-old was shot and killed Sunday outside The Marathon store he owned. While many rappers leave their neighborhoods when they find success, Hussle was an entrepreneur and an activist who stuck around and invested in his community, even having a hand in creating the logo for Destination Crenshaw. On this episode of DnA on ATC, Frances Anderton tells Eric Roy about Hus...
Apr 04, 2019•5 min
Over 100 years ago “nature boys” and TB sufferers came to Southern California seeking its healthful sun. We hear how the region’s curative powers birthed experimental architecture and a massive “wellness” industry. And 25 years after Kurt Cobain’s death, we explore his unlikely impact on fashion.
Apr 02, 2019•30 min
There are big changes coming to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. LACMA took a step closer this past week to getting rid of four old buildings and constructing a brand-new building by a renowned Swiss architect. On this episode of DnA on ATC, Frances Anderton tells Steve Chiotakis what the project’s reduced footprint means for LACMA’s so-called “expansion.”
Mar 28, 2019•5 min
A candidate's political logo may not get your vote, but it's meant to get your attention. We take a deep dive into the design of campaign logos and look at how the many Democratic candidates are trying to distinguish themselves through color, font and letter size. And, the Bauhaus turns 100. How did a maverick German art school change the world?
Mar 26, 2019•30 min
If you have driven by the intersection of Sunset and Western over the last few years you may have noticed a yellow-wrapped, half-finished big box. It’s been dormant for so long the yellow has faded to almost white. This is the Target store that was under construction and then had to stop - because the company didn’t get the right permits for the site. On this episode of DnA on ATC, Frances Anderton tells Larry Perel that it looks like the abandoned Target may finally be completed. But what happe...
Mar 20, 2019•5 min
Almost every residential development in downtown aims to attract pet owners, and doggie businesses outnumber those aimed at children. We’ll hear how dogs helped bring DTLA to life and are now impacting the design of buildings. Art from the black power era comes to the Broad, bringing Kool Aid-colored paintings, assemblage, Byzantine-styled portraiture, raised fists, and a room devoted to Betye Saar. The curators tell DnA their powerful exhibition is aimed at filling the “lacunae” in people’s und...
Mar 19, 2019•30 min
If you’ve ever had to search for a place to rent, you know the phrase: “no pets allowed.” This can be a dealbreaker, especially if you’re homeless and would rather stay on the street than give up your beloved companion. This week LA County supervisors took steps to help. But isn’t a ban on pets hard on all renters? On this episode of DnA on ATC, Frances Anderton talks with Steve Chiotakis about how pets create a sense of home.
Mar 13, 2019•5 min
MOCA’s new director Klaus Biesenbach plans to restore “luminosity” -- and, maybe, water -- to the Grand Avenue building, designed by Pritzker Prize-winning Arata Isozaki. Also, if you own an abandoned building or a vacant lot in Los Angeles, the city wants to talk to you about putting supportive housing there. And, an abandoned big box store in the heart of Hollywood has developed sentience. It posts to Facebook, and tweets. We’ll talk to "Target Husk."
Mar 12, 2019•30 min
The Pritzker Prize for 2019 has been awarded to Arata Isozaki, the 87-year-old Japanese architect with a career ranging from brutalist libraries to an inflatable purple concert hall. His most famous building is LA’s MOCA, or Museum of Contemporary Art, on Grand Avenue. However, the 1986 structure atop Bunker Hill, a collage of geometric forms buried mostly underground, has never been a huge hit with the public. But MOCA’s new director Klaus Biesenbach sees poetry in the design -- likening the co...
Mar 06, 2019•5 min
Your smartphone is addictive. Do you need to “Marie Kondo” your apps, put down the phone altogether, or use it as a “drug” dispensary? DnA takes a tour of hidden LA bars that ban phones, talks with a computer scientist who recommends “digital minimalism,” and meets an app entrepreneur who wants to relieve anxiety with “digital drugs.”
Mar 05, 2019•30 min
In a bid to raise funds for mass transit improvement, LA’s Metro board will vote tomorrow to study a range of strategies that include congestion pricing and taxing ride-hailing services. But what Metro really needs to do, many Angelenos say, is make the mass transit experience better through added security, more reliable service and urban vitality around the stations. Frances Anderton talks to KCRW’s Steve Chiotakis about Metro’s plans, on DnA on ATC.
Feb 27, 2019•5 min
Angelenos hate traffic but aren't flocking to mass transit. Will congestion pricing and fees on ride-hailing services change their minds? Metro’s board is about to vote on a package of revenue-raising, congestion-reducing measures, and listeners tell DnA what would entice them onto buses and trains. Frank Gehry turns 90 on Thursday. But that’s no reason to stop working. We look back, and forward, at his career, in a conversation peppered with anecdotes and zingers.
Feb 26, 2019•30 min
High-speed rail is going off the tracks. Now state Republicans are floating the idea of an autobahn through the Central Valley. A lawmaker is proposing new lanes through the Central Valley without speed limits, arguing that it would reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Frances Anderton talks to KCRW’s Steve Chiotakis about the prospects for German-style high speed driving, on DnA on ATC.
Feb 20, 2019•5 min
Would Christian Bale be nominated for his portrayal of Dick Cheney without help from prosthetics? Will 3D printed crowns beat out bejeweled crowns? DnA is focusing on two crafts: hair and make-up and costume -- following a drama over the proposed, then reversed, plan to edit four of the crafts categories at Sunday's Oscar telecast. Also, a look at why the red carpet spotlight this year should fall on the men.
Feb 19, 2019•30 min
Gov. Gavin Newsom is pumping the brakes on California’s high speed rail project. Or is he? His comments in his first State of the State address have supporters and opponents of the bullet train questioning the project’s future.v
Feb 13, 2019•5 min
The Coachella Valley comes into bloom with Desert X and Modernism Week. But some of the Desert X artworks raise questions about development in Palm Springs. And the art fair Frieze LA opens with a nod to its Hollywood clientele on the backlot at Paramount. What will ticket holders see in the “New York streets”? How about LA’s “Homegrown Art Fair” Art Los Angeles Contemporary and other art fairs competing for eyeballs?
Feb 12, 2019•30 min
As Hollywood awards season revs up, the LA art scene is also in full throttle. On DnA on ATC , Frances Anderton talks to All Things Considered host Steve Chiotakis about the launch of Desert X, a site-specific art biennial in the Coachella Valley, the debut of Frieze LA, the Southland’s first outing for the prestigious global art fair, and why art fairs and awards events coincide.
Feb 07, 2019•6 min
"Velvet Buzzsaw” is a new thriller that takes on the contemporary art world with blood, gore and parody. DnA talks to writer/director Dan Gilroy as well as the real-life LA artist who made the paintings that kill. And in 2012 some furnishings designed by architects Frank Lloyd Wright and Rudolph Schindler disappeared from a warehouse at USC. Now the theft has come to light. What happened?
Feb 05, 2019•30 min
The LA Rams are going all the way this Sunday, taking on the New England Patriots for Super Bowl 53. Fans held a send-off rally this past weekend at the construction site for the new Rams and Chargers stadium in Inglewood. So how’s that massive building project coming along?
Jan 30, 2019•6 min
In South LA’s Crenshaw District, a 1.3 mile public art project promises to honor a neighborhood’s history -- and stand against the threat of gentrification, as the train rolls in. As LA’s awards season gets underway so does its art season. The LA Times’ Deborah Vankin explains a packed calendar of art fairs and how they mesh with Tinseltown, as well as a changing and expanding museum scene.
Jan 29, 2019•30 min
California’s new governor Gavin Newsom wants to build a lot more housing in the state: as many as half a million new houses a year. But who’s going to build all that housing? A new report from a labor think tank says the state is short about 200,000 new construction workers to meet those goals.
Jan 23, 2019•5 min
The solution to Los Angeles traffic may be an unpopular one: charging people for using the roads in core districts at peak times. If Metro approves congestion pricing, it’d make Los Angeles the first city in the US to put a price tag on road use. Plus, Monocle is closing its New York bureau and opening one at Culver City’s hip shopping center Platform. Monocle founder Tyler Brûlé explains why LA matters and why brick-and-mortar retail is not dead (and neither is print).
Jan 22, 2019•30 min
