Design and Architecture

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Capturing LA’s water, Day of the Dead Oct 30, 2018

Show notes

For the past century, LA has pushed rainwater and polluted urban runoff out to the ocean. Now it's trying to capture and clean that water in infrastructure that is also an attractive public space. Measure W on next Tuesday's ballot raises taxes for this vision, but others disagree. And while Day of the Dead has become a full-blown LA celebration, some Latinos are anxious it’s becoming just another commercial holiday.

XPrize-winning team sources fresh water from the air Oct 24, 2018

Show notes

Measure W hopes to capture water from downpours. How about simply pulling it from the air? A local design team has just won the prestigious Water Abundance Xprize competition, with a retrofitted shipping container that promises to draw H2O from the atmosphere. Ninety-eight teams entered the competition and LA's Skywater/Skysource Alliance, led by architect David Hertz with inventor Rich Groden, won.

Voting rights, art and the market, Public Sculpture Archive Oct 23, 2018

Show notes

DnA takes on art: in politics, money and public space. Interiors photographer William Abranowicz has a show of images marking the fight for voting rights at the Matt Blacke gallery, one of several LA museums and galleries that are encouraging voter participation. How did art become an “asset class”? Nathaniel Kahn explores the high-end art market in “The Price of Everything.” And two women try and awaken interest in LA public sculpture, by posing on it, in slinky outfits and with a great sense of humor.

Remembering Palm Springs fashion icon Jonathan Skow, aka Mr. Turk Oct 17, 2018

Show notes

Fashion designer Jonathan Skow, aka Mr. Turk, died Friday in Los Angeles at the age of 55. His flagship store is at the heart of Palm Springs’ design district, and he and his wife Trina Turk are key figures in the design and architecture community. We remember him and his contribution to the city he loved.

Scooter wars, gifting houses, puppets on the move Oct 16, 2018

Show notes

What we learned about the future of mobility at our “Flipping the Bird” design jam at IndieCade this past weekend. Buy a condo in a Bjarke Ingels-designed tower, gift a house to a slum dweller? A Vancouver group applies the TOMS Shoes one-to-one gifting model -- to houses. And the Bob Baker Marionette Theater has been dazzling people with hand-made puppets for 55 years. Will it keep the magic as it leaves its home?

Rethinking mobility with “Flipping the Bird!” design jam Oct 10, 2018

Show notes

Love ‘em or hate ‘em, dockless e-scooters have disrupted the cities they land in. Can "game thinking" help us think more creatively, and less reactively, about their potential? That’s the question at the heart of an event this Saturday at noon called "Flipping the Bird!" It’s a collaboration between KCRW, DnA and IndieCade, the international festival of independent games.

Flipping the Bird, co-buying a house Oct 09, 2018

Show notes

Love ‘em or hate ‘em, dockless e-scooters have upended life in some parts of the Southland. Can "game thinking" help us think more creatively and less reactively about how to integrate disruptive new mobility options into cities? And, do you want to buy a house but can't afford it? How about buying and living in a property with friends? DnA meets a group that tried co-ownership -- and loved it, despite some problematic Target lights.

As storm clouds gather, LA County prepares Oct 03, 2018

Show notes

It’s raining in Los Angeles. That’s news in a place that’s been dry for several months. And historically, when it rains in LA, the water whooshes out into the ocean as fast as possible. But local leaders are changing how they think about rain. Now they want to catch it, keep it and store it for future use on less rainy days, and do all this in a way that is attractive to the public and makes our flood control systems destinations in themselves.

Ai Weiwei, social infrastructure, marketing luxury real estate Oct 02, 2018

Show notes

The Chinese artist Ai Weiwei has three shows in LA. His new work “Life Cycle” at Marciano Art Foundation explores the state of refugees. He talks to DnA about exile, his roots as an “architect” and why he enjoys visiting casinos. A sociologist argues that only “social infrastructure” will save us from environmental disaster and civic meltdown. And a real estate marketer explains why buzz matters as much as sales in the world of celebrity development.

Historic Lincoln Heights church competes for preservation funds Sep 26, 2018

Show notes

A historic church in Lincoln Heights is asking for help. The Church of the Epiphany was built well over a century ago, and it played a role in LA’s Chicano movement. Now it’s competing to win preservation funding.

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