Design and Architecture

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Tunnels, planes, and art and architecture in the desert Nov 07, 2017

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Los Angeles has tunnel vision. DnA tours the Downtown Regional Connector, as Elon Musk digs his own tunnel. United Airlines flies its last Boeing 747 flight. DnA meets nostalgic pilots and hears about what's coming next for airline passengers. Plus, Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA is not over. DnA takes a road trip to see three desert shows.

LA's historic Lincoln Heights Jail to be repurposed Nov 02, 2017

Show notes

The five-story Lincoln Heights Jail opened in 1931 and has housed everyone from Al Capone to people arrested during the Zoot Suit Riots and the Watts Riots. It was finally decommissioned in 1965, but its long and sordid story is about to get a new chapter, with a planned redevelopment that will turn it into a bustling residential and commercial destination.

Border wall, Renzo Piano, densifying the dead Oct 31, 2017

Show notes

The prototypes for the new US-Mexican border wall are now built, but will President Trump's dream of a big, beautiful wall materialize? Or will it be just a beautiful patch? Architect Renzo Piano takes a cinematic approach to designing the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. And as cities change, so too do their cemeteries, with suburban lawns giving way to tall and dense mausoleums.

The land deal that brought the Dodgers to LA Oct 26, 2017

Show notes

Everyone's excited about the Dodgers once again being in the World Series. But the Dodgers may have never left Brooklyn 60 years ago if it wasn't for a deal hatched between city officials and a real estate businessman to turn Chavez Ravine into a baseball field.

The birth of Dodger Stadium, 'Design, Bitches' Oct 24, 2017

Show notes

As the World Series kicks off at Dodger Stadium, we'll look at how the construction of the stadium at Chavez Ravine symbolized the birth of modern Los Angeles. And we meet the two women architects behind the firm "Design, Bitches." They’re currently converting the Highland Park Masonic Temple into a buzz-worthy events space.

Cities finalize bids for Amazon's HQ2 Oct 19, 2017

Show notes

Thursday is the deadline for cities near and far to submit bids to internet superstore Amazon for its second global headquarters. Amazon says its new HQ2 will be an economic engine for any city, generating around 50,000 jobs. That has cities in Southern California, including Los Angeles, San Diego, Irvine and Santa Ana licking their chops and offering up incentives in an effort to score the headquarters.

How Amazon changed Seattle, Lawrence Halprin Oct 17, 2017

Show notes

The deadline is this week for cities to bid to host Amazon's second headquarters, or HQ2. What can Seattle teach those cities about becoming Amazon's company town? And the late landscape architect Lawrence Halprin saw gardens through the lens of dance. Los Angeles right now is paying tribute to the visionary designer of modernist parks and plazas.

Can a linkage fee solve LA's housing woes? Oct 12, 2017

Show notes

It's now up to the full, LA City Council to decide whether or not to add an additional fee on developers looking to build in the city. It's being called a “linkage fee” and the hope is that it will bring in as much as $90 million a year to help build more affordable housing. A council committee signed off on the idea this week.

Guns and Hollywood, Institute of Mentalphysics Oct 10, 2017

Show notes

You might think Hollywood and the NRA are at opposite ends of the political spectrum. But recent mass shootings have brought renewed focus to the glamorization of guns in the movies. And a music festival in Joshua Tree this weekend takes place in a setting known for its spiritual qualities as well as its architecture. We hear about the Institute of Mentalphysics.

Another step back for road diet plan Oct 05, 2017

Show notes

Traffic in Southern California keeps getting worse. Elected officials have commissioned new light rail lines, additional bike paths, and have even added more freeway lanes. There’s also another concept they’re playing with: road diets. One community is fighting back.

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