Design and Architecture

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Big pot embraces high design Nov 03, 2016

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Voters in California will decide next week whether to legalize recreational marijuana. Meanwhile, the fast-growing cannabis industry is turning to high-end product design and sleek new dispensaries to attract new customers and clean up its image.

Designing dispensaries, the southland's growing pains Nov 01, 2016

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How does the booming marijuana industry shed its illicit image and attract new customers? By turning to high-end product design and sleek new dispensaries. And Santa Monica residents will vote next week on Measure LV. Will it slow growth or create new problems? The initiative is being closely watched as a bellwether for development in the Southland.

Frank Gehry strips down on Sunset Oct 27, 2016

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A Frank Gehry-designed project on Sunset Boulevard is moving forward, despite neighborhood opposition.

Designing your life, ghostland Oct 25, 2016

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Can you "ideate" and "prototype" your way to a better, more fulfilling life? That’s the premise of the book Designing Your Life, though some designers question the use of "design thinking" as a means of career counselling and self-investigation. And in time for Halloween, the book Ghostland explores what kinds of architectural details make a place feel haunted, as well as what stories of hauntings tell us about our own prejudices and biases.

The problem with A/C, Neon City, Jewish LA Oct 18, 2016

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The world needs to cut back on HFCs but Americans love staying cold; does that mean you need to get a smaller fridge or turn off the air-conditioning? Los Angeles was once a city of neon; now the colorful gas lighting is making a comeback. Why? Avishay Artsy tours Jewish Los Angeles, and finds some of LA’s most noted designers and builders.

Police academy, smart gun, eat the river Oct 11, 2016

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The LAPD Academy in Elysian Park has undergone a makeover, as the department adapts to an era of community policing. An MIT freshman has created what's believed to be the first fingerprint-enabled smart gun. And a French artist finds inspiration in the cracked concrete of the Los Angeles River.

The suburban home of tomorrow Oct 06, 2016

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Back when most people had barely heard of a Prius or LEED certification, 300 builders and product designers committed to sustainable design gathered at a small convention called Greenbuild. Now it is one of the world’s largest conference and expo dedicated to “green building” and holds its fifteenth annual conference and trade show this week at the LA Convention Center.

Patrick Shearn, Greenbuild, cargo shorts Oct 04, 2016

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Artist Patrick Shearn, known for his eye-popping music festival installations, goes public, with musical clouds inside Walt Disney Concert Hall, and Liquid Shard. LA welcomes the Greenbuild Conference; but what is next in sustainability now greenbuilding has gone mainstream? Plus, we investigate the gender wars that have erupted over a men's fashion choice: cargo shorts.

YIMBYs rise up to support development Sep 29, 2016

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We've all heard of NIMBYs: people who oppose growth because they don't want their neighborhoods to change. Now, there's a counter-movement forming of people who say the only way to solve the housing crisis in expensive cities is to keep building.

The Europeans are coming! Koolhaas, Herzog & de Meuron in LA Sep 27, 2016

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Some high-profile European architects have projects in the works for the Southland and have waded into the argument about density. DnA looks at projects both spiritual and commercial from famed Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas and his firm OMA, and we check out a mammoth mixed-use project in the Arts District by Herzog & de Meuron.

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