5 Design Things to do This Week

Written by

Student design projects on display, site-specific dance and theater, walking tours in Venice and West Adams, and block parties on both ends of the Expo Line. Just some of this week’s design events.

Pico_Credit_Staud
Pico Branch Library in Santa Monica, designed by Koning Eizenberg (The original image is no longer available, please contact KCRW if you need access to the original image.)

1) Julie Eizenberg talks at A+D Museum

Julie Eizenberg, co-principal of Koning Eizenberg, is one of the rare architects who stands tall in the profession — and has a sense of humor! She will share her observations on a life of design and building at A+D Museum this Thursday at an event co-hosted by LA Metro and Cal Poly.

When: Thursday, June 2, 6:30 – 8:30 pm

Where:  A+D Architecture and Design Museum, 900 East 4th Street, LA CA 90013

Tickets: $15/$7 Students/Free for Cal Poly Students and Alumni. Information and Tickets.

UCSB MM:EE Design Fair
Students at ‘layback’ UCSB demonstrating an MM/EE senior design project. (The original image is no longer available, please contact KCRW if you need access to the original image.)

2) Senior Design Projects on Display

After four years of hard work, graduating seniors in Media Arts at UCLA and in the ME/EE Design program at UCSB show off their final projects.

UCLA Design Media Arts (Undergraduate) Senior Exhibit

When: Friday, June 3, 9 am – 7 pm

Where: EDA – Room 1250, Broad Art Center 240 Charles E Young Dr N, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095

Tickets: Admission is FREE and open to the public.  More information and registration

UCSB ME/EE Design Fair and Year-End Celebration

When: Friday June 3, 11 am – 2 pm

Where: Engineering II Courtyard – University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106.  Parking Information

Tickets: Registration is closed, however all are still welcome to attend.  Admission is FREE and open to the public.  More information  

3) Tours in Venice and West Adams

Venice Land: Music x Comedy x Spray Painting

Experience a Venice street ‘show’ in its truest form: along the streets of Venice. The “Venice Land interactive walking tour” aims to inspire, intrigue and engage you in Venice’s history and its spirit today with an immersive experience involving musicians, comedians, magicians and….spray painters.

When: Saturday, June 4, 11 am – 2 pm

Where: Start at Danny’s Restaurant – 23 Windward Ave, Venice, CA 90291

Tickets: Unticketed; pay what you want.  Information and Registration

“A Walk in the Park”: A Tour of Historic Victoria Park

One of the many jewels in the West Adams neighborhood is the historic Victoria Park neighborhood (often called “Victoria Circle”), featuring Craftsman, Prairie and Mediterranean Revival houses set on wide streets in an oval plan. Opened in 1907, the development was originally well outside the city limits, way out west of Crenshaw Boulevard. On Saturday, the West Adams Heritage Association will open the doors of five of these homes, by noted architects including Frank M. Tyler, Train & Williams, Frederick Noonan, and Garrett & Bixby.

When: Saturday, June 4, 10 am – 4 pm

Where:  2263 S. Harvard Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90018

Tickets: $25-$35. Please: no high heels or interior photography.  Information and Tickets.

Duckler_143_Days_website
Heidi Duckler Dance Theater’s 143 Days is inspired by Charles Lummis’ 143-day journey from Cincinnati to Los Angeles. Image by Sean Deckert(The original image is no longer available, please contact KCRW if you need access to the original image.)

4) Site-Specific Dance and Theater

Heidi Duckler Dance Theatre’s 143 Days

In 1884, writer Charles Lummis walked from Cincinnati to Los Angeles to accept a job at the-then nascent Los Angeles Times.  The trip was adventurous and flamboyant, and recorded, thanks to regular dispatches made by Lummis to the Times.  Known for creating innovative dance experiences in non-traditional places, with 143 Days, the Heidi Duckler Dance Theatre brings the audience on a journey through the historic Southwest Museum building, a site founded by Lummis more than a century ago.  Get ready for an engaging experience, as artist, audience and community come together in this unique dance performance.

When: Saturday, June 4, 4 pm

Where: The Autry’s Historic Southwest Museum, Mt. Washington Campus, 234 Museum Dr., Los Angeles, 90065

Tickets: $25-$40.  Get Tickets.

Chalk Repertory Theatre’s In Case of Emergency

We all know the Big One is imminent, but how many of us are actually prepared for it? In the new play “In Case of Emergency,” a single woman named Meredith has gotten a little overzealous with her emergency supplies, and hires Alex from “Ready, Set, Go” to help her get organized. But personal disasters get in the way of best-laid plans. Chalk Repertory Theatre has been staging plays in unconventional spaces since 2008. This play opens June 3 for four weeks, taking place in a garage at an actual private home in a different neighborhood each weekend; from Atwater Village to Pasadena.

When: June 3 – July 3
Fridays at 8 p.m.: June 3 (opening night), 10, 24, July 1
Saturdays at 8 p.m.: June 4, 11, 25, July 2
Sundays at 7 p.m.: June 5, 12, 26, July 3

Where: Garages in actual private homes – a different location each weekend. Addresses are released upon ticket purchase.

Tickets: $20-$35. More information here.

001_MedRez
The new Colorado Esplanade, designed by Peter Walker Partners, greets people as they arrive in Santa Monica on the Expo Line. (The original image is no longer available, please contact KCRW if you need access to the original image.)

5) Community Block Parties in Downtown Santa Monica and Los Angeles:

Santa Monica: COAST 

Almost two miles of Santa Monica turns into one big block party on Sunday, in conjunction with the formal opening of the new esplanade at 4th and Colorado. This urban design connects the Downtown Santa Monica Expo station, Tongva Park, and the Santa Monica Pier with widened sidewalks, swirling black/yellow pavers and strings of lights. From there, stroll Ocean Avenue, 3rd Street, Colorado Avenue and Main Street car-free, and shop and eat at local vendors while enjoying cool ocean breezes, dancers and music along the way. Special events also include free community classes in Pacific Park, Santa Monica Conservancy Tours, Camera Obscura Art Lab Demonstrations (1450 Ocean Ave), and more. Walk, bus, train or bike to the event.

When: Sunday, June 5, 9 am – 3 pm

Where: 2 miles of car-free streets in Santa Monica along Ocean Ave, Colorado Ave, 3rd Street and Main Street.  Map

Tickets: FREE and open to the public. More information here.

Downtown: Urban Air Market and Shopwalk DTLA

Meanwhile at the other end of the Expo line, the Urban Air Market (UAM) takes over the historic core of downtown Los Angeles with 75+ makers and designers of apparel, accessories, home goods, art, and body products. They will sell their wares at this super-sized, almost-summer block party with pop ups, discounts and happy hours in DTLA.  Westsiders, in particular, are invited to take the recently opened Expo light rail between Santa Monica and downtown LA, and join LA’s first Tri-City Light Rail Pub Crawl. A portion of sales from this event will benefit Skid Row Housing Trust.

While in downtown, go West and check out the outsize bunny installation by Australian artist Amanda Parer (in above image) at three Bunker Hill corporate towers — FIGat7th (735 S. Figueroa St.); Bank of America Plaza; and Wells Fargo Center, 330 S. Hope Street — Sunday, June 5 – Saturday, June 11.

When: DTLA Urban Air Market, Sunday, June 5, 10 am – 6 pm

Where: Historic Core of Downtown Los Angeles, 5th St. and Spring St., Los Angeles, CA 90013

Tickets: FREE and open to the public. More Information

Screen Shot 2016-05-31 at 1.49.09 PM
An outsize bunny installation by Australian artist Amanda Parer will be on display this weekend at three Bunker Hill towers.(The original image is no longer available, please contact KCRW if you need access to the original image.)