This week, you can: admire “visual futurist” Syd Mead’s Hollywood designs; listen to architect Barbara Bestor talk about atmospheric urbanism; strut a Stratocaster at the new Fender headquarters; honor the ever-dapper graphic designer Mick Hodgson; and view the legacy of Paul R. Williams in new black and white images. You can also do a little shopping…. for Corita Kent artwork and renegade craft.
1) Syd Mead in Conversation with Craig Hodgetts, followed by screening of Aliens
“Syd is absolutely unique in his ability to . . . create a future image and a future reality which is very firmly based on our physical laws and on the environment that we exist in now. So any one of Syd’s illustrations opens a door into a plausible reality.” That’s how architect Craig Hodgetts describes the work of illustrator, car designer and self-titled “visual futurist” Syd Mead. Now Hodgetts and Mead have published a book on Mead’s work, The Movie Art of Syd Mead: Visual Futurist and they will talk Tuesday night at SCI-Arc. Expect to hear about Syd Mead’s career styling cars for Ford Motors and creating designs for other large corporations, followed by his work in movies, envisioning distinctive and believable aesthetics for films like Blade Runner, Tron, Aliens and many more. With transportation design as his first love, many of Syd Mead’s most iconic futuristic creations have been vehicles: the Spinner flying police cars in Blade Runner’; the Light Cycles in Tron and the U.S.S. Sulaco in Aliens. Aliens will be screened following the conversation. Listen up for DnA’s interview with Mead and Hodgetts on Tuesday’s DnA.
When: Tuesday, Dec 5, 7 pm
Where: WM Keck Lecture Hall, SCI-Arc, 960 E 3rd St, Los Angeles, CA 90013
Tickets: Free. No reservations required. Click here for more information.
2) Lecture: Barbara Bestor at SCI-Arc
You can see her at right, middle row, on the cover of the current CA Home + Design though she doesn’t typically wear all-black. Barbara Bestor has built a career from her Silver Lake office of 25 that fuses designing, curating, teaching and party-hosting around a love of livable modernism that invariably comes with a dash of color. Wednesday night she will talk about projects including headquarters for Beats by Dre and Nasty Gal, the Silverlake Conservatory of Music, a new winery and event center in Napa as well as Blackbirds – a complex of new homes around a shared yard that represents a variant on the small lot ordinance in Echo Park.
When: Wednesday, Dec. 6, 7 pm
Where: WM Keck Lecture Hall, 960 E 3rd St, Los Angeles, CA 90013
Tickets: Free. No reservations required. Click here for more information.
3) Tour: Fender’s new Hollywood headquarters
Working in Fullerton in the late 1940s, Leo Fender invented a series of guitars and basses that changed the direction of music forever. After six decades of the music industry flocking to Fender, Fender is finally coming to the music industry – to Hollywood that is. Built on the site of the old CBS West Coast, the new headquarters, designed by Rapt Studio, combines a contemporary mid-rise building and a retrofitted 1940s bungalow. On Wednesday night AIA|LA Interiors Committee will host a tour of space, which features installations of classic Fenders, including one that visitors can play! The tour will be conducted by Sam Farhang, President and Creative Director of Rapt Studios.
When: Wednesday, Dec 6, 6 – 8:30 pm
Where: Fender headquarters, 1575 N Gower Street, Los Angeles
Tickets: AIA Members: $25; Non-members $35. Register here.
4) Celebrating Mick Hodgson
Debonair man-about-town and admired graphic designer Mick Hodgson almost left us a couple years back when he suffered a near-fatal bike accident. He has bounced back and this Thursday he will be toasted by the organization he helped flourish: the LA chapter of the AIGA (American Institute of Graphic Arts). Hodgson’s career has included a partnership with the late, great Clive Piercy and a stint as a DJ at KCRW! A gallery of design work (for clients including Michael Maltzan Architecture, Frank Gehry, Herman Miller, Chronicle Books, Border Grill) will be on display . Attendees will takeaway a commemorative enamel pin designed by Mick Hodgson exclusively for the event will be given to all attendees. Drinks and hors d’oeuvres by Border Grill.
When: Thursday, Dec 7, 7 – 10 pm
Where: BLIND, 1702 Olympic Blvd, Santa Monica, CA 90404
Tickets: $20; buy tickets here.
5) There is Only One Paul R Williams: A Portrait by Janna Ireland
In his five-decades career, Paul R Williams designed nearly 3,000 buildings that deeply influenced the image of Los Angeles; and after many decades of under-appreciation, he was a awarded a posthumous Gold Medal by the American Institute of Architects this year. L.A.-based photographer Janna Ireland spent a year studying and photographing Williams’ work, and the resulting black and white collection goes on exhibit at WUHO gallery on Hollywood Boulevard, offering a timely and nuanced homage to the man, the times in which he worked and the legacy of his designs.
When: Opening Saturday, Dec 9, 6 – 9 pm.
Where: WUHO, 6518 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90028
Tickets: Free; click here for more information.
Finally, let’s go shopping… for Corita Kent artwork and renegade craft
Corita Art Center: Sister Corita Kent (1918–1986) was an artist, educator, and advocate for social justice. The Corita Art Center, a project of the Immaculate Heart Community, preserves and promotes Kent’s art, teaching, and passion for social justice. The annual holiday sale and open house offers special prices on original artwork and merchandise. It takes place Saturday Dec. 9 from 1 – 4 pm, 5515 Franklin Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90028. Click here for details.
Renegade Craft Fair Los Angeles: Celebrate a festive weekend of all things hand-made, at Los Angeles State Historic Park. Explore a curated selection of modern design, including jewelry and accessories, art, apparel, ceramics, illustration, stationery, home decor, cookware, apothecary, and more. Food trucks, music, workshops and more. Saturday and Sunday, Dec 9 and 10, 10 am – 5 pm, Los Angeles State Historic Park, 1245 N Spring St., Los Angeles, CA 90012. Click here for details.