5 design things to do this week

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This week, you can: hear about the Chicago Architecture Biennial from its creative directors and architects; watch a Lawrence Halprin-designed park come alive with dance; sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to Grand Central Market; learn about the plantings of Piet Oudolf on the High Line; and capture the light of DTLA with an expert photographer.

Sylvia Lavin curated “Super Models” for the 2017 Chicago Architecture Biennial (The original image is no longer available, please contact KCRW if you need access to the original image.)

1) This, Not That: Chicago Architecture Biennale roundtable

Mark Lee and Sharon Johnston of noted Los Angeles firm Johnston Marklee found time in their busy schedule (current projects include the Menil Drawing Institute, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago’s interior redesign) to be Creative Directors of the 2017 Chicago Architecture Biennale, the city’s second biennial. Entitled Make New History, their exhibition showcases the work of over 140 participants and reflects on “the ongoing significance of the past, and the myriad ways that history is invoked in the production of new forms of architectural thought,” through the themes Image, Material, Building, and Civic Histories.

On Monday night Johnston and Lee will join architecture theorist and curator Sylvia Lavin and Los Angeles-based Biennale participants — Erin Besler, Wonne Ickx, Andrew Kovacs, Jimenez Lai — for a discussion at UCLA A.UD (Department of Architecture and Urban Design) about the issues raised by the show.

When: Monday, Oct 23, 6:30pm

Where: UCLA Perloff Hall Decafé, Parking Lot 3 ($12).  Download campus map here.

Tickets: Free and open to the public. Click here for more information.

Dancers with Heidi Duckler Dance Theater rehearsing in the Maguire Gardens at the LA Central Library for their Oct. 24 performance. (The original image is no longer available, please contact KCRW if you need access to the original image.)

2) Heidi Duckler Dance: Luncheon on the Grass

In collaboration with his wife and avant-garde dancer Anna Halprin, landscape architect Lawrence Halprin explored the intersection of choreography and public space in famed Modernist parks and public spaces in Portland, Seattle and San Francisco and many other cities. Heidi Duckler Dance Theatre is known for its exploration of choreography and public space creative in site-specific performances in architectural locations in Los Angeles. See the two in combination Tuesday, when HDDT dancers will take the audience on a journey (inspired by painter Edouard Manet’s Luncheon on the Grass) through Maguire Garden’s pools and fountains, designed by Lawrence Halprin. Read our story on Lawrence Halprin’s work and legacy, here.

When: Tuesday, October 24, 12:00 pm.

Where: Maguire Gardens at the Central Library, 630 W 5th St, Los Angeles, CA 90071

Tickets: Free.  RSVP (required) here.

Back in the day: A fruit vendor at the Grand Central Market in the 1920s. (The original image is no longer available, please contact KCRW if you need access to the original image.)

3) Grand Central Market’s 100th Birthday Bash

A hundred years ago, Bunker Hill was covered with stately Victorian mansions, and the area’s stylish residents rode down on Angels Flight to shop for groceries on bustling Broadway, at the Grand Central Market’s open air arcade. The Market and DTLA evolved with the times, but not always for the better. Then in 1984, the late Ira Yellin, a developer with an academic interest in urban planning and historical preservation, bought Grand Central Market and nearby properties including the Million Dollar Theater and the Bradbury Building, with a dream of revitalizing the street.  Today, the market stands once again at the center of a vibrant downtown scene.

This Friday, Oct 27, the Market thanks Angelenos for 100 years of continuous operation.  Market vendors will serve up specials inspired by the food hall’s history and the number 100 and visitors who check in at the Market between 6:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. will receive a token for a FREE round-trip ride on historic Angels Flight. Hear music representing the different decades of the Market’s history get into the spirit by entering the 100th birthday costume contest at 8:00 p.m.

When: Friday, Oct 27, 6 – 10 pm

Where: Grand Central Market, 317 S Broadway, Los Angeles, CA 90013

Tickets: Free. Get full details here.

Also, don’t miss the ceremonial 100 Layer Birthday Cake cutting with Mayor Eric Garcetti, Friday morning at 10:30 am at Grand Central Market.  More details here.

The High Line linear public park built on New York’s West Side; photograph courtesy (cc) David Berkowitz (The original image is no longer available, please contact KCRW if you need access to the original image.)

4)  The High Line: Reimagining the Accidental Landscape; presentation by horticulturist Rick Darke 

The conversion of an unused rail line into a game-changing elevated, linear city parks owes its existence to many talented players, including Friends of the High Line, architects Diller Scofido + Renfro, landscape architect James Corner Field Operations and the amazing Piet Oudolf, the famed “New Perennialist” Dutch garden designer of  billowing, vivid plantings in Lurie Garden, Chicago; Hauser & Wirth Somerset and many other contemporary landmarks.  Now photographer and horticulturist Rick Darke has told the story of the High Line in a new book co-authored with Piet Oudolf, called Gardens of the High Line: Elevating the Nature of Modern Landscapes. Darke will talk about his photographs illuminating Oudolf’s transformative design and its impact on today’s landscapes.

When: Sunday, Oct 29, 4 – 6 pm

Where: The Los Angeles Arboretum and Botanic Garden, 301 North Baldwin Avenue, Arcadia, CA 91007

Tickets: $15 for general public, $12 for Garden Conservancy and L.A. Arboretum Foundation members. To reserve a seat please call 626-821-4623. Click here for more details.

“Magic Hour” at the Central Library in DTLA (The original image is no longer available, please contact KCRW if you need access to the original image.)

5) Historic DTLA Architectural Photography Walking Tour – bring your camera!

Capture Downtown Los Angeles in a whole new light as you walk and talk and photograph landmarks with Samy’s Photo School photographer Aaron Hoffman leading the way.  After meeting at the Central Library, the tour heads to Disney Concert Hall, then to Downtown’s Historic Core.  You’ll see the landmark 1890’s Bradbury Building, Art Deco masterpieces as well as more modern architecture.  You’ll have the opportunity to sample some great food at the vibrant Grand Central Market (and post some foodie pics) and then the tour will conclude back at the library.  The tour respects the history of our diverse city while at the same time appreciating its progress.

When: Sunday, Oct 29, 2-6 pm

Where: Meet at the library’s Maguire Gardens at 5th and Flower

Tickets: $95.  You can find more details and tickets here.