Design and Architecture

KCRW

Host Frances Anderton looks at design and architecture from a Los Angeles perspective.

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514 episodes
Updated Nov 6, 2020

Episodes514

Newest first

Sep 25, 2018 · 29 min
Home share, Concorde, WDCH Dreams
Two women, one aging at home, the other priced out of her home, come together through a “home share” program. A graphic designer celebrates Concorde. Could supersonic flight make a comeback? And a data artist turns the Walt Disney Concert Hall into a multi-screen spectacle.
Sep 18, 2018 · 29 min
Gigamansions and the new Gilded Age
DnA visits The One, a "gigamansion" under construction in Bel Air with a record- breaking price tag of $500 million. And we'll compare the opulent homes of the first Gilded Age with the sleek glass boxes of what may be a new Gilded Age.
Sep 12, 2018 · 5 min
How clean are E-cars?
California state and city leaders are taking the lead in cleaning up the environment, with initiatives designed to help cities speed towards their emissions reduction goals in buildings and transportation. But some critics are asking, just how green are electric vehicles? Would greater energy reduction be achieved through car-unfriendly land-use planning?
Sep 11, 2018 · 30 min
Megamansions, Tower of Voices
As LA homes get smaller they are also getting bigger. Can they keep on growing? DnA explores large luxury houses, and finds out who is building them, who is buying them -- and why amenities matter. Plus, Tower of Voices in Pennsylvannia memorializes, with wind and chimes, those who went down with a fight on United Flight 93.
Sep 5, 2018 · 4 min
Two Bit Circus Micro-Amusement Park Opens in DTLA
These days, if you want to play a video game, there’s a good chance you’re doing it at home… on your computer or a console like Xbox or PlayStation. But starting this weekend you’ll have another option: a futuristic version of an arcade in the Arts District of downtown L.A. It’s called the Two Bit Circus Micro-Amusement Park.
Sep 4, 2018 · 30 min
Modernist homes, Hollywood veterans
DnA’s series This is Home in LA continues with a look at architect-designed homes and the continuing influence of midcentury modernism. We visit a dramatic, Case Study inspired house that's ruffling feathers in South Hancock Park; and we ask if design media have turned Modernism into a homogeneous style that's dampening creativity. Jenn Swann reports on American Legion Post 43's Art Deco home in Hollywood, now being turned into a movie theater in a bid to bring in a wider audience.
Aug 30, 2018 · 4 min
Suburban ‘Centennial’ mega-project moves forward
A controversial plan to develop thousands of acres cleared a major hurdle this week in Los Angeles County, securing approval from the region’s planning commission. The idea is to convert 12,500 acres of open space into a new housing community. But not everyone is on board with the plan.
Aug 28, 2018 · 30 min
Small-lot homes, Santa Monica mobility
LA’s small lot ordinance was created to add density to residential neighborhoods and to expand home ownership. It's had a big impact, but a mixed one. And is Santa Monica about to kill e-scooters, or turn them into good citizens? Hear from the city’s mobility manager about choosing a roadworthy partner.
Aug 22, 2018 · 5 min
Silver Lake service station becomes a preservation flash point
There’s an old service station in Silver Lake, just a couple blocks south of the reservoir. You might not even notice it if you walk by. And yet this dilapidated old building has become the latest flash point in the debate over whether to preserve buildings that may have historic value, or allow new housing developments to take their place.
Aug 21, 2018 · 30 min
YOLA in Inglewood, living above the store
The LA Phil's Youth Orchestra Los Angeles (or YOLA) is getting a new home in an old bank, designed by architect Frank Gehry. What does it mean for Inglewood? And, how about living 90 seconds from Whole Foods? DnA visits Runway at Playa Vista, a "vertical mixed-use" development, and a loft above a business on Pico Boulevard, and learns about LA’s version of living over the store.
Aug 15, 2018 · 5 min
Santa Monica weighs e-scooter future
Santa Monica lawmakers are weighing a proposal that might result in taking e-scooter sharing companies Bird and Lime off the streets. The companies are fighting back and rallying their supporters.
Aug 14, 2018 · 30 min
Living Small: Micro-Units and Podshare
Los Angeles is following a trend set in other high cost cities for micro-units, at market-rate rents. Could this be the solution to a housing problem? Or could it validate living spaces that might just be too small? And you may have stayed at a hostel while traveling, but some LA residents are using Podshare as a long-term housing solution, sleeping in bunks with a roomful of strangers for months at a time.
Aug 8, 2018 · 5 min
Living sky-high in downtown LA
Downtown Los Angeles has been experiencing a renaissance. It was known for decades as a place to work, but not live. That’s changing, as the area is seeing a boom in high-rise construction. One new megaproject, Metropolis, is a harbinger of things to come.
Aug 7, 2018 · 29 min
Metropolis: Selling the downtown high-rise dream
Is high-rise living the future of housing in downtown LA? DnA visits the Gensler-designed Metropolis tower complex to learn how the architects turned a freeway-adjacent site into sky-high luxury condos, and how its Chinese developer Greenland and Beverly Hills realtor The Agency are selling the new “downtown dream” to prospective buyers.
Jul 31, 2018 · 30 min
The high cost of affordable housing
Affordable housing is being really well-designed, but it’s also very expensive. At every level, designers and builders are trying to work around a Rubik's cube of obstacles. DnA looks at the challenges and possible solutions to creating housing for the formerly homeless and low-income residents of Los Angeles.
Jul 24, 2018 · 29 min
Rethinking the box, Jonathan Gold
How do you take a generic housing type and create a very personal home? DnA visits a new apartment building in Koreatown to find out how multi-family living can be the new LA dream. And we remember LA’s beloved restaurant critic Jonathan Gold, who died Saturday. DnA recalls how Gold taught Angelenos about LA through its food, from mini-malls to Vespertine.
Jul 18, 2018 · 5 min
LA removes street trees to repair sidewalks
The City of Los Angeles’ Department of Public Works voted today to remove 18 trees in Hollywood. The city says the trees are damaging the sidewalks. Urban forestry advocates say it’s imperative that a hot region like the Southland maintains its tree canopy. Can we have both?
Jul 17, 2018 · 29 min
Paradise of the Ordinary, steel tariffs
Los Angeles is pushing for greater densification, even as many Angelenos still dream of the single family home. We visit the city of Lakewood to see how they are keeping that dream alive. And we visit a metals supplier in Gardena, to find out how steel tariffs are impacting design projects in Los Angeles.
Jul 11, 2018 · 5 min
Steel tariffs are impacting LA construction
President Trump’s tariffs on steel and aluminum have angered foreign leaders and led to retaliatory measures. How are these economic taxes affecting the construction and manufacturing industry here in the Southland?
Jul 10, 2018 · 30 min
Liveaboards, Emory Douglas
Sick of high rents but want to be close to the ocean? Very close? DnA explores the charms and challenges of living aboard a boat, and learns about the changes coming as Marina del Rey becomes more “corporate.” And we meet Emory Douglas, “revolutionary artist” for the Black Panthers whose bold graphics still hold lessons for protest art today.

Design and Architecture

Home share, Concorde, WDCH Dreams

Gigamansions and the new Gilded Age

How clean are E-cars?

Megamansions, Tower of Voices

Two Bit Circus Micro-Amusement Park Opens in DTLA

Modernist homes, Hollywood veterans

Suburban ‘Centennial’ mega-project moves forward

Small-lot homes, Santa Monica mobility

Silver Lake service station becomes a preservation flash point

YOLA in Inglewood, living above the store

Santa Monica weighs e-scooter future

Living Small: Micro-Units and Podshare

Living sky-high in downtown LA

Metropolis: Selling the downtown high-rise dream

The high cost of affordable housing

Rethinking the box, Jonathan Gold

LA removes street trees to repair sidewalks

Paradise of the Ordinary, steel tariffs

Steel tariffs are impacting LA construction

Liveaboards, Emory Douglas