California Gleaming

NEW ARCHITECTURE POPS UP ALL OVER L.A.

A tecturally mythological it is Mecca a radical hovering outpost. at Aesthetically the farthest edge it is uniquely of the Wild democratic, West—Los the Angeles. built environArchiment accepting almost anything. “What’s Shakin’: New Architecture in LA,” at MOCA L.A. this fall, is a works-in-progress glimpse of what is happening here—something big. “Architects have always been fascinated by the climate and by the very particular geography, the horizontality of the city,” says MOCA director Jeremy Strick. In a city previously known for its private spaces and domestic architecture, one can watch the skyline literally transform—re-inventing, maturing, going public. In downtown L.A., two world-class buildings are under construction—Frank O. Gehry’s Walt Disney Concert Hall and Rafael Moneo’s Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels. “What’s Shakin’” features these, along with others, including Rem Koolhaas’s Prada store and Michael Maltzan’s expansion of the U.C.L.A. Hammer Museum.

Maltzan describes these projects as “a moment that ... could potentially tip the balance between L.A. being considered a great place of experimentation but a bit of a backwater and the city becoming one of the great cities.”

A. M. HOMES