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- May 19, 12Having been to so many building department all over Los Angeles, the one I managed to go to only once in my 13 year career is the downtown Building Dept. But in this era of budget cuts and reduced government services, all of the city's services are being consolidated downtown. So to get a sign off needed for a project, instead of going to West LA I now needed to schlep all the way to downtown. So I decided to make the best of it and take the subway downtown and walk to the building dept.
Well, that was better in theory than practice. I had a roll of drawings and had to carry them everywhere. Then while the building dept. is close to the Pershing Square if you're a crow. Walking is a different story, especially when you wear the wrong shoes as I did.
Then there is the fact that all of the building department's services are scattered across many floors in a high rise and you have a very long day.
The walk there is interesting as you have to pass LA's Central Market, Pershing Square, the Disney Concert Hall, the Dorothy Chandler Pavillion and MOMA.
Next time I go there, I may just take my car. - Apr 26, 12Fancy Swiss architects Herzog & De Meuron have just introduced a new website that makes me wonder why they even bothered. It looks like it's a broken and there is virtually nothing cutting edge about it. Most architect's websites are bad simply for the fact that they try awfully hard to push the boundaries of design to justify their place on the world wide web. There are numerous examples of this trend.
Famous Iraqi born architect Zaha Hadid comes to mind. Her website has a lot of information to convey and the there are interesting things happening. The problem is that it's a clunky. It's like an old computer operating system that went from line based input to a first generation GUI. All of the little windows are movable and that's cool. But it looks a bit dated which is about the last thing you could say about the firm's architecture.I don't mean to pick on her of course. There are a lot of firms that come to mind. Renzo Piano's website is dated and the navigation is extremely limited. Frank Gehry's website is stunningly plain. Morphosis' website is graphically bold but the navigation confusing. But the website that takes the cake is Yale's School of Art. Although not technically architecture related, it belongs on this list for being U-G-L-Y.
For more websites that make you face palm, check out Vincent Flanders' Web Pages that Suck. The last website on this page will make you glad you did. - Apr 20, 12If you're interested in a one bedroom house in Malibu that looks like it's from the Flintstone's, then look no further. Dick Clark had this house designed in to look as if it were carved from a rock. The reality is that the contractors and the architect must have done A LOT of drugs to come up with something this subversive. Now with Mr. Clark's passing, it's not hard to imagine that the someone will step up to the plate and purchase this curiosity. It could be yours for all of $3.5 million.
Source: Fast Company Design - Mar 14, 12This table designed by Nika Zupnac would would be perfect work surface for my kindergartner, although I'm sure she would just want to play and slide from the work surface.
The desk is really ingenious in a simple and elegant sort of way. It has storage on one side of the tilt up portion which opens via a hand crank.
No mention of pricing or availability, but even though it looks simple, don't expect it to be cheap.
Source: Architizer - Feb 22, 12If you have ever wondered what the building off the 101 freeway in downtown is with the strange spire is, it's School #9, the Ramon Cortines School of Visual and Performing Art. It is a project that has had it's share of controversy, not the least of which was a scathing critique by some of it's students.
The architect, Wolf Prix from Coop Himmilb(l)au, sat down with Howard Silver to discuss the school's influence and his belief that as a school of performing arts, that the school's architecture should not be a "stupid box". It's an interesting video and one where you get a description of the building from the architect himself. - Oct 28, 11Now this is just too cool for school. Artist Leandro Elrich has created a simulation of the interior of a swimming pool. The walls of the faux pool are painted aquamarine and the "roof" is a piece of transparent glass with 10 cm of water over it to give the effect of being inside of a swimming pool. What I don't understand is how you get inside the pool if there is a piece of water tight glass serving as the covering. I can see a woman climbing down a ladder, but how does the water not flood the inside of the pool?
Source: Architizer - Oct 14, 11
View The 1% (or 0.0001%) in a larger mapArchitizer has another interesting article on how the 1% live. At least about the facades of all the buildings where the 1% symbols of wealth in New York live. Big surprise: all of the facades of the buildings where the 1% live are grey and non-descript. There is only so much you can do in one of the densest cities in the world.
Sources: Architizer, Gawker - Oct 12, 11I love the unapologetically minimalist design of this church located inside Riga International Airport inside the north terminal (if you happen to be in Latvia). There is a lot of concrete. The pews seem to be suspended in the air. The graphic of Mother and Child is both cute and striking. And that ceiling is icing on the cake. But it looks familiar. Hmmm. Where have I seen it before? Oh right.
Source: Architizer - Sep 14, 11This story gives me a warm feeling inside. The kids from Whitehorse High School in Montezuma, Utah, get 50 bikes and a lesson on how to ride and maintain them, while the good people from 88bikes do another good deed. And of course DesingnbuildBLUFF and the volunteers that put the trailer together can be proud of the work and cause they contributed to. The trailer made out of a hodge-podge of salvaged and recycled parts will serve as a workshop and a host to clinics that can be towed to anywhere it is needed. DesignbuildBLUFF is no stranger to the Navajo Nation and have won numerous awards from the Colorado AIA for their efforts.
Source : Inhabitat - Aug 26, 11It's easy to spot an architect when you are in an interesting building. They're the ones that are always looking up with mouths agape. Now they might just blend in with the crowd as they take panoramic photos on their iPhones courtesy of Photosynth. The iPhone app takes a series of pictures and terms them into a stitched image that you can later view in either a 3-D panorama that you can zoom in and a 2D image that stitches the images together. The image quality is pretty amazing, especially when you consider that it's coming from a smart phone. You will need the Microsoft Silverlight plugin to view the images, but it's a small price to pay to relive a striking vacation spot or interesting bit of architecture.
Source: Architizer
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Tweets
- At the Jerome Grand Hotel in AZ. This place is definitely spooky. http://t.co/S21FkO3zMw
- I just finished a 2.81 mi run with Nike+ Running. http://t.co/yeDfNbD0rA #nikeplus
- I'm at Zelda's Corner (Venice, CA) http://t.co/d3rcy3wA
- I'm at Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) (Los Angeles, CA) w/ 33 others http://t.co/29VCo2k5
- RT @Jimbro_Fisher: @BillSimmons shit just got real
- This place is so weird, but I love it! (@ Game Dude) http://t.co/BxLajqEA
- RT @JamieHector: I didn't want to believe this #RIP Robert F Chew, Prop Joe will always be remembered Robert Chew will always be loved a ...
- @RootConst Nice. Something for the website perhaps?
- RT @EngadgetExpand: We're celebrating CES by giving away an expenses paid trip to #ExpandSF! Follow @EngadgetExpand and RT to enter http ...Jan 11, 13 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- @lanow My wife and I saw smoke in the sky like you would see after fireworks go off.
- “@LANow: Loud explosion in North Hollywood still a mystery, police say" Looked like a large firework going off. Very near our house.
- I'm at LA Dept of Building & Safety (Van Nuys, CA) http://t.co/pQV3p9kP
- I'm at ArcLight Beach Cities for Lincoln (El Segundo, CA) w/ 10 others http://t.co/6GD2Ps3d
- I'm in for one. http://t.co/lGZLCFre #TechCrunch
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- About four years late. “@Architizer: Unpaid internships at #architecture firms come under fire: http://t.co/oaL6I9Gf”
- The waiter's costumes on Halloween are fantastic here! A waiter over here was dresses as Tinkie-winkie! http://t.co/s16iPVli
- I just unlocked the “Halloween 2012” badge on @foursquare! Has anyone seen my Honey Boo Boo mask? http://t.co/4Npzupz7
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Info
- Project Manager at Lewin Wertheimer ArchitectArchitecture & Planning | Greater Los Angeles Area, USExperience
- Jan 2003 - PresentProject Manager / Lewin Wertheimer Architect
- Jan 2001 - Sept 2002Team Member / Appleton & Associates
- Oct 1998 - Dec 2000Team Member / Carde-Ten Architects
Education-
1993 - 1999Woodbury UniversityBachelor of Architecture in Architecture
Additional Information-
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- Jerome Grand Hotel200 Hill St.
- Camelback Ranch10710 W Camelback Rd
- Underwood Family Farms3370 Sunset Valley Rd
- Improv Brea120 S Brea Blvd
- Viceroy Santa Monica1819 Ocean Ave
- Zelda's Corner9 Westminster Ave
- Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)5905 Wilshire Blvd
- Game Dude12104 Sherman Way
- LA Dept of Building & Safety6262 Van Nuys Blvd
- ArcLight Beach Cities831 S Nash St
- Holiday Inn1401 Carmelo Dr
- Ernie's Mexican Restaurant4410 Lankershim Blvd
- Ultrazone Laser Tag14622 Ventura Blvd
- Tapia Bros. FarmHayvenhurst
- The Simpsons RideUpper Lot
- Universal Studios Hollywood Globe and Fountain100 Universal Plaza
- Bow & Truss11122 Magnolia Blvd
- Dodger Stadium1000 Elysian Park Ave
- Otis Jackson's Soul Dog5166 Lankershim Blvd
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Photos
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Posts
- May 19, 12Having been to so many building department all over Los Angeles, the one I managed to go to only once in my 13 year career is the downtown Building Dept. But in this era of budget cuts and reduced government services, all of the city's services are being consolidated downtown. So to get a sign off needed for a project, instead of going to West LA I now needed to schlep all the way to downtown. So I decided to make the best of it and take the subway downtown and walk to the building dept.
Well, that was better in theory than practice. I had a roll of drawings and had to carry them everywhere. Then while the building dept. is close to the Pershing Square if you're a crow. Walking is a different story, especially when you wear the wrong shoes as I did.
Then there is the fact that all of the building department's services are scattered across many floors in a high rise and you have a very long day.
The walk there is interesting as you have to pass LA's Central Market, Pershing Square, the Disney Concert Hall, the Dorothy Chandler Pavillion and MOMA.
Next time I go there, I may just take my car. - Apr 26, 12Fancy Swiss architects Herzog & De Meuron have just introduced a new website that makes me wonder why they even bothered. It looks like it's a broken and there is virtually nothing cutting edge about it. Most architect's websites are bad simply for the fact that they try awfully hard to push the boundaries of design to justify their place on the world wide web. There are numerous examples of this trend.
Famous Iraqi born architect Zaha Hadid comes to mind. Her website has a lot of information to convey and the there are interesting things happening. The problem is that it's a clunky. It's like an old computer operating system that went from line based input to a first generation GUI. All of the little windows are movable and that's cool. But it looks a bit dated which is about the last thing you could say about the firm's architecture.I don't mean to pick on her of course. There are a lot of firms that come to mind. Renzo Piano's website is dated and the navigation is extremely limited. Frank Gehry's website is stunningly plain. Morphosis' website is graphically bold but the navigation confusing. But the website that takes the cake is Yale's School of Art. Although not technically architecture related, it belongs on this list for being U-G-L-Y.
For more websites that make you face palm, check out Vincent Flanders' Web Pages that Suck. The last website on this page will make you glad you did. - Apr 20, 12If you're interested in a one bedroom house in Malibu that looks like it's from the Flintstone's, then look no further. Dick Clark had this house designed in to look as if it were carved from a rock. The reality is that the contractors and the architect must have done A LOT of drugs to come up with something this subversive. Now with Mr. Clark's passing, it's not hard to imagine that the someone will step up to the plate and purchase this curiosity. It could be yours for all of $3.5 million.
Source: Fast Company Design - Mar 14, 12This table designed by Nika Zupnac would would be perfect work surface for my kindergartner, although I'm sure she would just want to play and slide from the work surface.
The desk is really ingenious in a simple and elegant sort of way. It has storage on one side of the tilt up portion which opens via a hand crank.
No mention of pricing or availability, but even though it looks simple, don't expect it to be cheap.
Source: Architizer - Feb 22, 12If you have ever wondered what the building off the 101 freeway in downtown is with the strange spire is, it's School #9, the Ramon Cortines School of Visual and Performing Art. It is a project that has had it's share of controversy, not the least of which was a scathing critique by some of it's students.
The architect, Wolf Prix from Coop Himmilb(l)au, sat down with Howard Silver to discuss the school's influence and his belief that as a school of performing arts, that the school's architecture should not be a "stupid box". It's an interesting video and one where you get a description of the building from the architect himself. - Oct 28, 11Now this is just too cool for school. Artist Leandro Elrich has created a simulation of the interior of a swimming pool. The walls of the faux pool are painted aquamarine and the "roof" is a piece of transparent glass with 10 cm of water over it to give the effect of being inside of a swimming pool. What I don't understand is how you get inside the pool if there is a piece of water tight glass serving as the covering. I can see a woman climbing down a ladder, but how does the water not flood the inside of the pool?
Source: Architizer - Oct 14, 11
View The 1% (or 0.0001%) in a larger mapArchitizer has another interesting article on how the 1% live. At least about the facades of all the buildings where the 1% symbols of wealth in New York live. Big surprise: all of the facades of the buildings where the 1% live are grey and non-descript. There is only so much you can do in one of the densest cities in the world.
Sources: Architizer, Gawker - Oct 12, 11I love the unapologetically minimalist design of this church located inside Riga International Airport inside the north terminal (if you happen to be in Latvia). There is a lot of concrete. The pews seem to be suspended in the air. The graphic of Mother and Child is both cute and striking. And that ceiling is icing on the cake. But it looks familiar. Hmmm. Where have I seen it before? Oh right.
Source: Architizer - Sep 14, 11This story gives me a warm feeling inside. The kids from Whitehorse High School in Montezuma, Utah, get 50 bikes and a lesson on how to ride and maintain them, while the good people from 88bikes do another good deed. And of course DesingnbuildBLUFF and the volunteers that put the trailer together can be proud of the work and cause they contributed to. The trailer made out of a hodge-podge of salvaged and recycled parts will serve as a workshop and a host to clinics that can be towed to anywhere it is needed. DesignbuildBLUFF is no stranger to the Navajo Nation and have won numerous awards from the Colorado AIA for their efforts.
Source : Inhabitat - Aug 26, 11It's easy to spot an architect when you are in an interesting building. They're the ones that are always looking up with mouths agape. Now they might just blend in with the crowd as they take panoramic photos on their iPhones courtesy of Photosynth. The iPhone app takes a series of pictures and terms them into a stitched image that you can later view in either a 3-D panorama that you can zoom in and a 2D image that stitches the images together. The image quality is pretty amazing, especially when you consider that it's coming from a smart phone. You will need the Microsoft Silverlight plugin to view the images, but it's a small price to pay to relive a striking vacation spot or interesting bit of architecture.
Source: Architizer
