Category Archives: Calabasas

Robert Winter, The Godfather of LA Architecture Passes

“Robert Winter was in the last of a group who lived and breathed the built world of Los Angeles, the people who experienced the development of midcentury modern architecture before there was a term for it.”

Paddy Calistro, Publisher Angel City Press

Robert Winter, the most renowned Los Angeles architectural historian and the Arthur G. Coons Professor of the History of Ideas, Emeritus, at Occidental College, Los Angeles passed at the age of 94. His writings have shined a light on the region’s architectural treasures and helped define the city’s built environment. Lovingly known throughout the architectural industry as “Bungalow Bob,” he was particularly known for his contributions to the history of the California branch of the Arts and Crafts Movement. Winter was present at the creation of the Craftsman Revival in the early 1970s — a revival that, as he has famously noted, has gone on far longer than the relatively short-lived Craftsman period itself.

He was born in Indianapolis in 1924 and attended Dartmouth University and Johns Hopkins before accepting positions at UCLA and Occidental College, where he taught for more than three decades. Robert Winter was eagerly known for his architectural writing, authoring or co-authoring numerous publications over the years. His most recognized work was his collaboration with David Gebhard, titled An Architectural Guidebook to Los Angeles, which became a ‘must-own’ reference guide for architects and architectural enthusiasts since the first editions in 1965.

Robert Winter lived in The Batchelder House, which is a historic home built in 1910 and located in Pasadena. It is known as an important center of Pasadena cultural life and was designed and built by Ernest A. Batchelder, a prominent leader of the Arts and Crafts Movement. The house is a large bungalow style home, with the woodsy design elements of a Swiss chalet.

From the ADG Jobsite

Install in progress at an auto museum in Ohio…

by Gerald Olesker, CEO, ADG

The Best of ADG for 2018

New year — a new chapter, new verse, or just the same old story? Ultimately we write it. The choice is ours.

~Alex Morritt

We want to take this opportunity to review some of the Best of ADG for 2018. Every end marks a new beginning. Keep your spirits and determination unshaken, and you will always walk the glory road. With courage, faith and great effort, you shall achieve everything you desire. We wish you a Happy New Year!

~ The ADG Team

The Best of ADG 2018

Paul Williams Shaped the Face of Los Angeles Architecture

The Broadway District Rises Again

Pritzker Architecture Prize Committee Now Led By Supreme Court Justice

The Noted Passing of Gene Leedy

Kanye West Launches YEEZY Home In Calabasas

“I want to do product, I am a product person. Not just clothing but water bottle design, architecture … I make music but I shouldn’t be limited to once place of creativity. I hang around architects mostly, people that wanna make things as dope as possible.”

~Kanye West, YEEZY

Entertainer, entrepreneur and social icon, Kanye West is constantly pushing the envelope and impacting modern culture. Best know for his music, he has taken his YEEZY brand to the top of fashion circles and made a name for himself as a designer. His shoe brand has become one of the most influential brands on the market. Now, he is taking his YEEZY brand into the design space, specifically working with architects and interior designers to bring his inspirations to life. The design space is located in Calabasas, CA and will be the creative studio and headquarters for all aspects of the YEEZY brand.

The space was designed by longtime West collaborator Willo Perron. The equal parts rough and minimal spaces contain a mix of production facilities for West’s YEEZY brand clothing line, a recording studio, and meeting spaces, among other uses. The creative spaces reflect West’s collaborations with Axel Vervoordt for the rapper’s nearby home in Hidden Hills and speak to an interest on the part of West to mix and match visual modes. The endeavor will aim to include architectural and urban design in West’s growing collaborative art practice, which already includes music, film, fashion, and performance art initiatives.

Kanye West has been known also for his outspoken political and social views, not to mention his strange behavior and comments during awards shows over the years. This has created a significant amount of controversy. Whether he is a lightning rod for public opinion or a genius marketer is up for significant debate. However, there is no doubt that the YEEZY brand is influential and Kanye is the one people are buzzing about. The old saying that any PR is good PR because people are talking may be just his approach. With that being said, Kanye West is a successful creative, and he is opening a door to an avenue for him to innovate and collaborate in with the backing of a powerful and influential brand.

From the ADG Jobsite

A pair of gigantic lanterns at a client’s beach house

by Gerald Olesker, CEO, ADG Lighting

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Los Angeles Appoints the First Chief Design Officer

The City of Los Angeles and Mayor Eric Garcetti have taken a bold step and appointed the first Chief Design Officer for the city. Because of the scale and pace of development of the city, Mayor Garcetti feels strongly about having a focus on the future while balancing the need for development and the importance of keeping the face of the city inspired. The challenges the city faces are vast; expanding the Metro system, Olympic infrastructure improvements and the desperate need to address the housing and homeless crisis. This is an area where the city has traditionally struggled.

Christopher Hawthorne was the architecture critic for the Los Angeles Times from 2004 to March of this year. Before coming to the LA Times, he was architecture critic for Slate and a frequent contributor to The New York Times. He is the co- author of The Green House: New Directions in Sustainable Architecture. Hawthorne grew up in Berkeley and has a bachelor’s degree from Yale. His vision for the new role is to make the city more beautiful, inclusive and efficient.

From the the Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Broad Museum, or the beautiful angles of a modernist home next to a striking building outfitted with the minarets of a temple, Los Angeles architecture is unique and inspiring. The wonderful weather and the beautiful people found in Los Angeles have long inspired breathtaking architecture and a great number of dreamers and eccentrics. Frank Gehry and Frank Lloyd Wright were among the visionaries who came to Los Angeles and left their indelible mark on this City of Angels.

In an era of increased public awareness about urbanism, it makes sense that the people driving the discourse should be in a position to change things for the better. Making that happen, however, is incumbent on mayors and other officials. Inviting critics to become part of the city-building process is the first step; listening to them and giving them real authority has to come next.

From the ADG Jobsite

Gorgeous entry doors

by Gerald Olesker, CEO, ADG Lighting

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Architecture History: Recognizing the Women of Architecture

Beverly Willis and Wanda Bubriski have spent the past five years documenting the work of women in architecture. Since 2012, the work of women in architecture has been exhaustively researched, fact checked, and photo documented to promote the influence of those being recognized. The website Pioneering Women of American Architecture has finally been launched and features architects who have met the strictest criteria of a jury of architectural historians. Some of the women included on the website are Ada Luise Huxtable, Marion Mahoney Griffin and Ray Kaiser Eames.

Beverly Willis is an American architect who played a major role in the development of many architectural concepts and practices that influenced the design of American cities and architecture. Her achievements in the development of new technologies in architecture, urban planning, public policy and her leadership activities on behalf of architects are well known. Willis is best known for her built-work of the San Francisco Ballet Building. She is the co-founder of the National Building Museum, in Washington, D.C., and founder of the Beverly Willis Architecture Foundation, a non-profit organization working to change the culture for women in the building industry through research and education.

After 35 years leading her firm FAIA, Willis found that women in architecture were not represented in books that documented the practice and history of architecture. This inspired her to work with two architecture historians who shared her concerns. In 2002, the Beverly Willis Architectural Foundation (BWAF) was founded with a mission of advancing the knowledge and recognizing the work of women in architecture. BWAF commissions and curates research that pertains to women working in all disciplines of architecture.

Check out the work of BWAF and the website here.

From the ADG Factory Floor

A series of dashes…bronze work

by Gerald Olesker, CEO, ADG Lighting

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Los Angeles Architecture – What Will Be the Fate of CBS’s Television City?

Another Los Angeles landmark is threatened as it transitions from a long-term stewardship. The iconic property know as CBS’s Television City is reportedly being put up for sale and is being eyed by several developers. It is know as one of the best examples of international style architecture in Los Angeles. The structure is the master work by mid-century modern architecture firm Pereira and Luckman. The team included the late architect Gin Wong as project coordinator. The Los Angeles Conservancy has submitted a nomination to designate the CBS Television City complex as a Historic-Cultural Monument (HCM) following news in September that CBS Corporation was potentially interested in selling the property.

Television City played a major role in the history of television as the first large-scale, all-new facility in the nation designed to meet the mass-production of television programming. The studios at Television City have hosted such memorable television events as Elvis Presley’s first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, and featured the talent of iconic comedians Jack Benny and Carol Burnett. The studio now hosts show like The Price is Right and The Late Late Show with James Corden. The 25-acre property is located at Beverly and Fairfax, close to The Grove and the original Farmers Market. At least two major developers were reportedly interested in the property, which could potentially fetch anywhere from $500 million to $900 million.

Gin Wong, Architect

Gin Wong was a Chinese-born American architect based in Los Angeles, California. During his career, he was the chief of the Architectural Guild for the School of Architecture and Fine Arts at University of Southern California, the founder and chairman of Gin Wong Associates, and the president of William L. Pereira & Associates. He was known as the designer of numerous buildings and centers in Southern California and the Pacific Rim, which include the LAX Theme Building, the Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO) Headquarters Building in Downtown Los Angeles, the CBS Television City, just to name a few. Wong had a significant history with the development of Los Angeles. He was pivotal in the design of the original Los Angeles International Airport, developing a satellite system that moved arrivals, departures and baggage terminals efficiently, a system now considered the blueprint for airport design.

From the ADG Jobsite

Custom alabaster pendant at Malibu client’s home

by Gerald Olesker, CEO ADG Lighting

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