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We've Come A Long Way, Mike Brady
Architect geeks and other assorted party-goers descended on the A+D Architecture and Design Museum last weekend for the opening reception of Crosswired, a performance and installation series featuring design, motion visual art and experimental electronic music.
We didn’t really hear anything too experimental, unless it was the deafening “rave” music that was possibly experimenting to see how much pressure our eardrums could take. We did elbow our way through a maze of Skyy 90 vodka advertising to check out the museum’s “Enlightened Development” exhibit featuring models and photos of architectural projects that incorporate innovative design and ecological sustainability.
Highlights definitely included the Broadway housing designed by Community Corp. of Santa Monica. The 41-unit affordable family housing project is partly clad in recycled aluminum cans obtained from local recycling companies and also contains energy-efficient fixtures and plans for a rooftop hydronic solar panel heating system.
But we were mostly oohing over the designs envisioned by Samitaur Constructs, especially the Conjunctive Points Theater Complex planned for Culver City that has a vertically bent form at its east end and at its west end, a 90-degree twist making it look a lot like a new rollercoaster at Magic Mountain or a fantasyland skate ramp. Check that and other designs that put Gehry to shame at Eric Owen Moss Architects.
The “Enlightened Development” exhibit closes May 31. Visit A+D Architecture and Design Museum for more info.
photo by Wayne Faler
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