Frank Gehry has been given the opportunity to intensify his (sort of) Hometown Hero status in Downtown Los Angeles instead of recent Pritzker Prize-winner Thom Mayne of Morphosis. Related Companies, the developer chosen by committee to handle the Grand Avenue Project, has selected Gehry to be the lead architect of a high rise and initially oversee design for several other buildings -- all part of the $1.8 billion complex adjacent to his insta-landmark Disney......

Yesterday's LA Times explores the intricate relationship between LACMA’s biggest benefactor, billionaire Eli Broad, and the plans to revamp the most visible art establishment in Los Angeles. Broad selected the architect (he chose Renzo Piano's plan after Rem Koolhaas’s tear-it-down-and-rebuild-it approach was scrapped) and organized a new board to manage acquisition monies and supervise construction. This decision-making power was granted in exchange for his pledge of $10 million to support LACMA’s collection and $50......