From the Summit to the Sea: Alissa Walker liked futuristic subway scene in the Spike Jonze film Her so much that she tracked down Geoff McFetridge, the graphic designer who created the map glimpsed momentarily during the movie, and asked him for a copy. There’s a lot for Angelenos to chew on. “A new neighborhood, Melrose Center, which I would guess to be around modern-day Koreatown, has become a major hub, bigger than present-day downtown,” she writes. “And for those who bemoan our current transit options at the airport: The train not only goes to LAX now, but it makes THREE stops!” Then the commenters step up to complain about the parts of this not-real map that don’t match L.A.
See what architect Elizabeth Diller, who Jonze says inspired his vision for a near-future Los Angeles, said in a Q&A with Carolina Miranda about the city and the film. [Gizmodo, Reddit]
Other news driving the day: Will Bridgeghazi take down Port Authority chairman David Samson? [The New York Times]
Bjarke Ingels talks about the future of housing. [CNBC]
Yale University art and architecture history professor (and ARCHITECT contributor) Diana E. E. Kleiner will offer a course on Roman architecture via Coursera, a massive open online course (MOOC) platform. Hers will be one of Yale’s first forays into MOOCs. [Yale Daily News]
New York’s School Construction Authority has sued Ennead Architects over a playground in Staten Island. [DNAinfo New York]
German architect Gerhard Albert Becker has been jailed for allegedly violating building codes with full knowledge when he designed his Hollywood Hills, Calif., home. A veteran firefighter was killed and several more were injured in a 2011 fire, which was linked one of four outdoor fireplaces installed inside the home. [Sourceable]
The Boss does “Bridgegate.” [YouTube, h/t Politico Playbook]
Yesterday, as the Supreme Court heard a challenge to the 35-foot buffer zones that restrict where demonstrators may assemble outside reproductive healthcare clinics, Justice Elena Kagan proved that she is not an architect. She guesstimated that the court (“from this bench to the end of the court”) was about 35 feet—but the court is 82 feet wide by 91 feet long. [Politico]
California land-use officials are stepping in on a debate waging in San Francisco by questioning the legality of a proposed ballot measure that would require voter approval to exceed the height limits of waterfront development. This initiative would affect at least three major development projects, including the Golden State Warriors' plans for a new arena. [San Francisco Chronicle]
Actress Eva Mendes wishes she were an architect. [E]
Artists painted the inside of an old Lower East Side tenement: “For one week during installations and on opening night it was like the ghost of New York's downtown 1970s and '80s Bohemia was coming back to the island in all it's imperfectness to remind everyone of Manhattan's former greatness as a petri dish for experimentation and discovery.” [The Huffington Post]
The White Rock Lake Wildlife Water Theater, a structure featuring popular wildlife perches installed in White Rock Lake near Dallas, may need to come down. [White Rock Lake Weekly]
A deep dive on Michigan’s Taubman School of Architecture. [The Michigan Daily]
With the approaching 20th anniversary of the devastating Northridge earthquake, Los Angeles city officials are revisiting policy initiatives to protect buildings and critical infrastructure. [NBC Los Angeles]
Columnist James Lileks offers up ideas to convert the St. Paul’s Macy’s building into a museum. The St. Paul Port Authority recently bought the building for $3 million. [Minneapolis Star Tribune]
Los Angeles supervisors approved the redesigned Grand Avenue mixed-use project by Frank Gehry, FAIA. The $650 million retail, hotel, residential complex is located across the street from the Walt Disney Concert Hall. [Los Angeles Times]
Robert L. Newsom, FAIA, becomes managing principal at Leo A Daly’s L.A. office.
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