Skip to main content

Architecture & Design

Architecture has a long life span. What we build and create says multitudes about what we value. See the stories that are shaping the landscape of Los Angeles and beyond.

A young girl stands in the foreground with a backdrop of flying birds and a halo of concentric circles.
Support Provided By

Latest

 Xaviera Simmons' billboard art installation, "Because You Know Ultimately We Will Band a Militia," for Desert X 2021 stands along the Gene Autry Trail. Four billboards stand in a line. The one closest to the foreground reads, "You are entering the reparations framework." A car drives down the road that runs along the billboards.
Created by artist Xaviera Simmons, the billboards along Gene Autry Trail in Palm Spring focus on messages that urgently need to make its way into the nation’s political, social and ecological dialog.
Zahrah Alghamdi's "What Lies Beyond the Walls" uses materials from her home country of Saudi Arabia and also Coachella Valley.
1:57
Zahrah Alghamdi connects the desert landscapes of Saudi Arabia and Palm Springs.
Judy Baca and the Great Wall.jpg
Recently acquired by the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, "The History of California" Archive is a collection that features over 350 objects related to the development and execution of Judy Baca's monumental mural "The Great Wall of Los Angeles." The pieces in the archive reflect several parts of the mural's development process from concept drawings to final colorations.
House No. 1, the R Cloud House is a crown-like house with decorative fencing
On a triangle-shaped lot near the historic Watts Towers and the beloved Watts Towers Arts Center, a new mixed-use project is underway to draw people from all over the city and beyond to experience the Black aesthetic through architecture.
New concrete embankments at the Ciliwung River, Bukit Duri and Kampung Pulo, May 2017 | Kian Goh
As cities adapt to climate change, poor and marginalized populations are often pushed into more environmentally risky areas, which begs the question, how should urban planning decisions be made? And who gets to make them? 
POT customers participate in shop’s activities | Rikki Wright
POT feels inviting to those who might feel most unwelcome at other pottery studios in Los Angeles — people of color, queer people and people who have never picked up clay or sat down at a wheel. 
Yushan Men, A Forest in the City: Mass Timber Infill Urbanism with Neil Denari | Courtesy of UCLA Architecture and Urban Design
A big part of architecture school is getting real-world experience holding exhibitions. With the closures, many students feel shortchanged, but exhibits increase access to professionals.
Street view of the A+D Museum in 2010. | Carren Jao
Another museum has closed due to COVID-19, but this time, it’s continuing online.
Rieko Takamatsu, art professor Devon Tsuno's wife, wears a face shield made by the 3D PPE Artist Network. | Courtesy 3D PPE Artist Network
Started while in quarantine, 3D PPE Artist Network has produced and distributed more than 7,000 free face shields to some 60 locations.
Paul R. Williams in a library | J. Paul Getty Trust. Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles
In an era where architects typically majored in one style, he excelled in every architectural style, making him one of the most renowned architects throughout the world. Here are some of his lesser-known, but equally impressive projects.
Paul R. Williams with Frank Sinatra and another woman | Still from "Hollywood's Architect"
Hollywood soon discovered Paul R. Williams, and he was called “architect to the stars.”
Paul Revere Williams discusses a project with others at the site of the future LAX | Still from "Hollywood's Architect"
In the course of his five-decade career, Paul Revere Williams, an African American architect born in Los Angeles on February 18, 1894, overcame prejudice and become one of the foremost architects in history.
Active loading indicator