Many of us become aware of architecture only when superstars like Frank Gehry or Richard Meier design award-winning buildings like Disney Hall or Getty Center. But alongside these men are scores of men and women who are working away with a public fervor to bring good design into all aspects of our lives. They believe that their profession is essential to the wellbeing of society and that they are indispensable in developing livable cities and a healthy environment. This group wants all of us laypeople to think about architecture and design and to learn the difference between good design and no design. Architectural schools have always been laboratories for new ideas, but now the A+D Museum is presenting the world of design and architecture to the public in an accessible way. Longtime Los Angeles architect Bernard Zimmerman always wanted a museum to bring attention to architecture and design, says Palisadian Stephen Kanner, who trained with Zimmerman and is currently the president of the A+D board of directors,. The idea evolved from the success of a number of exhibitions over the last decade specifically dedicated to design. For instance, in 1998 Zimmerman conceived New Blood 102, which brought together 102 of the newest talents in the fields of architecture, interior design, fashion design, graphic design, landscape architecture and product design. But Zimmerman’s dream came together unexpectedly at a Passover dinner at Santa Monica Canyon real estate developer Ira Yellin’s house. Kanner asked Yellin, who at the time was the owner of the historic Bradbury Building downtown, if he had any space available for the museum. He did, and up until Yellin’s death last year, the A+D Museum, which opened in January 2001, was comfortably ensconced in that eclectic Victorian landmark. The museum recently relocated to an airy, 5,000-sq.- ft. space on Sunset in West Hollywood, where white walls and polished concrete floors provide a tabula rasa for a wide range of design exhibitions. With a home secure, the museum has gone full steam ahead booking exhibitions to the fall of 2006, including Richard Neutra’s VDL House, where he lived with his family; 2X8, an AIA-sponsored exhibit from eight L.A. architecture and design schools; and Vroom!!, a cutting edge automobile design exhibit that explores the world’s foremost driving machines. This schedule demonstrates A+D’s commitment to presenting the broadest definition of design. The current exhibit showcases recent designs for development and improvement of L.A. The projects included range from homeless shelters and daycare centers to pedestrian amenities and greenways. The way in which the show has been mounted is one key to its success. Each of the projects is presented with a full-color rendering and a short text description. These ‘packages’ of information have been photoscreened onto translucent scrims that act as partitions in the gallery. And each project is identified by a color’pumpkin for a transitional housing shelter; brown for the Gramercy Court shade structure’so the visitor can easily identify each project. The museum’s board of directors not only serves as the clearing house in scheduling exhibitions, but is also very much a working board. Director of Installations Tom Hinerfeld installed the current exhibition, and Creative Director Tyrone Drake donated the cards, posters and repro graphics for the shows that are generated by the museum itself. ‘A lot of this is work in kind,’ Kanner says.’We refer a lot of architects and designers to them.’ Kanner’s involvement with A+D is a natural extension of his dedication to the work of other architects. In 1994 in celebration of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Los Angeles Chapter, he co-chaired the 100-100 exhibition, which was an exhibit of the work of 100 high-quality architecture firms in Los Angeles. And as president-elect of the L. A. chapter of AIA, he seems dedicated to broadening the vision of the association. ‘As president I will be working to connect AIA with college and high school students and the public with exhibitions and programs at the museum,’ Kanner says. ‘The AIA awards presentation will be held at the museum in October.’ While Kanner readily accedes that he spends considerable time on museum activities’three to four meetings a week and an average of 12 phone calls a day’he is still thoroughly engaged and energized by his own architectural practice of 25 architects. ‘Although I don’t draw every line as I used to do in the early days, I still sketch the concepts for the projects,’ projects that range from one of the 34 homes commissioned by New York developer Coco Brown to occupy a unique subdivision in Sagaponac, Long Island, to the low-income housing project to be built at the corner of Santa Monica Boulevard and 26th St. For the Sagaponac project, architect Richard Meier was asked to choose architects who ranged in age and accomplishment’including Philip Johnson, Zaha Hadid and Steven Holl’to create an anti-tract where each house would be an expression of an individual’s vision. Kanner’s design, a simple two-story rectangle sited on a two-foot high wooden plinth, maximizes the sunlight that penetrates the dense forest surrounding the house, and reiterates the clarity, strength and optimism of his work. Kanner believes the principles of modernism continue to hold true, despite the fact that modernism is often interpreted as architecture that is cold and inhospitable. ‘It’s about light, space, materials and problem-solving,’ says Kanner, who designed the modernist home in the Palisades which he shares with his wife Cynthia and daughters Caroline, 9, and Charlotte, 3 1/2. ‘It’s an architecture that makes a good modern home feel good.’ The A+D Museum , 8560 Sunset, one block west of La Cienega, is open Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday, noon to 6 p.m. Admission is free.
This page is available to subscribers. Click here to sign in or get access.
