Dwell's Guide to Los Angeles
Though Dwell may be in NorCal, we still love a trip south to L.A., so take a tour with us as we map out the hot spots in one of the nation's hippest hubs. Text by Alissa Walker.
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Center for Land Use Interpretation
International exhibitions rotate in and out of this gallery space that examines the nature and extent of human interaction with Earth's surface. Bus expeditions and community-specific installations create outreach into local neighborhoods, and a bookstore pairs titles from CLUI's imprint alongisde similarly eclectic materials. clui.com
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Father's Office
Sang Yoon's legendary burger is curated down to the condiments (no ketchup, don't ask), but his pub serves the city's best on-tap beer selection, too. Also in Santa Monica. fathersoffice.com
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Mandrake
Culver City architects, artists, and curators regularly rendezvous at this long, stripped-down bar where the bartender doles out fresh-squeezed cocktails and art-collecting advice. mandrakebar.com
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SPF:a Gallery
In a spiffy live-work loft building designed by Studio Pali Fekete Architects (their office is also inside), this gallery, curated by SPF:a principal Judit Meda Fekete and formerly known as MODAA, focuses on the intersection of art and design. Next door, the restaurant Wilson serves art-fully plated comfort food to the local designerati. modaagallery.com
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Small World Books
Just off the Venice boardwalk (look for the sign saying 'Books,' not 'Bongs'), this literary gem is the best-kept secret of well-read Westsiders. smallworldbooks.com
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Axe Restaurant
Staunchly minimalist in appearance and menu, Axe offers the best of the local farmer's market, great wine, boisterous conversation, and very little else, in the absolute best way possible. axerestaurant.com
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Mollusk
In many ways, this boutique just steps from the Pacific is a typical surf shop, carrying all the proper accoutrements for catching waves. But a peek beyond the boards reveals clothes, books, and gallery shows by local artists, including a minishop of products designed by illustrator Geoff McFetridge. mollusksurfshop.com
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Silent Movie Theatre
This 1940s Art Deco theater still shows silent movies as well as forgotten classics, art-house films, and animation festivals curated by the independent bookstore across the street, Family. silentmovietheatre.com
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Space 15 Twenty
This mall is anchored by Urban Outfitters, several hip boutiques and galleries, and design bookstore Hennessey & Ingalls. Space15Twenty.com
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Cinerama Dome
The best place to see a movie in the city is in this Welton Becket–designed precast-concrete dome, built in 1963 to showcase a radical new moviegoing experience. The ArcLight Hollywood wraps around the outside with 14 more screens. Preshow, browse the design-heavy bookstore in the lobby. artlightcinemas.com
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Undefeated
The colorful kicks are lined up like candy in this legendary storefront where the snaeker-freaker culture begins and the lines for limited-edition releases never eend. Gold encrusted Pumas? You got it. Also in Hollywood ad Santa Monica. undftd.com
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Gingergrass
This surprisingly authentic Vietnamese cafe serves fragant, affordable bowls of pho and inhabits an attractive modern space with bamboo tables, lotus-printed lamps, and oversize windows. gingergrass.com
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Skylight Books
A recent expansion added shelves of design and architecture books to an already-impressive collection focused on cinema and local titles. Its reading events are the stuff of literary legend. skylightbooks.com
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Lamill Coffee Boutique
“Third wave” coffee is served using brewing methods more akin to a chemistry experiment than a coffee press at this fantastic Regency-style luncheonette setting. lamillcoffee.com
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Mohawk General Store
Husband-and-wife team Kevin and Bo Carney sell exceptionally sharp shoes by designers like Slow and Steady Wins the Race as well as equally snazzy furniture and accessories. The signage tricks customers into thinking they’ve wandered into a dry-goods store of old, but the walls are hung with exhibitions from hot contemporary artists. mohawkgeneralstore.net
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Cole's
The warm, wood-paneled interiors of this 1908 restaurant match its prized offering, the French Dip (supposedly invented here a century ago) as well as era-appropriate cocktails. Next door is the leather-bound neighborhood watering hole The Association. colesfrenchdip.com
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Ford & Ching
Strappy chaise longues and sinewy aluminum lighting vie for attention in this stunning conversion of a historic Chinatown theater. Willard Ford and John Brady curate an eclectic global collection of exotic yet thoroughly modern furniture, accessories, and art with a flair for reclaimed materials. Ford&Ching.com
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The Standard Downtown
The former Standard Oil building retains its corporate bones while bowing to the stark chicness of André Balazs’s value-minded design chain. Rooms are utilitarian but come with access to the city’s best rooftop, equipped with pool, full bar, inspired diner fare, and bright-red pods installed with waterbeds. Standardhotels.com
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Heath Los Angeles
The mid-century pottery institution's first store outside of its Sausalito, California, factory, Heath Ceramics is a bright showroom selling its tile and dinnerware lines plus the distinctive lunar-surface pottery thrown by legendary local potter and studio director Adam Silverman. heathceramics.com
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SCI-Arc Gallery
Thanks to the hundreds of architects in orbit around the Southern California Institute of Architecture, more commonly called SCI-Arc, there’s always something visually stunning to be found in the school’s on-site gallery. Space-specific installations conceived by Pritzker Prize winners and assembled by SCI-Arc students challenge the definitions of form, materials, and, sometimes, gravity. sciarc.edu
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Welcome Hunters
These exceptionally fashion-forward stalkers of high street style gather renowned brands and witty one-offs from domestic designers
like Built by Wendy and an impressive roster of designers not easily found in the U.S. like Sweden’s Jenny Hellström and London’s KTZ (of Björk swan dress fame). A nearby concept store named Choose Chinatown features one designer per season in an experimental space. Welcomehuntersla.com -
Seven Grand
Seven Grand bar is a plaid-on-plaid Kentucky Derby clubhouse where taxidermy is encased in Bass Pro Shops–like dioramas (ladies will enjoy diamond-laden crows in the restrooms). Whiskeys (or bourbons) are the thing, seemingly thousands of them, displayed in vintage jewelry cases and looking every bit as expensive. Sevengrand.com
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Figueroa Hotel
This Marrakech-in-L.A. experience features exuberant mosaics and a palm-fringed pool. figueroahotel.com
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Blue Velvet
Produce grown on the roof garden is served poolside and at a sunken communal table. bluevelvetrestaurant.com
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Katsuya Downtown L.A.
Philippe Starck’s decor rolls well with the sushi.Also in Hollywood, Glendale, and Brentwood. katsuya.com
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Mountain Bar
A cavernous blood-red-and-onyx space lit from above by oversize paper lanterns. themountainbar.com
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Ooga Booga
Wendy Yao sells Mended Veil bracelets, No Age albums, Raymond Pettibon zines, and more. oogaboogastore.com
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Cafe Stella
This very cozy, very French cafe is filled with chatty designers examining their Bordeaux over signature black-framed glasses.
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El Prado
Salvaged wood paneling ups the vintage vibe at this beer-only bar with quirky snacks and a stack of records just begging to be requested. elpradobar.com
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ReForm School
This witty school-themed design store, with pencils in the ceiling, has a passion for the handmade and repurposed. reformschoolrules.com
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Materials & Applications
This residential courtyard is a grown-up design playground and a perfect place to mount technically complex and aesthetically ambitious installations. emanate.org
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SLS Hotel
Spend the night with Philippe Starck's Alice-in-Hollywood whimsy or sample it at the Bazaar's dining 'microclimates' by chef Jose Andres. slshotels.com
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Los Angeles Forum for Architecture and Urban Design
This gallery curated by the city's independent architecture organization features installations, talks, and events. Exhibits are creatively displayed from bent alumnnum tubing that retracts to the ceiling. laforum.org
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Pizzeria Mozza
A stool at the bar is also a front row seat for watching the staff sling Nancy Silverton's singular pizzas out of a brick oven. mozza-la.com
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Animal Restaurant
A bare-bones dining room, two charismatic male chefs from TV--the food dudes--and bacon in pretty much everything. animalmenu.wordpress.com
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Avalon Hotel of Beverly Hills
Rooms appointed with works by the masters of modern design--Eames, Noguchi, Nelson--swirl around a lush central courtyard and a bright blue hourglass-shaped pool. Originially designed by Alvin Lustig. avalonbeverlyhills.com
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Sprinkles Cupcakes
This cupcakery wins points for its warm, woody interiors and piped-icing graphics,a s well as for the distinctive dot-topped minicakes that come from its ovens. sprinkles.com
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Fitzsu
This one-stop design shop gathers the best global goods--from wooden toys to sleek gadgets--with an unmistakably Southern California statet of mind. fitzsu.com
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French 50s-60s
Michele Sommerlath dutifully scours the flea markets of France, returning home with the most stunning mid-century furniture and accessory specimens. french50s60s.com
Comments
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How about "Walt Disney Concert Hall" by Frank O. Gehry? Worth taking a look at while I'm in town?
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Of course! You have to check it out.
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Hey Justin, for a good list of what architecture to see in LA, I stumbled across this great list awhile back and always send it to friends: http://mintaka.sdsu.edu/faculty/erics/web/arcangeles.html If you're looking for the best LA buildings built in the last year or so, check out this slideshow of the winners of the LABC's architecture awards: http://www.fastcompany.com/multimedia/slideshows/content/los-angeles-architecture.html
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