City OKs Libeskind Skyscraper

The Los Angeles City Planning Commission granted approval to a proposed skyscraper that would rise near the Convention Center between Figueroa and Flower streets downtown. The project is the second of two large towers planned for downtown with Korean investment. Both projects (the other being the Korean Air project at Figueroa and 7th Sts.) have been criticized as too large and cataclysmic, even for this part of the city. The recession-era timing may also seem strange. But bold developers citywide are scrambling to commence projects - taking advantage of development-hungry bureaucracies and cheap construction costs - in hopes of fervent demand upon completion.

The 43-story skyscraper is being designed by Daniel Libeskind, the famous and somewhat controversial architect behind the flailing Freedom Tower in New York City. Program calls for 273 residential units stacked above an eight-level groundfloor parking platform, as well as street-oriented retail, restaurants, and spa. Libeskind is a proud member of the profession's new guard of "starchitects," (in)famous for flashy, tourist-friendly icons designed to dazzle, and desperate for attention. These buildings are caustic to the city because they ignore their contexts and instead focus on themselves. Downtown's wealth of these buildings has created a dizzying array of built islands, and has done little to improve the urban experience.

LA Times architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne blames this phenomenon on the city's "all-or-nothing" approach to development. Libeskind's tower will replace a surface parking lot, but dozens of other parking lots still plague the city's center. The city's permitting process, especially downtown, is so lengthy and formidable that few smaller scale developers even attempt to build there. The resulting mixture is of ugly, underutilized asphalt and daunting, expensive megaprojects. The modest, three- to ten-story resdiential blocks that create the connective tissue in a successful city are missing. This city has been clamoring for big-name architecture for years; now that we have it, we don't know how to do it. Be careful what you wish for, LA.

Eli Broad Taunts LAUSD with Cash for Arts School

Eli Broad recently pledged close to half a million dollars to support the enrollment of minority students at Juilliard, the elite New York City arts academy. This has left LAUSD back home in Los Angeles wondering - where's our money? The billionaire developer-philanthropist has proven his dedication to the city of Los Angeles and to the arts with tens of millions of dollars in donations over the years. He has mentioned an interest in supporting the arts at LA schools before, but this time it is critical. The school district plans to open Central Los Angeles High School #9 - a new flagship arts school - in the fall, but as of yet have no director for the school and little clue as to how to run it.

The school, which is in its last phase of construction, set the district back about $250 million. But because the school was built on the desirable district-owned Grand Avenue lot , an additional $190 million was spent to relocate the district's offices. The school has received much acclaim during construction, both for its proximity to the burgeoning arts corridor on Grand Ave downtown, and for its curious design by Austrian firm Coop Himmelblau. But as the 2009/10 school year approaches, district officials worry about the school's ability to open and operate smoothly.

Joining others, Broad has suggested the school be managed by an outside organization but continue to receive funding from the district. This charter school arrangement has been extremely successful in rehabbing other struggling local schools. But the district refuses. Another option is to delay the opening of the school for one more year, until everyone can truly agree on its mode of operation. But that delay would be costly and inefficient. Construction is nearing completion and the idea of maintaining a vacant school is both embarrassing and depressing. Whatever happens, it has to happen quick - Eli Broad won't be dangling his millions forever. If we don't suit his fancy here, he may just pack up and move back to Detroit. Or worse: New York.