Panel Discussion: Low Rise, Mid Rise, High Rise: Housing in L.A. Today

June 19, 2021

Much of the public dialogue around housing in Los Angeles today has to do with the politics around it, and the crisis of homelessness. But while these debates continue, housing is being built, in a patchwork of starkly different scales and styles. It is shaped in part by zoning, code, and parking requirements, costly land, construction and materials, as well as competing development and neighborhood pressures. Yet despite this web of constraints, designers are building on the tradition of innovative SoCal living. “a space of human appearance.” The demands of hyper-capitalism and global corporate wealth dictate a new urban form, designed essentially as landing pads for an international elite.

Public Opening and Conversation Schedule
1:00 – 2:00: Meet + Mingle with the Architects
2:00: Welcome with Frances Anderton + Stephen Phillips
2:05: ADUs (Custom) Ben Warwas founder of Byben and Elizabeth Timme, of LA Más
2:20: ADUs (Factory) with Natalya Dobrinyna of Mighty Buildings, Gordon Stott of Connect Homes and Steve Glenn of Plant Prefab
2:35: Low Rise and Zoning with Barbara Bestor of Bestor Architecture and Angela Brooks of Brooks Scarpa
2:50: Low Rise as Equity Opportunity in South LA with Michael Anderson, author of “Urban Magic: Vibrant Black and Brown Communities Are Possible”3:05: Mid Rise, 5 Over 2s and How to Make Them Lovely with Lance Simon of Egan Simon, Herwig Baumgartner and Scott Uriu of B+ U and Patrick Tighe or Patrick Tighe Architecture
3:20: High Rise, Can we Build an LA-specific Tower? with Farooq Ameen and Pariya Mohammaditamar of City Design Office, Lorcan O’Herlihy of LOHA, Marcello Spina of P-A-T-T-E-R-N-S, and Li Wen of Gensler
3:40: Finale – Collapsing Boundaries with Eric Owen Moss