Thursday, July 27th, 2023

5:30 pm - 7:30 pm PDT

Helms Design Center

Los Angeles was built imperfectly, at an imperfect time. Now it is trying to reinvent itself. Into what?

That’s Topic A for authors Frances Anderton (Common Ground: Multifamily Housing in Los Angeles) and Josh Stephens (The Urban Mystique) when they sit down to talk about Los Angeles, community and urbanity today – from the house to the megalopolis.

As “home” moves from the suburbs to thoroughfares and backyards, Frances considers how to sustain the region’s vaunted easy living – by adapting LA’s legacy of innovative, bucolic and socially centered multifamily housing. Meanwhile, Josh tries to make sense of the cultural, political and real estate interests that make “shoehorning a new city into the old” so frustrating, and so fascinating.

They will take on the struggles over housing, the clash of scales that shape LA’s cityscape, the arterial development that offers the chance for enlivened streets, and the “zoning, floor-to-air ratios, density, NIMBY-ism, YIMBY-ism and all manner of arcane, acronym-laden planning ideas” that, in Josh’s words, shape our idiosyncratic Southland.

Please join the Westside Urban Forum on the evening of Thursday, July 27, for a discussion between Josh and Frances to explore the ways that design, planning, policy, and culture intersect -- and reveal ways Los Angeles can learn from its past.

The event will open with refreshments and viewing of Close to the Edge: The Birth of Hip Hop Architecture, an exhibition co-presented by Helms Bakery District, SoCal NOMA and A+D Museum.

Registration Fees
$10 WUF Members
$15 Non-Members

Pre-registration closes on Thursday, July 27th, at 12:00 PM.  After Thursday, July 27th, onsite registration will be available at the cost of an additional $10.  No refunds or credits will be provided after this day. 

Copies of books will be available to purchase, courtesy of Arcana Books

Event Time
5:30 pm: Doors open for cocktails and viewing of Close to the Edge: The Birth of Hip Hop Architecture
6:30 - 7:30pm: Program begins at Design Center
7:30pm - onward: Drinks and discussion to follow at Father's Office (no host)

Location
The Helms Design Center is located at the Helms Bakery campus at 8745 Washington Boulevard in Culver City.  Google map and directions

Directions
Avoid the stress of rush hour and skip traffic!  The Helms Design Center at 8745 Washington Blvd in Culver City is conveniently located a short, pleasant walk from a number of transit lines, including:

• Metro Rail “E” (Expo) Line Culver City Station (1 block west at Washington and National Blvds), and
• Culver City Bus “1” and “1C1” lines (at the adjacent Washington Blvd/Helms Avenue street corner). 

Protected bike lanes along Washington Blvd. connecting to Culver City’s larger bike lane network also provide a convenient, safe way to get to the Design Center. 

For those who choose to drive, parking is available in the adjacent interior parking garage at 8711 Washington Blvd (look for the red banners), or there is parking available throughout the Helms Bakery complex.
Parking Map

THANK YOU FOR YOUR DONATIONS…

As a non-profit organization we are dependent upon donations in order to continue our monthly programming.  Please keep this in mind when registering for this event; we appreciate contributions of any amount.