A+D Museum
A+D Museum, also known as Architecture and Design Museum, Los Angeles, is a museum located in downtown Los Angeles Arts District at 900 E 4th Street. Currently, it is led by its executive director and chief curator, Anthony Morey, a Los Angeles-based writer, theorist, designer and curator. A design think tank, the A+D museum aspires to maintain its diverse and innovative activities to continue to bring contemporary, progressive and emerging design and architecture to international audiences.
History
A+D Museum was founded by Stephen Kanner and Bernard Zimmerman in 2001.[1][2] Kanner was inspired by a similar museum he had visited in Helsinki, Finland.[2]
The Museum first opened its doors in January 2001 in the Bradbury Building, located at 304 South Broadway (3rd Street and Broadway) in downtown Los Angeles; a space donated by Ira Yellin. When the Bradbury building was sold in 2003 the museum moved to a temporary location on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood. In 2006 it found a home on Museum Row in the Miracle Mile district at 5900 Wilshire Boulevard; across the street from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. In April 2010, the museum moved down the street to 6032 Wilshire Boulevard.[2] Displaced by the extension of the Metro Purple Line, A+D Museum returned to downtown Los Angeles to a warehouse-turned-museum in the Arts District in the summer of 2015.
Mission
A+D Museum was created to celebrate and promote an awareness of architecture and design in everyday life through exhibits, educational programs, and public outreach to the design community as well as the public in the greater Los Angeles area.
Community
A+D Museum is an all-inclusive information and education center for design, including architecture, interior design, landscape design, fashion design, product design, graphic design, and film/theater design. It is the only museum in Los Angeles where continuous exhibits of architecture and design are on view. Through exhibits, symposia, multi-disciplinary projects, educational and community programming, A+D serves as a showcase for the work of important regional, national and international designers, providing a forum for contemporary issues in architecture, urbanism, and design that are helping to shape the city.
A+D Museum is also home to the Stephen Kanner Education Center for Architecture and Design which partners with various organizations throughout Los Angeles to provide students with different opportunities for learning, growth and mentorship. This center serves as a venue for student work, special critiques, charrettes, lectures, movie screenings and ongoing education workshops, including A+D's ARkidECTURE + design program. Partnerships have included Heart of Los Angeles), St. Elmo's Village, the Craft and Folk Art Museum, Petersen Automotive Museum and Broodwork.
Background
A+D Museum is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization funded by public donations, government and private foundation grants and corporate sponsors. A+D is a member of the American Alliance of Museums, the International Confederation of Architectural Museums and is recognized by design industry associations such as the American Institute of Architects/LA, the Industrial Designers Society of America/LA and the American Architectural Foundation.
Notable exhibitions
Key exhibitions define the agenda of the museum and its contributions to the discourse of architecture. Some of the A+D notable exhibits include:
- Never Built: Los Angeles (07.28.13 - 10.27.13). An illustration of many major architectural designs that were planned for the city but were ultimately never built. The exhibition, which included models, sketches, and renderings from a number of architects including Lloyd Wright, Frank Gehry, and Jean Nouvel, offered insight into what might have been and challenged Los Angeles' status as a city that promotes architectural innovation.
- After the Flood: Building on Higher Ground (04.18.08 - 06.28.08) featuring an extended update of the exhibition from the US Pavilion at the 2006 Venice Biennale of Architecture curated by Christian Ditlev Bruun showcasing architectural responses to the August 2005 devastation in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina. The update included a 2008 assessment of the rebuilding of New Orleans and the Pink Project by Brad Pitt and GRAFT for the Make It Right Foundation. On June 27, 2009 A+D hosted the US portion of the international symposia series Sustainable Dialogues bringing together architects, planners, and environmentalists from Asia, Latin America, and the United States.
- 34 Los Angeles Architects (11.18.04 – 02.22.05) illustrating the spirit and enterprise of 30 LA Architects and their impact on Los Angeles.
- Public Works: Architectural Designs for the City of Los Angeles (07.15.04 – 09.09.04). Designs for the City of Los Angeles by Los Angeles-based architects. The range of projects reflected the scope of the public investment in the development and improvement of the City.
- Richard Neutra: VDL Research House ll (07.15.04 – 09.09.04).
- Ray Kappe: A Retrospective (11.13.03 – 02.06.04). First major retrospective of influential architect/educator Ray Kappe, founder of the Southern California Institute of Architecture/SCI arc. 50+ years of work in drawings, models, and large format photography by Marvin Rand and Julius Shulman. The A+D Museum produced a Kappe monograph for this exhibit.
- Edward Tufte: Escaping Flatland (11.7.02 – 02.13.03). Escaping Flatland was the first West Coast exhibition showcasing the work of information designer Edward Tufte.
- L.A. Now: shaping a New Vision for Downtown Los Angeles (09.26.02 – 11.30.02). Re-thinking the city and plans for its future in the 21st century.
- 3-Ways: 3-Ways explored the themes of scale and communication through a series of projections by 30+ participating architects, designers, and artists. The sheer size of the structures being projected upon creates an immersive experience which draws the audience's attention to architectural themes of scale, 1:1 and detail.
- Cycle & Pattern: a series of four dioramas experienced through multiple framings and perspectives. They tell the story of a playful interaction between the elegance of the celestial and whimsy of the mortal and material. This was curated and executed through a collaboration with Otis College of Art and Design.
Senior staff
Anthony Morey, executive director and chief curator
Leila Wahba, deputy director and culture curator
Kiana Quan, exhibitions coordinator
Board of directors
Nancy Levens, Assoc. AIA, Board President
Ryan Hollien, AIA, LEED AP, Board Vice President BD+C
Nicholas Butcher, CFO
Scott Baker, PLA
Duan Tran, AIA
Frank Clementi, AIA
Farooq Ameen, AIA, RIBA
Eder Cetina
Keely Colcleugh
John R. Dale, FAIA, LEED AP
Eames Demetrios
Brian Stewart Esq.
Peter Himmelstein
Lia Tatevosian
Past board of directors
Stephen Kanner, Founding Board Member, President In Memoriam
Bernard Zimmerman, FAIA, Founding Board Member, In Memoriam
John Chase, Board Member, In Memoriam
Joe Addo, emeritus
Xorin Balbes, emeritus
Christian D. Bruun, MAA, Cand. Arch., emeritus
Eric Carlson, emeritus
Bill Fritts, emeritus
Nancy Harkness, emeritus
Joseph Hart, emeritus
Thomas Hinerfeld, emeritus
Jan Horn, emeritus
Raji Jaywardene, emeritus
Cynthia Kanner, emeritus
Sam Lubell, emeritus
Dan Meis, AIA, emeritus
Susan Miller Carlson, emeritus
Robin Perkins, emeritus
Gary Schefsky, emeritus
Stephen Slan, AIA, emeritus
Jody Turner, emeritus
Ann Videriksen, Hon. AIA/LA, emeritus
Advisory board
Ray Kappe, FAIA
Wayne Ratkovich
Julia Bloomfield
Mohan Chandramohan
Judith Kanner
Frank O. Gehry, FAIA
Thom Mayne, FAIA
Richard Meier, FAIA
Eric Owen Moss, FAIA
Dan Rosenfeld
Edward Tufte
Deborah Weintraub, AIA
Adele Yellin
References
- Hill, David (July 6, 2009). "Outspoken California Architect, Bernard Zimmerman, Dies". Architectural Record. Archived from the original on June 11, 2017. Retrieved June 7, 2017.
- Nelson, Valerie J. (July 7, 2010). "Stephen Kanner dies at 54; architect co-founded L.A.'s Architecture and Design Museum". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on November 5, 2013. Retrieved June 7, 2017.