Thank You For An Amazing 2011!

As 2011 comes to a close, we wanted to take a few moments to say thank you for all your love and support this year. This year we explored new neighborhoods, even occasionally venturing (gasp!) WEST of La Brea to seek out the most interesting, innovative and inventive design across this great city. We also upped our events this year, hosting nearly two per month. We're so grateful for this community and can't wait to see what 2012 brings!

Here are some of our favorite people, places and things we saw this year...

• We started the year off right, getting our drink on at the Falls' 1970's inspired bar downtown. 
• In February we headed way east, to Palm Springs for Modernism Week to host a panel of distinguished  designers.
• In March, we ventured into Inglewood to see FER Studio's master plan for the city's downtown revitalization, and engaged in a lively panel discussion at LACE in Hollywood about urban graffiti and placemaking.
• In April we visited George Ehling's amazing self-made Tile House in the Hollywood Hills for Obscura Day, and toasted the release of author Sam Lubell's latest tome on Julius Shulman in Burbank.
• In May we gathered at the zinc-topped bar at Hollywood' Osteria La Buca to hear how designer Brendan Ravenhill remade the spot, and we walked through West Hollywood to honor our friend and mentor, John Chase, who was responsible for so much of that city's great urban design. 
• In June we held our annual Design-n-Dim Sum bike ride, this time passing through Frogtown, and toured Steven Kanner's final project for HOLA in Lafayette Park.
• In July we walked through the urban farms in Compton and met a couple of local cowboys (and their horses)!
• In August we had the pleasure of co-hosting the Moving Beyond Cars party at the A+D Museum to celebrate LA's alternate transit future, and toured several studios to see what's new at the Brewery Arts complex in Lincoln Heights.
• In September we once again celebrated Park[ing] Day - this time with the incredible park designed by Standard LA in front of LOCAL. We also raised more than $800 for the Neutra VDL Studio and Residence with a reception and lecture by Leo Marmol of Marmol Radziner.
• In October we gathered under the incredible temporary pavilion dubbed Netscape in SCI-Arc's parking lot with Dwayne Oyler and Jenny Wu of Oyler Wu Collaborative and spent another afternoon in Highland Park with the boys at KnowHow Shop for some high-tech pumpkin carving.
• In November we began the first of our "Eames Themed" events at JF Chen's exhaustive collection of Eames designs for Pacific Standard Time. We also trekked out to Lincoln Heights for our latest-starting event yet - a walk through the alternative art space Night Gallery for Samara Golden's piece Rape of the Mirror. 
• And we began December taking to the streets once again, with a tour of one of the most bike-friendly cities in SoCal: Long Beach.

And we can't wait to wrap up the year tomorrow night at LACMA to see the museum's groundbreaking exhibition, California Design, 1935-1960: Living in a Modern Way, hear from the show's curator, and celebrate the holidays with drinks and cheer at Stark Bar.

Thank you again for a great 2011!

December Recap > Long Beach Bike Tour

On an absolutely beautiful Sunday morning, friends of de LaB gathered in Long Beach for a tour of the city's bike-friendly design improvements hosted by bicycle advocate Charlie Gandy.

 

Attendees came from all over the region, some driving, some biking, some riding the train. Architect Gwynne Pugh and his friend rode all the way down to Long Beach from Santa Monica!

 

First stop were some of the incredible dedicated bike lanes that zip through Long Beach's downtown—the first to be installed in Southern California.

 

The group got a brief tour of Bikestation, the first facility of its kind in the U.S. Here you can park, store, or fix your bike in a gorgeous new facility designed by Fernando Vazquez.



Long Beach has some incredible bike infrastructure, including bike corrals that can park a dozen bikes in the same space as a car.



We then headed through some gorgeous Craftsman neighborhoods, which looked even prettier all decked out for the holidays.



Gandy talked about how certain neighborhoods, like Belmont Shore, asked the city to install bike lanes because they knew it would increase foot traffic.



One of the most exciting bike improvements is the Vista Bike Boulevard, where roundabouts have been installed to calm traffic and make streets safer for cyclists.

 

Finally, we heard from April Economides about Long Beach's bike-friendly business districts in Retro Row, where two parklets are planned to be installed.



And what would biking be without beer? We were delighted to be among the first people to experience the new outdoor patio at Beachwood BBQ, a fantastic barbecue and craft beer joint in downtown Long Beach.



Thanks again to Charlie Gandy, Melissa Balmer, April Economides and Bikestation for taking the time to visit with us, as well as the City of Long Beach for providing us free bike rentals for the day! You can check out more photos here.

Our Local Holiday Shopping Guide

From the endless holiday parties to feverishly trying to find the perfect gifts for everyone on your list, we know it's hard to do it all this time of year. In the spirit of supporting local and independent designers and makers, we've rounded up our favorite holiday shows - mostly east of La Brea - for you.

Unique LA

December 3-4

Self Help Graphics & Art: Holiday Craft and Art Fair

December 3-4

Echo Park Pottery Holiday Open House

December 4


81/2 by 11 Paper Pop-Up Shop
Opens December 9, various hours

Renegade Craft Fair

December 10-11

Remodelista Holiday Market

December 10

Poketo Annual Holiday Sale

December 10

And if crowds just aren't your thing, consider visiting the following holiday guides while you armchair shop!

Our Favorite Holiday Guides

Core 77's End of Year/End of Days Must Haves

Handful of Salt's "The Holidays: Curated"

Or Just Give Generously This Season

Shift My Gift

Happy Holidays from de LaB!

[Images: Courtesy of Remodelista.]

November Recap > Samara Golden at Night Gallery

At 9:30pm on a Thursday night—at what was maybe our latest-starting de LaB ever?—dozens of intrepid art-seekers opened a nondescript door in a Lincoln Heights strip mall, stepping into what felt like someone's living room in 1980's Malibu.



This is Night Gallery, which is only open from 10pm to 2am on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Owners Davida Nemeroff and Mieke Marple explained the concept behind their space and walked us through Samara Golden's piece Rape of the Mirror, which has transformed the usually all-black walls into an immersive experience inspired by movies like American Gigolo and The Long Goodbye.



Golden's piece creates a haunting narrative. One one side, a peaceful beach house, sleek contemporary furniture, waves lapping against the beach. At the center are monitors connected to cameras which capture real-time imagery of people walking through the space, making the audience become part of the art—and instantly implicating them.



Moving through the space is like wandering into a nightmare, with other side of the room showing the aftermath of a violent fight, strewn with shattered mirrors and overturned furniture. Glowing throughout the room are videos shot by Golden on her iPhone, including a montage of all the photos taken with her phone from the beginning of the year.



To add to the surreal nature of the piece, all the furniture is built with an insulating material called Thermax, which also serves a practical purpose: It made each piece light enough so that Golden could move it herself. After taking in the various scenes, the crowd wandered the space with beers in hand, like voyeuristic guests at a house party gone wrong.



Outside, the dark storefront and pitch black sign revealed no clues to the art happening inside. Golden's piece is up until December 8.