June 3 > Design-n-Dim Sum Bike Tour > Chinatown

It's back! Get ready for our annual Design-n-Dim Sum bike ride with Flying Pigeon on Sunday, June 3rd for another day of studio visits, biking and bao. This year, if it's open, we'll be stopping by Caine's Arcade to play a couple of Caine's handmade arcade games. We'll be meeting at bike shop Flying Pigeon in Highland Park at 11am and will be on the road by 11:30am. Our itinerary for the day:

Meet at 11:00am at Flying Pigeon LA (note NEW address)
3404 N. Figueroa St. Los Angeles, CA 90042

1st Stop (If it's open): Caine's Arcade
3538 N. Mission Rd Boyle Heights, CA 90033

2nd Stop: Artist Zoe Crosher's Studio
970 N Broadway Los Angeles, CA 90012

3rd Stop: Preen Inc.

931 Chung King Rd. Los Angeles, CA  90012

Final Stop: Golden Dragon Restaurant for dim sum

RSVP here.

The logistics:

If you have a bike, please bring it. We have about 15 bikes available for rental from Flying Pigeon, for $15 for the day. Bikes are on a first come, first serve basis via RSVP.

Please bring water and sunscreen. It can get hot out there!

Please bring CASH only for the dim sum. We estimate the cost will be about $20 per person.

RSVP here. We need a headcount to reserve the restaurant so if you need to cancel your reservation, please let us know as soon as possible.

And finally, if you want to join us for part of the day, follow us on twitter. We'll be updating our location throughout the day.

March Recap > Echo Park Home Tour

On March 24th, de LaB hosted its first-ever home tour, in the highly walkable, dense neighborhood of Echo Park. Dubbed S, M, L, XL (shout out to Rem Koolhaas - what up, dog?) we couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day to tour four incredible homes in the neighborhood, all within walking and biking distance of each other.

No shoes allowed. 

The homes were chosen not just for proximity, but also to highlight new design for urban infill, and each of the homes underscored four different models for sustainable yet stylish living.

Photo by Elizabeth Daniels/Curbed LA

The smallest of the homes was designed by John Oddo at Good Idea Studio, and clocked in at just 495 square feet. Despite its jewel-box size, the house manages to maximize space, sun and outdoor living. Our medium-sized home was designed by architect Simon Storey of Anonymous Architects. Simon managed to accomplish a pretty major feat - he packed a nearly 1,000 square foot home onto a 780 square foot lot, thanks to smart design and a vertical orientation. He even was able to include a roof garden and small patio in back.

Photos by Elizabeth Daniels/Curbed LA

Just on the other side of Sunset on Echo Park Blvd was our "large" home, a nearly 1,600 square foot townhouse duplex, known as Dick + Jane by brothers Kevin and Harde Wronske of Heyday Partnership. And last but not least was our "XL" home, the first Sunia Home by real estate developer and designer Jerome Pelayo. The 2,000 square foot home features a plethora of green amenities including solar panels, a greywater harvesting system, a wood pellet stove for heating and bamboo flooring.

Post-tour, we gathered for drinks at new neighborhood fave, Red Hill. Thanks to Jason Michaud and the crew there for their hospitality and generosity. We couldn't have had a more gracious host when the hungry hordes descended.

And thanks to all of our docents - we could not have done it without you! You're all awesome (and according to Curbed LA, the best-looking docents in town, to boot)!

For more great photos of the homes, check out Curbed LA's tour here, here and here.

October Hiatus

Yes, we know it's very Hollywood to say we're going on hiatus, and then never return, but in this case we mean it. Work, travel and other obligations mean October has gotten away from us, but we'll be back with another great event in November.

In the meantime, enjoy our pics from September's Park[ing] Day on Facebook (psst, have you joined our group yet?) and check out some of these other great events going on in the next few weeks:

• If you haven't got a ticket to this week's sold out Rock-n-Platinum Party at the Cherokee Lofts, perhaps you'd like a tour?
• See it before it closes Nov 1 - the Richard Neutra Sketches and Drawing exhibit at the LA Library downtown. It's free!
• Check out LACMA's cross section of twentieth-century design at "From the Spoon to the City: Design by Architects from LACMA's Collection."
• The MAK Center is mounting an exhibit on little-known Austrian sociologist, Otto Neurath (1888-1945). Opening Nov 3rd.
• The Sixties are hot again. As part of the LA Conservancy's "Sixties Turn Fifties" initiative, they're putting on a one-time only self-driving tour of some of the cities best architecture from the 1960's.
  
• The Great LA Walk is back! Join Franklin Ave and friends for their annual urban hike. This year, they're meeting at the Shrine for a walk down Washington and Adams - all the way to Venice.
  

And we're always looking for great ideas for future events. Got one? Hit us up at hello [at] designeastoflabrea [dot] org.

Design-n-Dim Sum Ride> Links and Learn

There's been a few articles/posts recently about some of the sites we'll be visiting this Saturday on our Design-n-Dim Sum Ride:

• Check out Fung + Blatt's Mount Washington residence, now front page on Dwell.com.
• So timely...check out this little ditty by David Keeps on Fifth Floor's new "Looking for Work" exhibit, opening this Saturday night. Come on the design-n-dim-sum ride for a sneak peek and maybe stick around for the opening night party! (Note that Ali Jevanjee, whose Chung King Alley loft we'll also be seeing on Saturday, will be debuting his new line of laminated plywood furniture as part of the exhibit.)
• Yet another cool post about one of the design labs we'll be visiting this Saturday!

June de LaB > Design-n-Dim Sum Ride

Bring your bikes and join de LaB as we hit the streets for the first-ever design-n-dim sum ride!  Check out the details below and please be sure to RSVP so that we have an accurate head count for the restaurant.

RENDEZ-VOUS

We're meeting at Flying Pigeon LA at 10am on JUNE 20th and taking off by 10:30am. Adam and Josef are offering a special de LaB discount of 10% off ALL PRODUCTS in the store (except drinks) so come a bit early if you want to check out the wares. Who knows, you might walk away with a new bike!

For those of you without your own bikes, Flying Pigeon is offering FIVE rentals. The first five people to RSVP will get to ride a 'pidge' for the day. For everyone else, feel free to use our Facebook page and your own resources to borrow a bike for the day.

Location: 3714 N. Figueroa St., Los Angeles, CA 90065

Time: 10 to 10.30am, June 20th

FIRST STOP: Fung + Blatt

We'll pop up the street for a peek inside this innovative studio and a tasting of chilled and refreshing crudites, straight from the Fung + Blatt garden (perfect for a hot summer day!)

Location: 3927 N. Figueroa St., Los Angeles, CA 90065

Time: 11 - 11.30am

SCENIC RIDE: Flying Pigeon

Next, the guys from FP are taking us through a bit of LA history, through Lincoln Heights, past the old Department of Water and Power storefront, the old Chinese funeral home at Five Points, Young Nak Church, and down across the train yard on the Pasadena bridge into Chinatown. It's not a tough ride, but be sure to bring water!

Location: Highland Park to Chinatown, via Lincoln Heights

Time: 11.30am to 12.30pm

CHUNG KING LOFT TOUR: Fifth Floor + LOC

Once we roll into Chung King Court, we'll head to Fifth Floor to catch our breath and check out Robert's awesome upstairs loft. He's also offering a special 10% de LaB discount for all products in the gallery.

Walk three minutes down the alley to check out LOC's modern live/work space. Ali Jeevanjee and Poonam Sharma take simple plywood to a whole new level of cool in their groovy indoor/outdoor pad, which was recently featured in the Los Angeles Times. You'll see what we mean.

Location: Chung King Court + Road

Time: 12.30pm to 1.30pm

THEN, DIM SUM: Ocean Seafood

By this point, we'll have worked up a crazy appetite and we'll head over to Ocean Seafood for some delicious dim sum. Only word of caution: avoid the fried baby octopus! We're going dutch on this so don't forget to bring cash.

RETURN TRIP:

Fearless riders can head back the way we came or take the Gold Line

back up to Highland Park. Hop off at Heritage Square. (Or better yet, head to the Mountain Bar to hydrate on beer as we wait for the afternoon to cool off...)

Since this is one of our more complicated events, here's the gist:

- Don't forget to RSVP.

- Let us know if you want to rent a bike. We only have FIVE.

- Bring lots of water.

- Bring cash for dim sum.

RSVP required. E-mail us at hello[at] designeastoflabrea [dot] org.

PS - If you're RSVP'd via Facebook, you're cool.  Just be sure to e-mail us directly if you need to rent a bike!