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.

Save the Date! Sept de LaB> Park[ing] Day LA Sept 18th

We are teaming up with our friends at Curbed LA and Greenmeme for Park[ing] Day LA! Come join us as we work together to transform a parking space located in front of LOCAL restaurant into a sustainably designed pocket-park.

Come by, enjoy a lemonade, and enjoy the fruits of our labor. More details on our future pocket-park and what you can do to help to come.



in the meantime, here's more on Park[ing] Day:

Too often, when people think of Los Angeles they envision a maze of asphalt, smog and traffic congestion. The automobile reigns supreme and as a result one’s ability to navigate through the City becomes compromised with the burden of too many vehicles clogging the road. Sidewalks have been narrowed and opportunities for open space, parks, civic plazas and public places have been sequestered into the hills, which unfortunately are often inaccessible to anyone without an automobile. Despite being home to one of the largest urban parks in North America (Griffith Park), Los Angeles significantly lacks adequate & accessible open space, urban parks, plazas and civic centers.

In 2005, the Rebar group, a small group out of San Francisco, opened eyes worldwide by transforming a metered parking spot into a park-for-a-day in an effort to make a public comment on the lack of quality open space in American cities. Their goal was to reprogram the urban surface by reclaiming streets for people to rest, relax and play and to:

• Promote a critical dialogue among artists, designers, activists, citizens, corporations, and government regarding the need for urban open space and they way in which streets are currently used.

• Energize civic life by questioning basic assumptions about urban space while offering provocative and meaningful alternatives.

• Connect artists, designers, and activists with ways to permanently reclaim the street for people.

August de LaB > Picnic In the Park @ Vista Hermosa Aug 29

You asked for it and we answered. Many of you asked for a landscape architecture event, so we went to one of the best - Mia Lehrer.

Take a tour and bring a picnic! Landscape architect Mia Lehrer is giving us a tour of the Grand Prize-winning 9.5 acre park Vista Hermosa Park located near downtown.

The park features walking trails, streams, meadows, oak savannahs, picnic grounds, and a nature-themed playground amidst native Mediterranean vegetation. We're meeting at 4pm on August 29th by the grotto and waterfall for a walk through the park, followed by a picnic. Bring a sandwich, salads, and drinks. Our friends from Coolhaus will be on hand for ice cream sandwiches with a special Mia-themed flavor!

Address: 100 N. Toluca Street
The park is on First Street west of the 110 (Harbor Freeway) between Beaudry and Glendale Blvd.

Parking is available in the park. Enter the West Gate on Toluca, or the South Gate on 1st Street. From both, walk north across the Upper Field to reach the grotto.

July de LaB > Tiki Trek on Thursday, July 23!

It's summer. We're hot, you're hot, and what else is hot? Tiki! From the new outpost of Trader Vic's downtown to the throwback palapas of Luau in Beverly Hills, Tiki is seeing a resurgence all over town. So we're joining forces with Popsicles for Everyone, whose most recent project, Tikitown, USA looks at the rise and fall of Tiki culture in Los Angeles and the remnants it has (or has not) left behind. So what is Tiki? And what does Tiki mean beyond torches and kitsch? We're gonna find out with a three-stop Tiki Trek on Thursday, July 23. Grab your Hawaiian shirts (grass skirts optional) and meet us anywhere along the way:

6:30-8:00pm Join us in Rosemead at a well-preserved gem of the Tiki era, Bahooka, where there are over 100 aquariums and any drink can be served flaming. Tiki scholar Mirta Viviane Gilson will school us on Tiki history and Kyla Fullenwider will fill us in on the rest of the events planned for Tikitown USA. We can order Polynesian-inspired grub and, to help you recover from your drive, everyone gets one free Mai Tai!
Bahooka
4501 Rosemead Blvd
Rosemead, CA 91770
View on Google Maps

8:30pm-9:00pm We'll drive a few blocks away to Kona Kai Apartments, an amazing example of the Tiki buildings that are found in high concentration in this neighborhood. A resident will let us inside this apartment complex to show us some of the original details, and what was changed during the 1988 renovations.
Kona Kai
6415 Rosemead Blvd.
San Gabriel, CA 91775
View on Google Maps

9:00pm-'til close Then we'll head west and have a nightcap with anyone who couldn't make it out to Rosemead at the Tiki Ti, the Silver Lake Tiki institution. Hear more about the Tiki Ti's unique connection to LA's Tiki culture while you have a Ray's Mistake (but if you have more than one, we recommend taking public transportation home).
Tiki Ti
4427 Sunset Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90027
View on Google Maps

Let us know if you can make it on Facebook so we can get a rough headcount. And use the messaging abilities there to find carpools and share rides. For our intrepid Metro riders, the 489 Express bus leaves from 1st and Hill downtown and pretty much drops you off at Bahooka's door (you can hitch a ride with someone back to LA). The Metro Red Line and 2 bus are close to Tiki Ti. Plan your trips at Metro.net. We look forward to seeing you!

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!

Take Our de LaB Survey and You Might Be Headed to Dwell on Design!

We're busy planning more parties, more events and more tours but in order to make de LaB the best it can be, we want to hear from you! We've put together a de LaB survey to find out what you'd like to see in the next few months, years, decades.

And because we know you're busy, we're sweetening the deal. At the end of the survey, simply enter your email and be entered into our drawing. One winner will be headed to Dwell on Design here in LA June 26-28 with a three-day Dwell Conference Plus ticket valued at $149!

Your ticket will get you in to a one-day conference curated by the editors of Dwell, including a keynote by Daniel Pink, plus two days of trade show access, and lots more panels including an entire Sunday devoted to design and food. Thanks to our friends at Dwell!

Please take a few minutes to fill out our de LaB survey by Monday, June 15 at noon. If you don't win, we also have special Dwell on Design discount codes especially for our de LaB friends:

Exhibition Plus (Weekend Pass) only $10 with this special code: DWELL49A
Conference Plus (3 Day Pass) from $49 with this special code: DWELL942L
Register at dwellondesign.com

Thanks, as always, for your support!

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!