Stylish mid-century Frost Auditorium re-opens with big bash 1

Architecture & Design
What if you threw an old-fashioned block party and half of Culver City, California, attended? That’s what happened Saturday night at a joyous occasion: the grand re-opening/fundraiser for a newly refurbished landmark building, the Robert Frost Auditorium — a rare gem of Southern Californian mid-century-modern architecture. Cozy, yet imposing, the curvilinear structure houses a 1,200-seat ...

Wake-up call for “Sleeper” modernist auditorium

Architecture & Design · Film
In the screenshot above, red-headed comic Woody Allen saunters alongside a daring curvelinear-roof’ed structure in SLEEPER (1973). A decade prior, the great Los Angeles architectural photographer Julius Shulman (1910-2009) captured the eggy update on a civic auditorium (below). The building’s bold shape fit aptly with Southern California’s persistent modernist trend when it opened in 1964. ...

Architects discuss the art (and politics) of performing arts centers

Architecture & Design · Ideas & Opinion · Music · Theater
Performing arts centers define our cities and serve as architectural landmarks. These landmarks can rapidly transform the cultural and economic fabric of a city, bringing renewed prosperity as well as design inspiration. What is the essence of an iconic performing arts center? Enjoy a lively discussion combined with a memorable concert, and light refreshments. Moderator Thomas Small, ...