Design and Architecture

Affordable housing is being really well-designed, but it’s also very expensive. At every level, designers and builders are trying to work around a Rubik's cube of obstacles. DnA looks at the challenges and possible solutions to creating housing for the formerly homeless and low-income residents of Los Angeles.

How do you take a generic housing type and create a very personal home? DnA visits a new apartment building in Koreatown to find out how multi-family living can be the new LA dream. And we remember LA’s beloved restaurant critic Jonathan Gold, who died Saturday. DnA recalls how Gold taught Angelenos about LA through its food, from mini-malls to Vespertine.

The City of Los Angeles’ Department of Public Works voted today to remove 18 trees in Hollywood. The city says the trees are damaging the sidewalks. Urban forestry advocates say it’s imperative that a hot region like the Southland maintains its tree canopy. Can we have both?

Los Angeles is pushing for greater densification, even as many Angelenos still dream of the single family home. We visit the city of Lakewood to see how they are keeping that dream alive. And we visit a metals supplier in Gardena, to find out how steel tariffs are impacting design projects in Los Angeles.

President Trump’s tariffs on steel and aluminum have angered foreign leaders and led to retaliatory measures. How are these economic taxes affecting the construction and manufacturing industry here in the Southland?

Sick of high rents but want to be close to the ocean? Very close? DnA explores the charms and challenges of living aboard a boat, and learns about the changes coming as Marina del Rey becomes more “corporate.” And we meet Emory Douglas, “revolutionary artist” for the Black Panthers whose bold graphics still hold lessons for protest art today.

Is the solution to LA's housing crisis in our backyards? DnA visits a Highland Park couple that worked with the city on test-building an ADU, or accessory dwelling unit. Did it pencil out, and can ADUs be a new frontier for design innovation? And do you know the name of the man who built much of downtown Los Angeles? DnA speaks to the director of the first-ever documentary about architect John Parkinson.

A new supportive housing complex opened last week for formerly homeless families, low-income people and seniors. As the city and county of Los Angeles invest in building new affordable housing, Mosaic Gardens at Westlake is a sign of things to come.

How did the invention of the modern-dome tent change the story of homelessness in LA? And are they a form of "home" for their occupants? This is the first episode in a series DnA is calling “This is Home in LA: From the Tent to the Gigamansion (and everything In between).” It’s a look at house and housing archetypes in LA today, and we begin with the smallest, cheapest form of dwelling: the tent.