Design and Architecture

Fires in Southern California have forced thousands of people to evacuate their homes. Author and designer Wade Graham says we are "enmeshed" in fire-prone landscapes and need to respond through smart design and policy. And LACMA’s proposed expansion by Swiss architect Peter Zumthor is nearing reality. Will the gallery spanning Wilshire Boulevard feel like a freeway overpass, or a sculptural work of art?

The Skirball Fire east of the 405 freeway has made the commute through the Sepulveda Pass a scary experience. And the nearby Getty Center has closed because of outside air quality. But management is confident the buildings -- and the art -- will come out unscathed.

We love a good success story, but we love an epic fail even more. DnA visits the Museum of Failure. We also talk to "visual futurist" Syd Mead and architect Craig Hodgetts about creating a "plausible reality." And we hear about the art of cake-making from a West Hollywood baker.

The sculptural installation Vermonica is an "urban candelabra" of 25 Los Angeles street lamps installed in an East Hollywood parking lot in 1993. Artist Sheila Klein's project was supposed to only last a year, but this month, after 24 years, it was removed at the insistence of the developer, who plans to renovate the shopping center.

KCRW is coming up for air. We take a sneak peek at the station's new building, designed by architect Clive Wilkinson. And why are some affluent young city women dressing like members of religious cults? A look at the new modesty in fashion, and how women architects dress to express a "total design philosophy."

Los Angeles is seeing an explosion of murals. Would you like to paint one? Hear about the movement to "Beautify Earth." And a World War II armory becomes the permanent home for the Wende Museum of the Cold War, just as Russia-US relations revive old tensions. But what do former East Germans think about it?

Can a robot get people walking again? Meet Gita, a cargo carrier on wheels created by the same company that designed the Vespa scooter. And "Dirty Girl Construction" founder Joan Barton shares her thoughts on building -- and triumphing -- in a man's world.