Design and Architecture

High-speed rail is going off the tracks. Now state Republicans are floating the idea of an autobahn through the Central Valley. A lawmaker is proposing new lanes through the Central Valley without speed limits, arguing that it would reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Frances Anderton talks to KCRW’s Steve Chiotakis about the prospects for German-style high speed driving, on DnA on ATC.

Would Christian Bale be nominated for his portrayal of Dick Cheney without help from prosthetics? Will 3D printed crowns beat out bejeweled crowns? DnA is focusing on two crafts: hair and make-up and costume -- following a drama over the proposed, then reversed, plan to edit four of the crafts categories at Sunday's Oscar telecast. Also, a look at why the red carpet spotlight this year should fall on the men.

Gov. Gavin Newsom is pumping the brakes on California’s high speed rail project. Or is he? His comments in his first State of the State address have supporters and opponents of the bullet train questioning the project’s future.v

The Coachella Valley comes into bloom with Desert X and Modernism Week. But some of the Desert X artworks raise questions about development in Palm Springs. And the art fair Frieze LA opens with a nod to its Hollywood clientele on the backlot at Paramount. What will ticket holders see in the “New York streets”?  How about LA’s “Homegrown Art Fair” Art Los Angeles Contemporary and other art fairs competing for eyeballs?

As Hollywood awards season revs up, the LA art scene is also in full throttle. On DnA on ATC, Frances Anderton talks to All Things Considered host Steve Chiotakis about the launch of Desert X, a site-specific art biennial in the Coachella Valley, the debut of Frieze LA, the Southland’s first outing for the prestigious global art fair, and why art fairs and awards events coincide.

"Velvet Buzzsaw” is a new thriller that takes on the contemporary art world with blood, gore and parody. DnA talks to writer/director Dan Gilroy as well as the real-life LA artist who made the paintings that kill. And in 2012 some furnishings designed by architects Frank Lloyd Wright and Rudolph Schindler disappeared from a warehouse at USC. Now the theft has come to light. What happened?

The LA Rams are going all the way this Sunday, taking on the New England Patriots for Super Bowl 53. Fans held a send-off rally this past weekend at the construction site for the new Rams and Chargers stadium in Inglewood. So how’s that massive building project coming along?

In South LA’s Crenshaw District, a 1.3 mile public art project promises to honor a neighborhood’s history -- and stand against the threat of gentrification, as the train rolls in. As LA’s awards season gets underway so does its art season. The LA Times’ Deborah Vankin explains a packed calendar of art fairs and how they mesh with Tinseltown, as well as a changing and expanding museum scene.

California’s new governor Gavin Newsom wants to build a lot more housing in the state: as many as half a million new houses a year. But who’s going to build all that housing? A new report from a labor think tank says the state is short about 200,000 new construction workers to meet those goals.

The solution to Los Angeles traffic may be an unpopular one: charging people for using the roads in core districts at peak times. If Metro approves congestion pricing, it’d make Los Angeles the first city in the US to put a price tag on road use. Plus, Monocle is closing its New York bureau and opening one at Culver City’s hip shopping center Platform. Monocle founder Tyler Brûlé explains why LA matters and why brick-and-mortar retail is not dead (and neither is print).