Advice For L.A.'s Architecture Critic

The Los Angeles Times has introduced and welcomed Christopher Hawthorne as its new architecture critic. The Planning Report talks with astute civic leaders who are currently thinking about the value of architecture, land use, and growth management: L.A. City Councilmember Eric Garcetti; Robert Timme, Dean of the USC School of Architecture; and Martha Welborne, Managing Director of the Grand Avenue Committee.

An excerpt from the interview:

Martha Welborne: "We need to understand our history, how old it is. People have been settling in the area since 1781, which was quite a while ago, but we are still filling out our boundaries. We have just now reached the era of infill. So, it’s a very exciting time in terms of re-creating the form of the city and the way it works. As everybody knows, we still don’t have a full-fledged rapid transit system, which could change the form of the city as we know it. There is a lot to be done in continuing to create Los Angeles, and I think we need a strong point of view, we need criticism, and we need a critic who understands the way other cities work."