Doug Suisman will join architects Teddy Cruz, Julie Eizenberg, and Ted Smith at a UCLA panel on new housing along the boulevards and commercial corridors of Los Angeles. Sponsored by the non-profit group Livable Places, the half-day symposium will focus on both design issues and development financing.
Read MoreSuisman Urban Design has been invited to join one of the four finalist teams for the multi-billion redevelopment of Grand Avenue. Collaborating with such architectural luminaries as David Childs of SOM and Thom Mayne of Morphosis, Suisman was asked to bring urban design skills and knowledge of Bunker Hill to the team of the Related Companies of New York, which also includes Brenda Levin, Katherine Gustafson, and Elkus/Manfredi. The competition, which has received considerable attention in both the local and national press, is expected to be decided in June.
Read MoreDoug Suisman joined development and transit specialists on a panel to discuss transit-oriented mixed-use development in California. On the panel, part of a conference organized by the California Studies Association and held at Loyola Marymount University, Suisman raised the question of whether Bus Rapid Transit could catalyze transit-oriented development as well as light rail projects. He presented some of the firm’s work on L.A.’s Metro Rapid system, and on the proposed bus transit center and associated town redevelopment in Marina, California.
Read MoreThe Modern Art and Architecture Committee, a support group at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, recently visited a canyon residence and work studios designed by Suisman Urban Design. Doug Suisman personally welcomed the group and led the tour. The group also visited homes designed by Oscar Niemeier, Richard Neutra, Stephen Ehrlich, and Johnston Marklee.
Read MoreThe “official” monograph on the Disney Concert Hall, published by Abrams, includes a chapter length essay on the history of planning in downtown Los Angeles, including the work of Suisman Urban Design on the “Ten Minute Diamond”, the master plan for the Los Angeles Civic Center. The essay, by the noted planning historian Carol McMichael Reese, cites Doug Suisman’s leading role among the “visionaries” of the plan, whose imagery she calls “brilliantly concise and revelatory.” Suisman’s iconic axonometric drawing of the plan is reproduced.
Read MoreThe long and somewhat tortured history of planning efforts along Grand Avenue in downtown Los Angeles has been elegantly summarized in a Slatin Report essay by Morris Newman. Newman’s chronicle, which includes Suisman Urban Design’s work for the CRA/LA in the late 1990’s, reviews the succession of initiatives and visions which–despite strong political support–failed to remake the avenue in time for the openings of the new Cathedral (2003) and Disney Concert Hall (2004). Newman sets the stage for the current massive redevelopment project now being launched by the Grand Avenue Authority.
Read MoreThe Westside Urban Forum held a panel on revitalizing the commercial corridors and boulevards of Los Angeles with new housing and mixed-use projects. Doug Suisman moderated the panel, which included specialists in transit, housing, and development.
Read MoreDoug Suisman has been elected to a two-year term as a member of the board of the Los Angeles chapter of the American Institute of Architects, which is headquartered in the landmark Wiltern Building. Founded in 1894, the L.A. chapter is one of the oldest and largest in the nation.
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