Panel Discussion: Challenges and Opportunities of Preserving '60s Architecture Sold Out! Wednesday, September 30, 8 p.m. Auditorium, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power Building (John Ferraro Building) 111 N. Hope St., Downtown Los Angeles, 90012 Reception to follow Free; reservations required Parking: $5

Special thanks to the Office of Councilwoman Jan Perry and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power for hosting this special event!

Thanks to tremendous interest, we've had to stop accepting reservations. We do expect to have video of the complete panel discussion available online soon after the program. If you'd like to receive e-mail notification when the video is available, please fill out the brief form below. Thanks for your interest!

Los Angeles Department of Water and Power Building (John Ferraro Building) (Albert C. Martin and Associates, 1965)

 In 2010, buildings constructed in 1960 will turn fifty. While turning fifty strikes fear in the hearts of many Angelenos, it’s actually good for important buildings.

In historic preservation, fifty years is the general threshold when buildings and structures are officially considered old enough to have acquired historic significance, particularly in terms of the National Register of Historic Places.

Over the next nine months, the Conservancy and our Modern Committee will explore the challenges and opportunities of preserving the ’60s architectural heritage of greater Los Angeles.

We'll kick off this exciting program with a free panel discussion about critical issues facing 1960s preservation, such as:

• How important is actual historic fabric to structures built with mass-produced and/or experimental materials, which are easily replicated or perhaps weren't designed to last for generations?
• How do we adapt car-oriented designs to the contemporary desire for pedestrian-friendly communities?
• While a number of 1960s architects pioneered energy-efficient modern design, many others didn’t, instead taking full advantage of the era’s cheap and plentiful energy. How do we enhance the sustainability of these buildings while maintaining their historic character?

A range of experts in architecture, preservation, and SoCal modernism will examine these and other topics that have broad implications for how we protect our sixties heritage.

Panelists

Frances Anderton, Moderator
Host of KCRW's DnA: Design & Architecture; Producer for KCRW's Which Way, L.A.? and To the Point; L.A. Editor for Dwell magazine

Christine Madrid French
Director, Modernism + Recent Past Initiative, National Trust for Historic Preservation

Alan Hess
Architect, architecture critic, architectural historian, and author

Leo Marmol, FAIA
Managing Principal, Marmol Radziner and Associates

David C. Martin, FAIA
Design Principal, Co-Chairman, AC Martin Partners, Inc.

Chris Nichols
Associate Editor, Los Angeles magazine

Presented by

This panel discussion is part of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Modernism + The Recent Past Program’s Modern Module project, funded by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Henry Luce Foundation. This series of dialogues addresses the specific preservation challenges of various regions throughout the U.S. The Modules are designed, in part, to gather the critical local input needed to advance a national discourse on this topic and build a network for preserving buildings, structures, and landscapes from the modern era and the recent past.