What can we expect from the new generation of L.A. architects?
....
There’s nothing new, of course, about a young architect with giant
ambition and a thin portfolio. Architecture remains a field where
prominence and gray hair are thought to be synonymous, especially by
clients. And there are plenty of still-young firms in Los Angeles doing
steadily notable work, much of it residential, and winning fans among
clients and critics alike. This group, mostly in their 40s, includes
Lorcan O’Herlihy, Michael Maltzan, Barbara Bestor, Marmol Radziner,
David Hertz, and Daly, Genik.
What’s different about the generation rising right behind them—L.A.
architects between, say, 28 and 38—is the level of polish they bring not
just to their fluid, digitally produced designs but also to their
rhetoric about how they are remaking architectural practice. The group
shares a combination of multitasking talent, media savvy, and a
sometimes rankling sense of entitlement; instead of going to work right
away for a large firm or establishing themselves the old-fashioned
way—slowly building a list of contacts and clients—many have now been
paying the bills for nearly a decade by teaching, writing, curating, or
experimenting with fabrication or multimedia.
....
cont'd...
http://www.archrecord.com/features/LA/critique.asp