Wilshire Boulevard Temple Restoration: Our History as Part of the Fabric of Los Angeles

Add to My Reading List

Tom Teicholz

Tom Bonner

ORO Editions, Novato, CA, 2013, English

Nonfiction, Architecture; Nonfiction, Interior Design

12 x 9 inches, hardcover, 180 pages, 280 color photographs and 50 color illustrations

ISBN: 9781935935971

Suggested Retail Price: $40.00

From the Publisher. The book is a history of Wilshire Boulevard Temple (originally Congregation B'Nei B'Brith), the oldest Synagogue in Los Angeles (1862) and how the Temple and the members of the congregation were and are part of the fabric of the City of Los Angeles.

The temple's renovation was led by Levin & Associates. Founded in 1980 by Harvard-educated architect Brenda A. Levin, the urban planning and architecture firm received worldwide attention early in the decade for its revitalizing historic preservation work on some of Los Angeles' most-beloved landmarks. In the intervening 20 years, the firm's profound concern for enhancing urban memory and the humanity of a project has positioned it to be an active problem solver in the issues and neighborhoods of a complex city and region.

The scope of Levin & Associates' work includes urban design and master planning, large-scale renovation and adaptive re-use of historic buildings, and the design of new institutional, commercial, and multi-family housing facilities. Geographically, the firm's project sites blanket Southern California.

For twenty years the firm's designs have built upon the existing context, responding to the site by understanding the life of the street, museum or campus. This philosophy is evident in its urban design and streetscape planning projects throughout Southern California—Levin & Associates' inclusive approach to designing on the campus begins with an outreach component that initiates dialogue with the various constituencies of the institution. The result is to gain an in-depth understanding of the culture and spirit of the place.

comments powered by Disqus

Announcements

Now is Better by Stefan Sagmeister

Now is Better

By Stefan Sagmeister
Publisher: Phaidon Press
Published: October 2023

Combining art, design, history, and quantitative analysis, transforms data sets into stunning artworks that underscore his positive view of human progress, inspiring us to think about the future with much-needed hope.

Order the book.

Design Emergency: Building a Better Future by Alice Rawsthorn and Paola Antonelli

Design Emergency: Building a Better Future

By Alice Rawsthorn and Paola Antonelli
Publisher: Phaidon Press
Published: May 2022

Rawsthorn and Antonelli tell the stories of the remarkable designers, architects, engineers, artists, scientists, and activists who are at the forefront of positive change worldwide. Focusing on four themes—Technology, Society, Communication, and Ecology—the authors present a unique portrait of how our great creative minds are developing new design solutions to the major challenges of our time, while helping us to benefit from advances in science and technology.

Order the book.

Why Design Matters: Conversations with the World’s Most Creative People by Debbie Millman

Why Design Matters: Conversations with the World's Most Creative People

By Debbie Millman
Publisher: Harper Design
Published: February 22, 2022

Debbie Millman—author, educator, brand consultant, and host of the widely successful and award-winning podcast “Design Matters”—showcases dozens of her most exciting interviews, bringing together insights and reflections from today’s leading creative minds from across diverse fields.

Order the book.

Milton Glaser: POP by Steven Heller, Mirko Ilić, and Beth Kleber

Milton Glaser: POP

By Steven Heller, Mirko Ilić, and Beth Kleber
Publisher: The Monacelli Press
Published: March 2023

This collection of work from graphci design legend Milton Glaser’s Pop period features hundreds of examples of the designer’s work that have not been seen since their original publication, demonstrating the graphic revolution that transformed design and popular culture.

Order the book.

Meet Me by the Fountain: An Inside History of the Mall by Alexandra Lange

Meet Me by the Fountain: An Inside History of the Mall

By Alexandra Lange
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Published: June 2022

Chronicles postwar architects’ and merchants’ invention of the shopping mall, revealing how the design of these marketplaces played an integral role in their cultural ascent. Publishers Weekly writes, “Contending that malls answer ‘the basic human need’ of bringing people together, influential design critic Lange advocates for retrofitting abandoned shopping centers into college campuses, senior housing, and ‘ethnocentric marketplaces’ catering to immigrant communities. Lucid and well researched, this is an insightful study of an overlooked and undervalued architectural form.”

Order the book.

Die Fläche: Design and Lettering of the Vienna Secession, 1902–1911 (Facsimile Edition) by Diane V. Silverthorne, Dan Reynolds, and Megan Brandow-Faller

Die Fläche: Design and Lettering of the Vienna Secession, 1902–1911 (Facsimile Edition)

By Diane V. Silverthorne, Dan Reynolds, and Megan Brandow-Faller
Publisher: Letterform Archives Books
Published: October 2023

This facsimile edition of Die Fläche, recreates every page of the formative design periodical in full color and at original size, accompanied by essays that contextualize the work, highlighting contributions by pathbreaking women, innovative lettering artists, and key practitioners of the new “surface art,” including Rudolf von Larisch, Alfred Roller, and Wiener Werkstätte founders Koloman Moser and Josef Hoffmann.

Order the book.