Woah... that was fast...
Has the suspense gotten to you yet? At long last, we put you out of your misery. And the bling was worth the wait... lots of picture galleries for you modern home loving peops.
CA Boom V follows in a tradition of providing sensory overload to design professionals and aficionados alike (hint: the architects are normally the tired looking folk, since the wardrobe no longer reveals anything apparently), and this edition did not let anyone down in that respect.
Less talk, more walk you say? Well what are ya waitin' for, buckaroo?!
It is not in our tradition to pull punches. Unlike Washington, our opinion is not easily bought by lobbyists or big business (ok, ok, Time Warner has not tried yet, nor have they returned our numerous phone calls... but, hypothetically speaking...).
Fine, we do not have any deep-pocketed sponsors or sugar parental units, so we can pretty much say what we want.
The CA Boom Home Tour of West Hollywood Hills and Laurel Canyon was again a success and well worth being a part of. 
As Clipped earlier, the prefab home designed by Ray Kappe for Living Homes is being installed in Santa Monica, California today, and we have lots of pictures (after the jump).
The last day of CA Boom 3 brought back the sunshine to our deprived LA architourists. The focus of the day was prefab and other alternative building methods, and we were not disappointed. 
Day 2 of CA Boom 3 featured some great work overall, even if the weather was not cooperating today. Granted, there was no snow or rain (this is Southern California afterall, for all you non-CA peops), but the inside outside notion of living pursued in Steven Ehrlich's and David Hertz's projects did not come across quite as pleasantly, with cool, foggy and windy conditions making the visitors shiver at times.
The acropolis of transportation engineering and home of arguably the greatest four wheel creations in history has taken the next step towards composing the ultimate ode to the automobile: the car loft. German architects Manfred Dick (who sought a patent for his concept) and Johannes Kauka are about to break ground for what promises to be a wet and steamy dream for car enthusiasts and safety minded yuppies alike.
Gregory Colbert’s photography and motion picture exhibit “Ashes and Snow” opened about a month ago along the Santa Monica Pier. It is housed in a rather extravagant temporary structure designed by Shigeru Ban, in which it will be traveling the world. The stacked shipping containers, the 30’ high cardboard columns, and the exquisite lighting of the space and the art all come together to create a cathedral-like space and striking experience. The visitor is lead over a wooden deck in the center of the structure, while the walls and ceiling are dipped into darkness due to the careful lighting design. The prints appear to hover between the evenly spaced columns, which makes for a beautiful procession.
Norman Foster, Richard Rogers, Nicholas Grimshaw and, especially, Santiago Calatrava are famous for their high-tech, glass and steel design approach that celebrates the structural elements and exposes the beauty of physics. Jean Prouvé is widely considered to be the famous godfather of the bunch, the "Don Corleone" of the "archingineer," so to say.MOCA is presently housing a small exhibit that originated at Columbia's graduate school of architecture. It focuses on Mr. Prouvé's efforts to create modular structures, furniture and structural systems through three of his principal areas of interest at the time: "schools, the tropics, and the use of aluminum." The main element of the exhibit is one of the so-called "Tropical Houses." This particular specimen was fabricated in Maxéville, France, assembled in Brazzaville, Congo, in 1951, then disassembled in the midst of civil war and shipped back to Paris in 2001. The simple structure is a beautiful example of how modular systems and pre-fab construction can be turned into a beautiful artifact at the hands of a great and thoughtful designer. Unfortunately the actual Tropical House did not make it to Los Angeles, but the exhibit is well worth a visit nonetheless (and it's free too...). Don't forget to watch the video about the re-assembly of the structure.
Finally follow through on the French-speaking theme by maybe sampling some of the baked goods at "Le Pain Quotidien" next door while out on Melrose... YUMM!
Link: MOCA
Link: Design Within Reach
Source: LA Weekly
Due to the large number of inquiries regarding the "super fantastik" skateboard designs by Tony Larson from Agents of the Area, we decided to investigate a bit.The findings might shock you, so if you have a "mobilia eamesis heart condition", or any kind of bladder weakness when it comes to issues of design excellence, please, STOP READING NOW!
For the rest of us, we are sorry... The designs we featured are a couple of years old, and apparently they have already reached cult status. Your best bet would be to try Ebay or something similar, but good luck with that one.
HOWEVER, fear not, since Tony has provided us with a sneak peek at what promises to easily be as hot a collection of mid-century modernist design artifacts on decks as his first version. He tells us they are to be released sometime this fall. So, I dunno about the rest of you, but I am gettin' in line! And I might buy a couple of the Eames stickers that they feature on Crailtap, just to make the wait bearable.
Last, but not least: PEOPLE! "GIRL" Skateboards are not "skateboards for girls..." It's a cool and hip name of a brand, kinda like "Blind"(not exclusively for visually impaired children),"Bones" (no, not an indication of the materials used), "Birdhouse"(sounds oh so tame and civilized...but guess what)... And then there is "Uncle Touchy" and "Sick Stick." 'Nuff said.
Link: Agents of the Area
Link: Crailtap
Reference: Skate like a girl! (L+L)
Can we assume to all agree on the premise that skateboards are cool, and that the act of skateboarding is even cooler? And Eames furniture, veeery cool indeed, right? So, if everyone at any design school knows about these icons of coolness, then how come nobody has come up with combining the two until now?! Shame on all of you!We salute Tony Larson from Agents of the Area, who has managed to design some decks within his Girl Skateboards line that will thrash your hearts out. He even managed to throw on some Roadside Architecture, or Venturi's duck, if you may. Design geeks in the black and grey uniforms now can get a skateboard that does not clash!
Link: Agents of the Area
Some more Skate Art: Skate or Die!
The physical act of climbing trees tends to lose its appeal when we get past our teens (well, for some people...), but now you can let the Peter Pan in you take flight in a safe way (does anyone remember that Michael Jackson interview on 20/20) by going to visit the German national forest in Hainach, Thueringen.The bridge spans 300 meters and you find yourself about 44 meters above the forest ground (meter=yard, more or less). Apparently one is almost certain to experience bats, woodpeckers and other inhabitants of the "Buchenurwald" up close and personal, and the glazed viewing platform even protects you rugged explorers from the elements. Not so convinced about the tower design itself (bit heavy, ey?), but how cool of a tree house would this have been when you were a kid?! Oh, and Archigram... take that!
Link: Nationalpark Hainich
Link: Under Construction Photos