Times architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne to participate in L.A. city planning panel

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Los Angeles -- so often described as the city of the future -- has historically had a lot of trouble breaking old habits when it comes to urban planning. But L.A. is changing in dramatic ways, and so are the critical ways of thinking about the city.

What forms will L.A. take in the decades to come? And what role will the city’s Planning Department play? Times architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne will participate in a panel discussion titled “The Future of the L.A. City Planning Department (And the Future of the City),” at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Southwestern Law School.

The discussion will include Michael LoGrande, who has been selected by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to be the planning director. Earlier this summer, Gail Goldberg announced her resignation and retirement from the position after serving for more than four years.

In addition, the panel will include Jane Blumenfeld, the former acting deputy director of the Planning Department; Bill Boyarsky, a former columnist and editor at the Times; and several other architectural notables.

Michael Woo, the dean of Cal Poly Pomona’s College of Environmental Design and a member of the L.A. City Planning Commission, will moderate the discussion.

The panel will take place at the Louis XVI Room at Southwestern Law School, 3050 Wilshire Blvd. (To attend, you can RSVP to marcyruiz@csupomona.edu.)

-- David Ng

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