How bad is L.A. Live? Let the debate begin....
L.A. Live, the new mega-development next to Staples Center, has gotten a lot of publicity since its opening. But it's also gotten some criticism. Curbed L.A. offers a guide to L.A. Live scholarship -- contrasting The Times' architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne's unkind words to the more hopeful note struck by veteran downtown L.A. blogger and journalist Ed Fuentes.
Hawthorne: For decades we've had that attitude about unabashedly commercial stand-alone developments. We've assumed that they somehow stood outside the realm of "real" city-making, whatever that means in a place such as Southern California, and therefore weren't worth sustained critical attention. But what happens when we wake up, as a city, and realize that to a large degree we've constructed an entire metropolis out of such monuments? It's time to admit that we are L.A. Live, and L.A. Live is us -- and that a little self-analysis might be a productive thing in the end.
Fuentes: "As a resolution, end hype of L.A. Live being anything Times Square. It's Los Angeles: drop the ball and countdown with an Angel."
L.A. Observed's Kevin Roderick also weighs in after seeing a Lakers game: "This was my third visit to L.A. Live since the grand opening. Those who predicted Times Square West must be feeling let down, if not embarrassed. Lucky Strike Lanes looks fun, but in sum L.A. Live (still unfinished, admittedly) is a big, sterile food mall with way, way too much advertising forced on you non-stop."
-- Shelby Grad
Photo: Los Angeles Times
