Interview Cast

Eric Lloyd Wright:

Eric Lloyd Wright, grandson of Frank Lloyd Wright and son of Lloyd Wright, is the Founder and Principal Architect of Eric Lloyd Wright & Associates in Malibu, CA. Eric’s early experience in architecture was as an apprentice for his grandfather, where he became thoroughly steeped in organic architecture and nature. He continues to practice and teach about organic architecture, which is rooted in the integration of ecology, social responsibility and beauty. During his time working for his grandfather at Taliesin (Spring Green, WI) and Taliesin West (Scottsdale, AZ), he worked on notable projects such as the Guggenheim Museum (NYC), Tonkens Residence (Amberley Village, OH) and Monona Terrace (Madison, WI). After working for his grandfather, Eric moved back to Los Angeles and worked for his father, Lloyd Wright, where he worked on projects such as the Wayfarers Chapel (Palos Verdes, CA) until Lloyd Wright’s death at 1978.Eric’s portfolio includes the restoration and renovation of Frank Lloyd Wright and Lloyd Wright works, as well as residences and institutional buildings he designed.

His work gives careful thought to a project’s physical, social and spiritual environment, while focusing on appropriate materials, quality, craftsmanship and attention to detail. The relationship between the client, architect and site is a critical component to shape the design of the project.

Louis Wiehle:

Louis Wiehle, the partner of Christopher Carr in the firm Wiehle-Carr, has been a licensed architect for over 50 years. Forty-two of those years have been as a principal and/or joint owner of an architectural firm.His architectural career began as a member of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin Fellowship, and he worked under Wright for the last nine years of Wright’s life on such projects as the Guggenheim Museum, Marin County Civic Center and Baghdad Master Plan. Wiehle was Chief of Planning in the Newport Beach office of William L. Pereira Associates in the mid 1960s when the Irvine Ranch Master Plan was being developed. He led planning on 14 other new communities and feasibility studies in his 6-year tenure with Pereira.

Work since that time has included a wide variety of project types, from unique single-family homes to important healthcare facilities. Wiehle-Carr and Eric Lloyd Wright Associates collaborated on the recent structural restoration of the 1924 Ennis House in Los Angeles, saving the famous historically-registered building from almost certain demise. This work received an AIA Design Award.

Sam Lubell:

Dave Mieger:

Jack Lindblad:

Jack Lindblad is a registered Architect in the State of California and a resident of North Hollywood who serves for the Panorama City Neighborhood Council, and is running for the California Senate District 18 in the San Fernando Valley in 2014. The award-winning Architect/Planner/Community Organizer received a Masters of Architecture at Texas A&M, Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Design at University of Washington, and received an award for pioneering design for outpatient ambulatory diagnostic and treatment centers.

Debbie Gloria:

Debbie Gloria is an architect with expertise in sustainability. Her experience includes residential architecture and managing the LEED certification process for both new buildings and major renovations. She works with Greenform, a consulting firm, which collaborates with design and construction teams to realize their goals for building projects that are efficient, comfortable and healthy. With Greenform, she has managed the LEED certification process for the renovation of Tom Bradley Terminal at LAX, Downtown’s LA Live Hotels and Residences, the KPCC radio station, UC Irvine’s Arts Building, among many others.

Mia Lehrer:

Mia Lehrer is the founding principal of the Los Angeles firm, Mia Lehrer + Associates. Born in San Salvador, El Salvador, Ms. Lehrer received her Masters of Landscape Architecture from the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University. Following her education, Ms. Lehrer gained valuable experience by working on large-scale public projects such as the World Bank Coastal Zone Project in El Salvador, as well as intimate gardens for residential clients. Today, she is recognized internationally for her progressive landscape designs and her advocacy for sustainable and people-friendly public space.Mia’s firm is a consultant for the Los Angeles River Revitalization Master Plan, currently leading efforts to identify and plan a comprehensive open space network that interfaces with channel restoration and urbanism. Committed to her profession and education, Ms. Lehrer is actively involved in several organizations. She is on the Board of Directors at the Collage Dance Theater. She is a member of the International Federation of Landscape Architects, American Society of Landscape Architects, Hollywood Design Review Committee, and has served on the Harvard Graduate School of Design Alumni Council and board of directors of TreePeople.

Peter Becker:

Peter Becker is a Registered Architect for the states of California and Colorado, who resides and practices in Santa Barbara. He received his Master of Architecture degree at University of Colorado and graduated from University of California, Santa Barbara. His work reflects the works of George Washington Smith’s Spanish Colonial buildings and other early 1900’s building styles such as Arts and Crafts, Contemporary and Country Style. He is the co-author of Charles Moore’s seminal book Los Angeles: City Observed with Regula Campbell, and has worked at Frank Gehry office in the ’80s.

Peter Becker Architect has an intimate, five-person office in Santa Barbara, CA, which specializes in the design of single-family residences—large and small, new and remodeled. Since 1991, they have assembled a large body of work, mostly in Southern California, that is remarkable for its diversity, where the style of each house reflects the influence of its neighborhood, its site, its history and its present owners, rather than any one architect’s personal design philosophy.

Refugio “Cuco” Ceballos:

Refugio “Cuco” Ceballos is a spiritual leader, activist and educator for the indigenous communities of Los Angeles. Refugio was one of the protestors in saving the South Central Farms in South Los Angeles. He is an advocate for having urban gardens in underserved areas, teaches children and adults the Aztec calendar, and leads Aztec dances.

Benjamin Ball:

Benjamin Ball grew up in Colorado and Iowa where his mother’s involvement in theatre proved influential. While studying for his degree at the Southern California Institute of Architecture, Ball logged stints at Gehry Partners and Shirdel Zago Kipnis. Upon graduation, he sought work as a set and production designer for films (including the Matrix series) as well as music videos and commercials with such influential directors as Mark Romanek and Tony Scott. His experience ranges from work on the Disney Concert Hall and small residential commissions for boutique firms to complex medical structures and event design. In his current collaboration with Gaston Nogues, Ball is exploring the intersection of architecture, art and product design through physical modeling and the use of digital and more traditional forms of production.

Cornelia Brierly:

Cornelia Brierly was born April 12, 1913, in Mifflin County, PA. After periods of study at Cornell University and University of Pittsburgh, Brierly went to Carnegie Tech (now known as Carnegie Mellon University) where she was one of the first five women to study architecture at the school. She became interested in the work of Frank Lloyd Wright after reading his autobiography. Immediately, she wrote a letter to the celebrated architect applying for the fellowship at Taliesin and became one of Wright’s first Fellows in 1934.

During her first few years, she worked on models for Wright’s “Broadacre City,” which she also presented to the public in Pittsburgh and Washington, DC. In 1937, Wright’s Fellows, including Brierly, moved to the Arizona desert to begin work on Taliesin West. Cornelia studied with Frank Lloyd Wright for 10 years, after which she was partner in private practice with then-husband Peter Berndtson.

In 1956, she returned to Taliesin and the FLLW Foundation, working on architectural, interior, and landscape designs for Taliesin Architects and teaching at the Foundation. Brierly also served as a Trustee and later, Chairman, of the Board for the FLLW Foundation. After nearly seventy years of work at Taliesin, she published Tales of Taliesin: A Memoir of Fellowship (Pomegranate Communications, 2000). She passed away in August 24, 2012.

Linda Dishman:

Linda Dishman is the Executive Director of the Los Angeles Conservancy, a nonprofit organization that preserves historic buildings and neighborhoods from destruction in the area. She helped develop the Historic Preservation Overlay Zone in districts designated by the Los Angeles City Council, which creates a level of protection from altering or destroying its local heritage in these specially zoned areas. It also serves residents and property owners in collaboration with the Office of Historic Resource Department of Los Angeles in gaining knowledge about the city’s history and legacy and the need to preserve it.

The Conservancy has grown into the largest historic preservation group in the country, and Dishman oversees 15 people on staff, 300 volunteers, 6,000 members and a budget of $2 million. Its events and efforts can be found at www.laconservancy.org

Nicholas Jensen is a civil engineering student at the University of Santa Clara, CA. He participated in the 2013 Solar Decathlon in Irvine, California, and was involved in the construction of their concept home called “Radiant House.” The Solar Decathlon is a school competition for architecture schools and architecture departments in universities to come up with a way to design and build sustainable homes for the next generation of communities. Sponsored by U.S. Department of Energy, each competing school present their ideas and construction ingenuity based on 10 categories.The concept of Santa Clara’s “Radiant House” is a shared vision of a brighter future—a future of energy independence and environmental integrity. Their goal is to expand and enable the accessibility of solar energy, demonstrating that a sustainable lifestyle is not something that must wait until the future, but is something that can be achieved today by incorporating the three E’s of their design philosophy—Efficiency, Economy, and Elegance. Therefore, designing a home that strikes a balance between comfort, aesthetics, and technological innovation.

Santa Clara University Solar Decathlon team: Radiant House

Ken Bernstein, Principal City Planner for the Los Angeles Department of City Planning and Director for the Office of Historic Resources oversees the Policy Planning and Historic Resources Division in the Los Angeles City area. Ken created a virtual database, called “Survey LA,” in coordination with The Getty Conservation Institute that allows residents to be involved in planning and policy.It gathers information and reports on the historical relevance of structures and places within the area. It helps keep information on property that could be preserved and give notice on anything that might challenge the status of a building or place.

Juan Carlos Muñoz Hernandez:

Juan Carlos Muñoz Hernandez is an artist who combines graffiti art, sculpture and oil-based paintings to create a fresh cultural expression. A native of Mexicali, Mexico, Juan Carlos has over 20 years of artistic experience. Prior to relocating to the United States, Juan Carlos began his artistic endeavors as child by creating sculptures with clay from his native Mexico. His creative talents were eventually influenced by the urban landscape of Los Angeles. This led to his first official commission in 1991 with Homeboy Industries and he has since been commissioned to paint five additional murals throughout the County of Los Angeles.In 1992, after a rigorous interview process, world-renowned sculptor Robert Graham selected Juan Carlos to join the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) Torso Project. Since then he has worked on internationally acclaimed projects including the Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial in Washington D.C., Duke Ellington in New York, Charlie Parker in Kansas City and Our Lady of Angels Cathedral doors in Los Angeles, California.

Penny Meyer is the epitome of a neighborhood activist. She has spent the better part of her life in the San Fernando Valley of California, attending public schools in the Van Nuys and North Hollywood neighborhoods, as well attending Valley College and California State University Northridge. She currently lives in the Van Nuys Historic District and has worked tirelessly to make the neighborhood a better place to live, work and play.

Her passion is to see her town of Van Nuys turn itself around and be a place that the residents can all be proud of. She currently serves as a board member of the Van Nuys Neighborhood Council and the Van Nuys Community Police Advisory Board—working together to ensure that Van Nuys be both safe and beautiful for area residents and visitors. She definitely thinks that the small steps in neighborhood involvement are the catalyst for turning the corner toward a beautiful future for Van Nuys and the rest of Los Angeles!

Phillip Cooley:

Phillip Cooley is an entrepreneur, community leader and environmentalist in the Detroit area who is the co-owner of Slows BBQ restaurant, and real estate and development firm, O’ Connor Development Group, LLC. Phillip is pushing efforts to revitalize Detroit by reinstituting new landscaping and installing a skate-park in Roosevelt Park, which is in front of Michigan Central Station in the district of Corktown.

He graduated from Columbia College in Chicago with a Bachelor of Arts, he currently sits on seven advisory boards, including the ACLU of Southeastern Michigan, The Architectural Salvage Warehouse of Detroit, and The Center for Community Based Enterprise. He is truly a leader in the Detroit community.

Lawrence Brink:

Larry Brink was an architect in Ann Arbor, Michigan who was a member of the Taliesin Fellowship. Larry attended Alma College, and later became an apprentice at Taliesin East and West under famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright. He worked closely with Mr. Wright on the Marin County Civic Center, the Guggenheim Museum and Trinity Church. He later graduated from the University of Michigan School of Architecture.

Larry was involved in the restoration of Frank Lloyd Wright’s only two-story Usonian home ever built, the Dorothy Turkel House in Detroit, Michigan. He was one of the original members of the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy and served on its board multiple terms. He was also a Frank Lloyd Wright Fellow and served two terms as president of the Frank Lloyd Wright Fellowship Board and many terms as a board member. Larry passed away in June 15, 2011

Dale Morgan and Norman Silk:

Dale Morgan and Norman Silk are owners of the Dorothy Turkel House in Detroit, Michigan and are business partners of Blossoms, a Florist Company in Birmingham, Michigan since 1977. The house was in disrepair for many years until they painstakingly restored the residence to its original state with the help of architect Lawrence Brink. They are active in the arts community in the area, and stage private events on the property.

The Dorothy Turkel House, built in 1955, was an example of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Usonian Houses and is the only Usonian House to have two stories. Built with concrete blocks and glass to allow light and openness to flow to the outside and inside.

Bruce Brooks Pfeiffer:

Bruce Brooks Pfeiffer is the director of the archives at the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation in Arizona and worked with Wright before the architect died in 1959. Pfeiffer has written numerous books on Frank Lloyd Wright’s works, including Frank Lloyd Wright: Taliesin West (Global Architecture Traveler), Frank Lloyd Wright, 1867-1959: Building for Democracy and Frank Lloyd Wright Monograph 1937-1941.

An authority on Frank Lloyd Wright, Bruce Pfeiffer collected and archived Wright’s drawings, models, writings and possessions, which have now been transferred to Columbia University Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library in New York City.

Andrew Hurvitz

Andy Hurvitz is a screenwriter, actor and writer whose blog “Here in Van Nuys” addresses issues that pertain to Van Nuys, but not necessarily about Van Nuys. His [or “The] subjects in his blog address concerns for his neighborhood, historical references, photo essays, personal reflections and short stories.His comments on the current state of the Van Nuys, and Los Angeles in general, reflect his interest and love for his adopted area and city, along with recommendations for improving the area.

John Hendry:

 John Hendry has been a member of Van Nuys Neighborhood Council for eight years—a Van Nuys native since 1957. Hendry’s civic interest was piqued by his father, who was a City building inspector in Van Nuys for 30 years. Now a USPS employee, Hendry has deep interests in San Fernando Valley history and politics.

Mariam Fogler:

Edward Soja is Distinguished Professor of Urban Planning at UCLA and a member of the associate faculty at the London School of Economics. In addition to his readings of American feminist cultural theorist bell hooks and French intellectual Michel Foucault, Soja has contributed to spatial theory and the field of cultural geography through his use of the work of French Marxist urban sociologist Henri Lefebvre. In 2010, the University of Minnesota Press released Soja’s latest book Seeking Spatial Justice. His other publications include Postmodern Geographies: The Reassertion of Space in Critical Social Theory (1989), The City: Los Angeles and Urban Theory at the End of the Twentieth Century (1996), Thirdspace: Journeys to Los Angeles and Other Real-and-Imagined Places (1996) and Postmetropolis: Critical Studies of Cities and Regions (2000).

Michael Rotondi:

Michael Rotondi is a award-winning Architect who co-founded the Architecture firm Morphosis with Thom Mayne, and his own firm Roto Architects in1992. He is a former director and one of the first founding students of Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-ARC)—one of the most innovative architecture schools—when it was first located in Santa Monica in 1972. With SCI-ARC as the example, he has influenced numerous other architecture programs to bring technology, innovation and design in the forefront of today’s architecture and design.

His body of work focuses on new productive ways of teaching, researching, designing and building, underscoring the firm’s mission of continuity from past-to-present. This is accomplished while integrating a teacher-practitioner’s expanding field of trans-disciplinary interests, within and beyond architecture. In particular, his investigations are informed by the dynamic relationships of conservation and change; socio-cultural evolution of the city; the simultaneity of process; order and unity; and the symbiotic coupling of society, environment, and economy. The broadest question framing these investigations and directing the design research is, “What is the architectural equivalent of this?”

Daniel Skolnick:

A planner for the city of Los Angeles, and former deputy planner & Director of Urban Planning & Transportation for former Councilman Tony Cardenas & Dennis Zine in the San Fernando Valley, graduated from California State University at Northridge with a BA in Urban Studies and Planning. One of his projects was to set reports and recommendations to revitalize a portion of Van Nuys Blvd. in the San Fernando Valley.

Edward Soja:

Edward Soja is Distinguished Professor of Urban Planning at UCLA and a member of the associate faculty at the London School of Economics. In addition to his readings of American feminist cultural theorist bell hooks and French intellectual Michel Foucault, Soja has contributed to spatial theory and the field of cultural geography through his use of the work of French Marxist urban sociologist Henri Lefebvre. In 2010, the University of Minnesota Press released Soja’s latest book Seeking Spatial Justice. His other publications include Postmodern Geographies: The Reassertion of Space in Critical Social Theory (1989), The City: Los Angeles and Urban Theory at the End of the Twentieth Century (1996), Thirdspace: Journeys to Los Angeles and Other Real-and-Imagined Places (1996) and Postmetropolis: Critical Studies of Cities and Regions (2000).

Jennifer Siegal:

Jennifer Siegal is an award-winning architect based in the Venice, California who is the founder and principal of the Los Angeles-based firm Office of Mobile Design (OMD), which is dedicated to the design and construction of responsible, sustainable, and precision built structures.

Ms. Siegal’s innovative mobile structures include customized, prefab, green Modernist homes; the Mobile EcoLab used to teach students about the environment; and the Portable Construction Training Center created for the Venice Community Housing Corporation. Her most recent work is a modern, modular home-product line called Take Home.

Ms. Siegal’s work was exhibited at the Cooper Hewitt, National Design Museum’s 2003 National Design Triennial; the Walker Art Center’s Strangely Familiar: Design and Everyday Life; the 2006 NY Mobile Living Exhibition; and the National Building Museum’s The Green House, New Directions in Sustainable Architecture and Design in 2006 and Reinventing the Globe: A Shakespearean Theater for the 21st Century in 2007.

Joseph Linton

Joe Linton is an artist, author and activist who is one of the organizers of CicLAvia, an event where streets are closed to automobiles in the Los Angeles area, allowing only for bicycling, walking and other means of transportation.

From 1996 through 2013, Linton lived at the Los Angeles Eco-Village. He has lived car-free since 1992. He was one of the founders of the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition and advocates for non-motorized transportation alternatives, including bikability, walkability, transit-oriented development, traffic calming, parking reform, and more. He worked as the Campaigns Director for Cyclists Inciting Change thru Live Exchange (C.I.C.L.E.). In January 2013, he moved to the east coast and to work as the Greenway Director for the Bronx River Alliance. Recently, he moved back to Los Angeles to write for L.A. Streetblog.

Linton has been a longtime advocate for the revitalization and restoration of the Los Angeles River, serving in various capacities as volunteer, board and staff for the Friends of the Los Angeles River. He’s lead hundreds of walks and tours of the river and its tributaries, and wrote and illustrated Down by the Los Angeles.

YoungSoo Kim:

YoungSoo Kim is an urban planner and designer from South Korea who co-wrote and edited Lean Linear City/ Arterial Arcology with Paolo Soleri, the visionary architect, founder and creator of Arcosanti. The book outlines Soleri’s comprehensive approach to defining and controlling growth patterns of existing and future cities to produce more sustainable, equitable, and robust urban forms.

Kim completed a joint master and bachelor degree in architecture with a concentration in urban design at the University of Arizona. After graduation, he was invited by Soleri to continue working in the Arcosanti Planning Department, overseeing such projects as the “Lean Linear City” design proposal. Kim’s professional intention is to translate Soleri’s “Lean Linear” model into practical applications for urban planning in developing countries that are experiencing rapid urbanization.

Jeff Stein:

Award-winning architect, writer, and educator Jeff Stein AIA is president of Cosanti Foundation. His first construction workshop at Arcosanti was in 1975. Since then he has spent time on the Cosanti staff; taught architecture in the Career Discovery program of the Harvard Graduate School of Design; headed the department of architecture at Wentworth Institute in Boston; and was Dean of the Boston Architectural College for the past seven years. He has taught at architecture schools in the U.S.. and at the Technikum Winterthur, Zurich, and Ecole d’Architecture Languedoc-Roussillon, in Montpellier, France. He has written for Architecture Boston magazine and was architecture critic for the New England newspaper, Banker+Tradesman for ten years. He lectures widely about Arcosanti, energy and urban design, including at the recent Tel Aviv-Yafo Centennial Conference on Urban Sustainability, in Montreal at the 9th World EcoCities Congress and at the Santa Fe Institute

Bill Roschen:

Alanna Lin:

Alanna Lin a.k.a. “Mindy Chiu” is a musician, writer and performance artist.

She holds a MFA in Creative Writing from California Institute of the Arts in Valencia, CA.

She runs the Los Angeles Department of Writing and Power, a writing and performance studio situated in Little Tokyo in Downtown Los Angeles, facilitating innovative, interactive community-building events and creative workshops.

She composes and performs original music for film / television as Fascinoma (a folk-pop enterprise) and uses pop and rock music as a means to enjoin communal reflection upon friendship, loyalty, and public safety (earthquake preparedness).

She hosts a web TV show on Youtube called, “Glamour Fulltime” where she integrates all things into one persona: Chairmeowww.

Her third record, an album of Beatles covers, entitled, “Don’t Let Me Down” will be released in 2014 to a chosen few.

Michael Maltzan:

Michael Maltzan, FAIA, is the founder and principal of Michael Maltzan Architecture. Born in Levittown, Long Island. His work fully engages our contemporary world through an architecture that is a catalyst for new experiences and an agent for change. Through a deep belief in architecture’s role in our cities and landscapes, he has succeeded in creating new cultural and social connections across a range of scales and programs.

Randell Mackinson:

Randall Mackinson is an authority and expert on Greene and Greene Architecture who helped preserve the Gamble House in Pasadena, California, which he also was responsible for securing public access to the Gamble House itself. He has written numerous books on Greene and Greene architecture, most notably A Guide to the Work of Greene and Greene (1974); Greene & Greene: Architecture as a Fine Art (1977); Greene & Greene: Furniture and Related Designs (1979); Greene & Greene: The Passion and the Legacy (1998); Greene & Greene: The Blacker House (2000), which he wrote with photographer Thomas Heinz and actor Brad Pitt; and Greene & Greene: Creating a Style (2004), with Heinz. He also contributed to Esther MacCoy seminal book “Five California Architects”.

Lewis MacAdams:

Kevin Parkhurst & Hannah Wear:

A husband & wife team who are both associates of Eric Lloyd Wright and have their own solar installation business, Malibu Solar. Both graduates of University of Oregon in architecture, regional planning and sustainable practice, Kevin Parhurst is especially interested in master planning for projects with an overall and holistic approach in responding to the needs of the client, aspects of the particular site, and integration of the building with the landscape, while Hannah is concerned about the environmental quality of the materials we use in buildings and has extensive knowledge on environmentally responsible building products. She is very interested in the relationships between form and siting to create buildings that are intrinsically efficient and environmentally responsive.

Dan Sturges:

Dan Sturges is a designer and innovator regarded as one of the country’s leading transportation system visionaries with over 25 years in the global mobility space. Sturges supports Project 100, a multimodal subscription service helmed by Zappos founder Tony Hsieh created to usher in a new future of personal movement. He also supports South Bay Cities Council of Government in the Los Angeles area. Dan started as an automotive designer at General Motors in 1986, before focusing on personal transit solutions for the likes of Intrago, the Southern California Associations of Government, Federal Transit Administration and University of California’s Institute of Transportation Studies.

Gwendolyn Cook

Gwendolyn Cook is Project Manager & Outreach Coordinator for Middlebury College Solar Decathlon team, an collegiate event  in Irvine, California where each school team compete for design sustainable homes and communities that will impact the way how people should live in a sustainable world.

Gaston NoguesGaston Nogues was born and raised in Buenos Aires before moving to Los Angeles at age 12. Frequently accompanying his father to his job as an aerospace engineer, Nogues acquired a fascination with the hands-on process of building. An honors graduate in architecture from SCI-Arc, he moved directly from school into a position at Gehry Partners where he worked in product design and production and became a specialist in creative fabrication. He remained there until 2005 except for a one-year stint in 1996 as an assistant curator at a fine arts publishing house, Gemini GEL. In his current collaboration with Benjamin Ball, Nogues is focused on fabricating what they visualize; on process as it relates to the built object. In his spare time, Nogues builds custom automobiles.

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