We're delighted to announce that wHY has been selected for the 2021 AD100 - Architectural Digest's annual list of the world's top 100 architecture and design firms. To browse the full list, click here.
Over the last few months, wHY has been working collaboratively on the proposal for Los Angeles Civic Arts, a major new mixed use development designed with KFA Architecture, Studio MLA, Thomas Safran & Associates, California Landmark Group, and Historic Resources Group. We’re delighted to announce that our team has been shortlisted and we’re currently awaiting final selection. LA Civic Arts reimagines the mid-century Civic Center site as a dynamic intersection of the arts and daily life. Located on the south side of Santa Monica Boulevard between Corinth and Butler Avenues, the campus would include a mix of affordable and market-rate housing centered on a landscaped plaza, enlivened by the presence of Berklee College of Music and the iconic Village Studios recording complex. The Design Team set out to energize the existing mid-century buildings, preserving characteristic features while emphasizing openness and transparency. Municipal offices, housing, and arts spaces come together as part of a carefully designed mix of diverse elements – linked by leisurely landscaping and spaces to interact and relax. We asked ourselves: why should the arts be separate from daily life? Los Angeles Civic Arts is our answer: an infusion of creativity and sociability into the day-to-day.
As part of the Conscious Cities Festival 2020, wHY's Mark Thomann gave a talk about his strategy of Art & Wilding and its relationship to urban health. The talk, titled "Feathers & Forests: A Strategy for Art & Wilding," discussed key wHY Landscape projects such as Rees Ridge Park in Toronto and the experimental garden "Float, Flutter, Flow" for the International Garden Festival at Chaumont-sur-Loire. The talk also touched on themes of beauty, artistry, and environmental responsibility, and argued for the importance of restoring biodiversity to our cities.
As part of a webinar series hosted by The Lutyens Trust America, wHY's Creative Director Kulapat Yantrasast joined Peter Inskip, a leading expert on the work of Edwin Lutyens, to discuss the architect's legacy and relevance to global architecture today. The webinar is available to watch here.
wHY designed the original building for David Kordansky Gallery, Los Angeles, in 2014, and the 12,818 square foot expansion adds two new exhibition spaces and a landscaped courtyard for a range of new programming, including performance, film, and outdoor sculpture. The new spaces are now open to the public, with an inaugural show by the Los Angeles artist Linda Stark. You can read Wallpaper*'s take on the new spaces here.
wHY’s Creative Director Kulapat Yantrasast was interviewed by Marcus Fairs, Dezeen founder and Editor-in-Chief, for the Dezeen Virtual Design Festival. In the interview, Kulapat discusses the future of museums, wHY's plans to build an art bridge using trash collected from the LA River, and the impact of Covid-19 on the architecture industry. You can watch the interview here.
