This is "starchitecture" that pushes the aesthetic frontier but also evidences the self-indulgence that can result from the cult of celebrity and genius. And there’s a strain of machismo running through these trophy buildings, as cocky and detached as they are from the surrounding neighborhoods.

While starchitecture has certainly given L.A. an edge, it’s those who look back as well as forward who will show us the way to a brave new world.

Article: LA Weekly

But blessed are the L.A. architects who are also urbanists and activists, who care about the background buildings as well as the foreground buildings, about creating a streetscape that sustains an authentic 24/7 ebb and flow of everyday life, and particularly those who dare take on L.A.’s thorniest design problem: the transportation system.