World-renowned starchitect Frank Gehry has been staying close to home in Los Angeles recently with a wide variety of big-deal projects that pull him out of his museum-and-concert-hall comfort zone: an extensive infrastructure overhaul in the master plan for the LA River, a high-end mixed-use project in the 8150 Sunset complex on the Hollywood/West Hollywood border, and a pro bono design for the headquarters of a children's nonprofit located in the heart of low-income Watts. Gehry unveiled his model this past weekend for that last one, the new headquarters of Children's Institute, Inc., which was founded in 1906 as the Big Sister League and now offers services to kids and families dealing with violence and poverty; it's been in leased spaces in the neighborhood for eight years now.
Filed under: