August 8, 2011, Cover Stories, Cover Story

Moving Beyond Cars

Mon, Aug 08, 2011

We suspect Los Angeles might have a car-crazed reputation, but we also know this city has a vibrant community that likes to take bikes, buses and sidewalks, too. de LaB is partnering with Rethink LA, GOOD, the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, Dublab, Green Aid, The Architect's Newspaper, Tommy B, APA-LA, and the A+D Museum for an event that shows how L.A. can move beyond cars. We'll be heading to the exhibition Rethink LA: Perspectives on a Future City which envisions a Los Angeles fifty years in the future. And we're challenging everyone who attends to use alternative transportation.

That's right—the goal is to make this a completely car-free party. If you recall, they did this last year and it was lots of fun.

Board a bus, take the train, ride a bike, map out a walk, jump on your scooter, hire a horse and buggy, break out your hoverboard... just get here in a way that illustrates an L.A. that's not auto-dependent. Connect with friends and travel together. Document your trip on Twitter, Flickr or Facebook using the tag #RethinkLA. When you get to the event, they'll have an opportunity for everyone to record how they got there, where they came from, and what happened during their journey.

$10 at the door / $5 for students
RSVP to rsvp@aplusd.org

• Spin-artists from Dublab will be DJing
• Free beer from New Belgium Brewery
• LACBC will have a bike valet out front
• GOOD will be collecting statistics on your journey to turn into an incredible alternative transportation-based infographic
• While on your journey, email photos to moving@rethink.la then watch the slideshow at the party
• Document your stories with the Re/corder, journeys and creative stories will be retold by Architects Newspaper
• Ride-Thru bike photos by Tommy B.
• Interactive urban workshops with James Rojas
• Greenaid will be talking about their seedbombs

Rethink LA: Perspectives on a Future City :Through September 4 at the A+D Museum

Los Angeles is the personification of our suburban nation, and this archetype is both celebrated and condemned for how it has shaped our society. It is now 55 years after the Federal Highway Act changed our national landscape, and 50 years after the dismantling of Pacific Electric Railway changed our metropolis.  Once deemed the city of the future, LA is on the precipice of a new epoch.  A sea change in demographics, cultural allegiances, and lifestyles are beginning to shift our collective decisions in terms of the way we will live, work, play and travel.  Like our predecessors, what grand decisions can we make right now to construct our shared future?

RETHINK/LA presents a series of visions based on both the stark environmental realities of the present and the optimistic possibilities for the future. This exhibit explores the effects on our city by framing the questions:

What does our future look like? 

Where are we going and how will we get there?  

Will we choose the status quo or seek a better more sustainable Los Angeles?

Perspectives on a Future Cityfast-forwards 50 years to illustrate a new American dream.

A Note on the Collaborative Process

Indicative of a team-oriented design process, throughout the exhibit are examples of a partnership cultivated between the contributors and the curatorial team.  Resulting in installations ranging from visionary collages, videos on the present city, and sound installations of local decision makers.  These works represent a unification of expert voice and creative vision, both necessary viewpoints in the future city.

About Rethink/LA

RETHINK/LA is a collaboration of creative individuals who are intent on re-inventing Los Angeles; through partnerships with select non-profits and impassioned organizations we believe that together we will create a singular, stronger, unified voice for the future. Rethink/LA will develop annual partnerships to creatively vision important issues and objectives that will affect our cities for future generations.