Love ‘Never Built?’ Here’s a Recap of KCRW’s Coverage on the Show

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In case you missed it, here’s a recap on all of KCRW’s Never Built coverage:

Since its opening on July 27th at the A+D Museum, Never Built has awed its audiences with an array of civic proposals for LA, many by notable architects, that one way or another didn’t quite make the cut. KCRW’s Matt Holzman produced a four part series that took an in-depth look at some of the more ambitious plans that never came to fruition. KCRW’s Steve Chiotakis interviewed the curators of exhibit, Sam Lubell and Greg Goldin, to find out more about their motivations in realizing the unrealized, and Frances Anderton spoke with Sam Lubell back in February about how effort to realize the exhibit — with installation designed by Clive Wilkinson — became a community project in itself.

The Santa Monica Causeway

save the pier
Al’s Kitchen Menu and Save the Pier Buttons. (Photo from “Santa Monica Pier: A Century on the Last Pleasure Pier” by James Harris) (The original image is no longer available, please contact KCRW if you need access to the original image.)

In the late-’60’s, Santa Monica was literally growing up.  In 1971, the city’s first real high-rise went up. That white, 21-story office building that still overlooks the ocean where Wilshire meets the sea. And then there was The Island: A proposed man-made, 35-acre island, right off the beach, connected to the mainland by a sinuous automobile causeway.

But building the island would mean destroying the Santa Monica Pier and the fight to save the beloved pier would transform Santa Monica.