So it turns out that what may be missing from your city is just a bright candy pink wall.

I was walking along a stretch of Melrose Avenue today that didn’t seem to have all that much going on. But then I came across a bright pink building with a subtle Paul Smith emblem near the top corner. I like Paul Smith and so I decided to pop in.

But as I turned the corner, I was greeted by throngs of millennials all posing for photos along the building’s west face (read: lots of afternoon sun). Here’s a snap of what that looked like:

Once inside, I was quickly told that the pink wall is the most Instagrammed location in all of Los Angeles. I’m not sure that’s factually true, but I’m going to say it’s up there. A quick review of #pinkwall seems to suggest that.

What I find interesting is the simplicity of it all. It’s a pink wall. And people love it. If you believe that we are now living in an attention economy, then perhaps you ought to find or create your own version of a candy pink wall.

Los Angeles is a city that I have been indoctrinated to dislike. It sprawls and it’s car-oriented. But every time I visit I think to myself: This place is awesome.

I’m going to be in LA and Palm Springs this weekend catching up with a good friend, looking at architecture, taking photos, and escaping spring allergy season. 

I don’t know the city very well, so if any of you have recommendations for things I need to see or do, I would love to hear from you in the comment section below.

Also, if you’re in town and you think we should meet about design, real estate, startups, photography or something else, definitely drop me a line.

I just stumbled upon an interview with Christopher Hawthorne (architecture critic for the Los Angeles Times) talking about a “third Los Angeles.” 

His argument is that the first Los Angeles ran from about 1880 to World War II, and was characterized by a form of urbanism that most of, today, do not associate with LA. It was a city of streetcars, innovative multi-family housing, and local landscapes.

The second Los Angeles was the second half of the 20th century. And it is the LA that probably comes to mind for most people when they think of LA. It is the city of freeways, single-family homes, and sprawl.

The third Los Angeles is the city’s most recent iteration and started sometime around 2000. Like many things in life, it is in some ways a return to the past: namely the first LA. It is about urban intensification, transit, and more drought resistant landscapes. It is a city that senses its geographic limits.

I like how he talks about some of the challenges associated with intensification and this third LA:

“People in very good conscience who live in Santa Monica or San Francisco think of a moratorium on development as a progressive thing to support rather than reactionary or conservative or just in their own political self-interest. I don’t have a problem with somebody who bought a house at a certain point saying, “I bought into a certain place, you know, I want it to stay this way, and I’m going to use whatever resources I can to keep it that way.” They have every right to say that, even if I disagree. I have a problem with people saying that’s consistent with a progressive agenda about cities or a forward-looking attitude about the environment or about resources. It’s not.”