Support from the architecture community for candidate Thomas Small continues to grow as more voters connect with his bid for a seat on the Culver City City Council.
To date, nearly 40 prominent and influential architects, designers, and engineers from Culver City and across the Los Angeles region have announced their support of Thomas Small’s candidacy.
The world-renowned architect Clive Wilkinson, who has designed spaces for some of the most creative companies in the world, is among them. Wilkinson hosted a recent fundraiser for Thomas Small, an unprecedented, exuberant gathering of architectural and creative Culver City talent, at the office of Clive Wilkinson Architects, on Washington Blvd.
“I am so grateful to Clive and to the many other accomplished members of the design community who have endorsed me,” Thomas Small said. “Their tremendous support is inspiring.”
The architectural journalist Michael Webb has voiced his support for Thomas Small: “One of Thomas’s chief goals is to promote excellence– in architecture, urban planning, and creative transportation initiatives. He wants to make Culver City a model of sustainability, walkability and affordable housing.”
Webb believes in Thomas Small’s potential not only to improve Culver City but also to affect the entire region. “Other enlightened communities have had an impact on the metropolis at large. Culver City has an abundance of creative talent living and working there, and could have an even greater influence. Los Angeles needs committed advocates of design, and Thomas will fill that role,” Webb stated.
Since becoming a Culver City Cultural Affairs Commissioner three years ago, Thomas Small has made it his mission to raise awareness about the significant role architecture and design play in this city by bringing together Culver City residents, civic leaders and business leaders to take part in a series he’s moderated entitled Architecture Talks.
“When architectural projects achieve true design excellence, their impact on others is wide ranging,” Thomas Small said. “These projects can be vibrant, appealing, and profitable, and they enhance the environment around them.
“They bring joy and functionality to their occupants, visitors and neighbors. And they improve, serve and enrich their communities.
“As a member of the City Council, I will bring to bear my relationships and my experience in the architecture and design community, and do everything I can to ensure that all Culver City development projects will be excellent.
“Brilliant planning and design stimulate a vibrant economy. Together they will create a higher quality of life for all of us here in Culver City.”
More than half the architects, designers and engineers who have endorsed Thomas Small to date are working on or have completed Culver City Projects:
Craig Hodgetts, FAIA (Architect of the Frost Theater at Culver City High School)
Hsin-Ming Fung, FAIA (Architect of the Frost Theater at Culver City High School)
Steven Ehrlich, FAIA, RIBA (Architect of The Culver Steps at Parcel B)
Eric Owen Moss, FAIA (Architect of Conjunctive Points/The Hayden Tract)
Jonathan Watts, AIA (Architect of the Ivy Station TOD at The Expo Rail Station)
Patricia Rhee, AIA (Architect of the Ivy Station Offices at The Expo Rail Station)
Trevor Abramson, FAIA (Architect of the Platform)
Doug Teiger, AIA (Architect of the Platform)
Zoltan Pali, FAIA (Architect of the SPF/MODAA Lofts building)
Michael Rachlin, AIA (Architect for CCUSD Bond Projects)
Michael Enomoto, FAIA (Architect for Expo Line Railway)
Debra Gerod, FAIA, AIA/LA President (Architect for Expo Line Railway)
Clive Wilkinson, FAIA (Architect of Clive Wilkinson Architects Bldg.)
Russel Shubin, AIA (Architect of The Beacon at 9950 Jefferson Blvd.)
Andrea Cohen Gehring, FAIA (Architect/Artist for Helms Bakery public art)
Anurag Jain, PhD, PE (Engineer for Jefferson Biotech Research building)
Scott Johnson, FAIA (Architect for original Expo Station TOD Master Plan)
Dane Twitchell, AIA (Culver City residential and commercial projects)
Whitney Sander (Architect for Culver City Residence for a Briard)
Lisa Gimmy, ASLA, LEED AP (Culver City based Landscape Architect)
Lisa Sachs, FAIA (Construction Management for West LA College)
Other prominent architects and design professionals from Greater Los Angeles who have endorsed Thomas Small are:
Chester A. Widom, FAIA, California State Architect
Ronald A. Altoon, FAIA, Past AIA National President
Kelly Sutherlin McLeod, FAIA, 2015 USC Distinguished Alumni
Robert Harris, FAIA, ACSA Distinguished Professor
Michael Lehrer, FAIA
Mia Lehrer, FASLA
Gabrielle Bullock, FAIA, NOMA
G. Michael Gehring, FAIA
Frank Gruber, Urbanist/Former Santa Monica Planning Commissioner
Michael Webb, Architectural Journalist
Will Wright, Hon. AIA/LA, Director of Government/Public Affairs AIA/LA
Mark Susser, ASLA, CLIA, Landscape Architect
Randall Michelson, Architectural Photographer
James Weiner, AIA, LEED Fellow
Angela Brooks, AIA
Alex Ward, AIA
Gerdo Aquino, FASLA
Thomas Small, a graduate of Yale University, serves on the Culver City Cultural Affairs Commission. He is an expert in the fields of architecture and historic preservation, urban and sustainable design and conscientious development, and an architectural writer and consultant. He collaborates with architects, designers, engineers, developers and communities to create and enhance architectural projects, neighborhoods, and developments.
He has worked on a wide range of projects, competitions, and awards programs in urban design and development, sustainable design, and historic preservation in North America, Asia, Europe and the Middle East.
This year he will travel to Rome to present his paper “Notes from the Urbanist Front: Urban Development in Culver City” at the 53rd Annual Livable Cities Conference.
Last year he was a delegate from Culver City to the New York Times 2015 Cities of the Future Conference in New York.
At UCLA he taught Sustainability for Organizational Change in the business division of the Global Sustainability Certificate Program.
For more information about Thomas Small and his campaign for a seat on the Culver City City council, go to www.thomas4culvercity.org
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