Connie Martinson Reviews The Master Architect Series July 26, 2001 Published in the Beverly Hills Courier An unsung heroine of architecture who has put her mark on Los Angeles where ever you look is Brenda Levin. She has been recognized as the subject for "The Master Architect Series V" "BRENDA LEVIN ; Levin & Associates Architects, Los Angeles" (Images Publishing $60.00). Like a plastic surgeon who does reconstructive work, Brenda has taken the original architect's work, cleaned it up, readjusted, and restored them for a second life which will endure even with 8.0 seismic activity. Buildings that she and her firm have resuscitated include The Bradbury Building to which she added a portico entrance from a park in the rear, The Grand Central Market, The Pellessier Building and The Wiltern Theatre, The Oviatt Building, Griffith Observatory and Los Angeles City Hall. Levin has worked with developers, Wayne Ratkovitch and later with Ira Yellin. Her creative work has also changed the face of educational institutions. We talked about the buildings at Occidental and Scripps where she held Visioning Charettes to make sure that the context of the project stays coordinated. I confessed that I had not heard the word "charette" before. There is an example on page 76. It looks a lot like the seminars that the Coro Foundation used to hold when I worked there as the Public Relations Director and where I first met Brenda and her husband, David Abel. Brenda attended Carnegie-Mellon University and was graduated from New York University with a degree in graphic design, but it was her love of architecture that brought her to Harvard where she earned a Master of Architecture degree from Harvard University's Graduate School of Design in 1976. I mentioned that I loved the look of the buildings at the Oakwood School and that one of the pictures of the stairwells had the look of a lego set, she laughed and said that was her son, Eliot Abel, in the picture. The photography and the architectural drawings are worth the book alone. Two buildings in the book demonstrate the architects respect for humanity. One is the rebuilding of the Downtown Women's Center which gives a sense of dignity to those who have to live for a time within its walls. The other is the Adams Congress Apartments in south Los Angeles, which was built as a result of the 1992 riots. Levin & Associates were asked to create an island of safety on a burned out site in the West Adams district. There are 46 units with a community learning center with street access, a recreation room and a play area. Currently it is home to more than 60 children and their families. The buildings sparkled in the photographs, but it is five years later and I asked if it was still in this condition and without graffitti? Brenda assured me it was and that the inhabitants had a pride of living. ... (Brenda Levin appeared on Connie Martinson's well-respected, nationally-syndicated cable TV show, Connie Martinson Talks Books, which airs on both cable TV and the internet. Click on the link to Connie's Web site below to see air times.) Link: Connie Martinson Talks Books Education | Arts & Culture | Civic & Social | Urban Revitalization About Levin & Associates | News | Home