Tune in today to YouTube’s new fashion and beauty channel, Look TV, for the premiere of “With Love, Jacqui Getty.” The L.A. hostess, mother (to fashion darling Gia Coppola) and stylist makes her directorial debut documenting the daily lives of creative icons. For the first four episodes, Getty follows Pamela Skaist-Levy and Gela Nash-Taylor at work on their upcoming line, Skaist-Taylor, which is inspired by two muses: model Theodora Richards and the sunny state of California.

The "architects." PHOTO: ZECHARIAH VINCENT.

In a small machine-shop studio overlooking the San Francisco Bay, two young builders plot their version of Utopia, a series of complex ideas often revolving around natural phenomena such as hot springs. Blueprints by Nataly Gattegno and Jason Kelly Johnson of Future Cities Lab have already garnered real-world acclaim from as far afield as Greece and as close as SFMOMA, where their latest model, Hydramax, a prototype of an avant-garde pier set 100 years ahead, is part of the current Buckminster Fuller exhibition.

When the married couple talks about their profession, the word “hybrid” is tossed out a lot; a mix of “architects,” “technologists,” “artists,” “craftsmen.” They’re interested in how the tentacles of architecture extend into other formats. “We like to hijack things that already exist,” explains the Cambridge-educated Gattegno. For example, the Hydramax model borrows from Miga Motors, a company that developed a new kind of motor for satellites in space. That innovation helps Hydramax bridge the interstices between earth and water, powering fan-like structures that extend from the roof when the fog bank rolls in. These “fog-feathers” harvest mist to run an internal Aquaponic system—first using water for tanks to grow fish protein, then to fertilize plant fields. The other components are also sensitive to the outside environment—even pier floors float in reaction to rising sea levels. “We see buildings becoming responsive and robotic, and places such as S.F.’s ports becoming productive again,” says Johnson.

This theme of using technology as interplay with environment is an overarching motif in their work, which at this point remains mostly in plan form or as art. “Our relationship with nature should be soft and porous and reactive,” says Johnson, who was raised in Canada. For example, recent plans for a hotel within a skyscraper imagined bottom floors for hollowed-out parks and public spaces, recalibrating microclimates and rooms suspended in hive-like pods above the greenery. Likewise, the stunning Aurora exhibition in New York (2009) explored how ice-floe movement in the Arctic was affected by humans, and through that, a shifting light field. Trilux, another art installation in Hayes Valley this past fall, used a mash-up of machine-fabricated pieces and handiwork. “That’s the funny thing about technology; there is definitely a synthetic craft aspect,” adds Johnson. Up next, a sensory-light installation with Philips for San Jose’s September, 2012 Zero1 Biennial, a festival focused on the nexus of arts and technology.

Those who’ve read The Fountainhead are aware that an architect’s career trajectory can be notoriously long and arduous before one’s magnum opus scratches city sightlines, but gratification is nevertheless on the horizon: Gattegno and Johnson are in the midst of proposals for interactive interiors at big-name startups in Silicon Valley (after all, L.A. street artist David Choe was responsible for Facebook’s interior mural and could clear $200 million in the wake of Facebook’s April IPO). Better yet, Greece will break ground on a version of Future Cities Lab’s Thermaespheres in 2015.  The starfish-shaped theater, part of Renzo Piano’s master plan for the new Faliro Park on the coast of Athens, is a bright spot for the embattled country. In true Homeric fashion, the open-air pavilion aims to connect the city back to the wine-dark sea. “The Utopian Impulse: Buckminster Fuller and the Bay Area,” through July 29; future-cities-lab.net. ELIZABETH KHURI CHANDLER [C Culture, May 2012]

Courtesy of the Artist and PRISM.

A retrospective for an artist born in 1966 is an impressive feat, to say the least. And while that Barry McGee exhibition at the Berkeley Art Museum is still a few months off (August, to be exact), opening this weekend, you can get a taste of his new mixed-media drawings, paintings, sculptures and photographs at Prism–his second site-specific showing with the ever-happening L.A. gallery. Something of a cult figure in contemporary art for his deft integration of urban influence with strokes of traditional training (eg., a BFA from the San Francisco Art Institute), the San Francisco native’s output is charming, yet authentic. His motif can be large-scale installation or, occasionally, exquisitely unusual–think, stickers–and these graphic, geometric, densely colorful works riff on anything from Mexican street muralists to empty liquor bottles, skaters to the Beats. McGee has never retreated to some lofty world of gallery shows and museums, still known on the street by graffiti tag name “Twist.” As he puts it: “Compelling art, to me, is a name carved into a tree.” May 12-June 30;8746 W. Sunset Blvd., WeHo, 310-289-1301; prismla.com. ALISON STEINGOLD

Seasonal Whispers for Guess by Marciano Ryse ring, $98

This summer, Guess by Marciano is rolling out a series of capsule jewelry collections, starting with this month’s launch of Seasonal Whispers. The feminine designs were created by N.Y.-based mother-daughter design team Esther Lixenberg and Yafit Godlfarb, and feature hand-set Swarovski crystals, Czech glass beads in 24-karat gold-plated settings. Forthcoming collections will spotlight designers Vanessa Montiel, Lucas Jack and Marcia Moran. guess.com.

Fall looks from Oscar de la Renta kids

Scoop up some chic designer duds for your little one at Oscar de la Renta’s latest trunk show, taking place tomorrow and Friday at the designer’s Melrose Place boutique in West Hollywood. The event, which is being co-hosted by Mad Men actress Kiernan Shipka–that would be Sally–will have cheeky onesies, separates and plaid outerwear (to name a few) on offer from the fall collection. 8446 Melrose Pl., L.A., 323-653-0200, or by appointment, 310-702-1081; oscardelarenta.com.

PHOTO: COURTESY OF SEE’S CANDIES.

Behind the See’s Candies retail cottage perched awkwardly on L.A.’s La Cienega Boulevard, two giant towers—each filled with 80,000 pounds of Guittard chocolate—stand like steam stacks as workers arrive in the cooler wee hours.

Past security, recognizable scents mingle at stations: fresh roasting almonds for California Brittle; molasses for honeycomb-like chips; peppermint for patties. A shocking-yellow machine (aptly named Tweety) measures molten butter, sugar, corn syrup and peanuts, then flips and flattens the batter with its spatula-like arm. On parallel conveyer belts, thousands of candies bask under waterfalls of tri-color chocolates, dry off, and go in for another dip in the enrobing room. Here, Lucille Ball and Vivian Vance trained for the 1952 episode of “I Love Lucy” wherein the comediennes, on the assembly line, wrap chocolates at breakneck pace—hilariously stuffing them into their hats, shirts and mouths.

Employees—many of whom have been there for more than 40 years—don crisp white coats as they pack and quality-check. Is it 1957? ’86? 2012?

The scene isn’t far, or far removed, from the historic first store on 135 Western Avenue and second at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre (look for a pop-up through June 30 at adjacent Hollywood & Highland). Founded by Canadian Charles A. See in 1921 as an homage to his mother’s recipes, See’s opened signature shops all over the western U.S. with a matching fleet of sidecar Harley-Davidsons. Production was split between L.A. and S.F. in 1935. Today, there are more than 200 retail stores—and even New Yorkers can find beloved Bordeaux at Bloomie’s. The 91-year-old brand takes pride in taste. Says Senior Production Manager Chuy Soria, “Our ingredients are to our specifications. The cream that we use is 36% fat—it’s like the whipping cream you find in the market but 10% better.” Better? “Better. More fat. More flavor,” he smiles.

Annually, the confectionery produces 1 billion pieces and sells 31 million pounds of sweets. So are you a “Nuts and Chews” or “Soft Centers” fan? In a quick poll, the popular (albeit non sequitur) answer: “Why don’t they bring back the peanut-butter lollypop?” sees.com. ALISON STEINGOLD [C Menu, May 2012]

This year, von Oeyen will tour with Sarah Chang as well as release a solo album. PHOTO: Capital Concerts

At 16, Malibu native Andrew von Oeyen made his concert piano debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. This month, the globetrotting 32-year-old returns to join the Pacific Symphony for a program of Prangcharoen’s competition-winning Sattha for strings, piano and percussion (inspired by the 2004 tsunami), Mendelssohn, and Schubert. May 10-12; pacificsymphony.org. [C Culture, May 2012]

Botanical curator Alice Eastwood surveys Point Reyes after the 1906 earthquake. PHOTO: UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

San Francisco

For those who experienced the infamous Bay Area Loma Prieta quake in 1989, a repeat performance is probably not on your bucket list. But the California Academy of Sciences’ latest exhibition, Earthquake, offers a panoply of ways to understand the phenomenon that is simply part of life in the Golden State. Opening May 26; calacademy.org. [C Culture, May 2012]

LBO has a reputation for daring productions. PHOTO: Keith Ian Polakoff

Ainadamar

Long Beach Opera takes on Grammy-winning classical composer Osvaldo Golijov’s first
opera in a SoCal debut that weaves the Argentine’s dramatic, tango-influenced
score with librettist David Henry Hwang’s
poetics. Ainadamar (“fountain of tears”
in Arabic) is a study in 1930s fascist tragedy.
May 20, 26; longbeachopera.org.
[C Culture, May 2012]

The toy vendor Parpignol in Act II. PHOTO: Robert Millard.

La Bohème

Young married couple Ailyn Pérez and Stephen Costello
stars at the Music Center in the uber-popular version of Puccini’s La Bohème by Herbert Ross (filmmaker behind
Steel Magnolias and Footloose). Houston Opera Music Director Patrick Summers leads the run. May 12-June 2; laopera.com. [C Culture, May 2012]

Crescent City

The Industry, Yuval Sharon’s experimental
company, debuts with a “hyperopera,” a
“mega-collaboration” across different
disciplines. Crescent City juxtaposes sets
by six L.A.-based artists, music by avant-
garde composer Anne LeBaron and a libretto by Douglas Kearney. Expect a simmering smash of technology, structure, words and sound. May 10-27; theindustryla.org.
[C Culture, May 2012]

Opera singer Timur (left), of Timur and the Dime Museum, performs in Crescent City. PHOTO: Sandra Powers

Andy Warhol’s "Liz," estimate $25,000-$35,000. PHOTO: LAMA

With Pacific Standard Time winding down, auction houses have witnessed renewed interest in works from the region that spawned the Light and Space movement and Hard-Edge painting. On May 6, the Los Angeles Modern Auctions (LAMA) puts up a Santa Barbara collection of more than 100 pieces by the likes of Andy Warhol and David Hockney. The million-dollar question is, of course, how has the SoCal-wide art exhibition affected prices? LAMA director Peter Loughrey thinks things are looking up. “I don’t anticipate any increase in value for Sam Maloof or Eames, but we have already seen some increases for DeWain Valentine, Ed Ruscha, John Baldessari, Roland Reiss and Gerald McCabe, all of which can be tied directly to PST.” lamodern.com. ELIZABETH KHURI CHANDLER [C Culture, May 2012]