Project Data:
Completion Date: 5/13/2022
Square Footage: 154892
Building Use: Adaptive Reuse Proposal for Unhoused Residents
Project Description:
This project began with two representational exercises to develop postcards and a diorama that explore the histories of agency and displacement that take place in Los Angeles. The postcards speak firmly to histories of racial displacement and the interaction between wealth disparities in Los Angeles. In the diorama, colors are inspired by the colorful postmodern façades of wholesalers and the ubiquitous blue tent found in Skid Row. These colors are used selectively as a means of representation, where red denotes permanence and static objects, and blue represents objects that are perceived as impermanent. The diorama becomes a commentary on the methods of architectural representation, where the front is a pristine, idealized linear perspective and back becomes an area of displacement. Those who would live and exist on the site are relegated to the back, and the false-front reality of buildings in Skid Row is revealed. Numerous buildings surrounding the site are empty, revealing their ineffectiveness when they cannot serve a public function. This mythology of Los Angeles led to questioning a new way of establishing agency for Skid Row’s unhoused residents, one that runs adjacent to the ‘Housing First’ model but might provide a more flexible solution.
The proposal for an adaptive reuse project at 600 S San Pedro St works with the nature of the existing site as a parking lot. The parking lot is reimagined as a domestic space, a large public living room that is organized through program diagramming akin to a residential project. A grid is derived from surrounding context, an organizational tool that becomes obfuscated by design elements. Pulling from the diorama, colors throughout the project have an indexical quality. Red denotes permanence, but it becomes clear that the impermanent objects shown in blue are those that bring life to the design proposal. Green is introduced as graphic elements on the site that serve as wayfinding elements that reveal the underlying grid. In the ‘private’ programming of the site, modular site walls provide storage and privacy for users with tents, and respond to the human urge to back up to something. These modular walls serve additional function as retaining walls for grassy berms, and fire pits and picnic tables provide intimate social spaces for residents and visitors. ‘Public’ programming includes a large pavilion with a communal kitchen next to a basketball court that provides space for recreation with minimal players and equipment. In contrast to the modular elements, the design of the pavilion and landscaped berms resist a strict conformance to the grid. A large restroom facility is provided with a sculptural sink, promoting dignity and privacy for its users. Outreach spaces are provided on the site’s periphery to allow flexible programming for services or protests. A soundscape was created to accompany the project, speculating what a moment on the site might sound like. The sound of two musicians rehearsing over joyful chatter and the sounds of Los Angeles traffic reflects community, creativity, and agency in the reuse of a parking lot in Skid Row.
Framework for Design Excellence
Design for Equitable Communities: The project promotes inclusion and social equity within the community by aiming to meet unhoused individuals where they are at. This project bases itself in the “Housing First” model, and aims to provide personal space, outreach services, and dignity to unhoused individuals regardless of their status or progress. The project also promotes a sense of human connection through the inclusion of “shared” spaces on the site at the pavilion and basketball court, encouraging individuals to create a community. The project is sited in Skid Row, but these issues are pressing throughout Orange County as well. Through the use of modular elements and a grid organiza this proposal is replicable to other sites to address the need for supportive, equitable spaces for unhoused individuals.
Design for Economy: The design utilizes modular elements that can be easily constructed through the use of CMU blocks. Modular elements allow the proposal to be replicable to other sites as well, posing a cost-effective method to create equitable, flexible spaces for unhoused individuals.
Firm Name: Aryana Leland
Completion Date: 5/13/2022
Square Footage: 154892
Building Use: Adaptive Reuse Proposal for Unhoused Residents
Location: Skid Row, Los Angeles
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Skid Row Adaptive Reuse
Category
Inspire
Winner Status
- INSPIRE Award