CONTENTS
1 2 3 4 5
THEORETICAL INVESTIGATIONS: MAPPING AND FIELDS FIELD CONDITIONS AGENCY OF MAPPING WHY LA HAS CLASHING STREET GRIDS LANDSCAPE AS URBANISM WHY SITE MATTERS MATT BUILING MEDIA ANALYSIS FOCUSED ON LA REYNAR BANHAM – THE FOUR ECOLOGIES WANDERLUST THE WALKABLE CITY 4 WAYS TO A MORE WALKABLE CITY MAPPING LOS ANGELES – INFRASTRUCTURAL URBANISM MIGRATION INTERMISSION REVIVAL TRAFFIC TRAVEL COMPARITVE UBRAN ANALYSIS GLOBAL ANALYSIS NY/LA COMPARISON BERLIN/LA COMPARISOON SITE ANALYSIS URBAN TOMOGRAPHIES OF LA SITE CASE STUDIES IMAGES
6 7 8 9
THESIS STATEMENT CINEMATIC INVESTIGATIONS METAPHOR FOR AN ORGANISM PRECEDENTS MOVEMENT PRECEDENTS STRUCTURE PRECEDENT THESIS PROPOSAL COLLAGE STUDIES PROCESS FINAL DESIGN BIBLIOGRAPHY TEXT SOURCES IMAGES SOURCES
1
THEORETICAL INVESTIGATIONS: MAPPING AND FIELDS FIELD CONDITIONS AGENCY OF MAPPING WHY LA HAS CLASHING STREET GRIDS LANDSCAPE AS URBANISM WHY SITE MATTERS MATT BUILING
FIELD CONDITIONS STAN ALLEN
“The construction of meaning was displaced from WKH REMHFW LWVHOI WR WKH VSDFLDO Ă€HOG EHWZHHQ WKH YLHZHU DQG WKH REMHFW D Ă XLG ]RQH RI SHUFHSWXal interference, populated by moving bodies.â€?
Many people assume that architecture is about building, aesthetics, and design. And while this is true they is the fact that the experience of a building is felt in the voids that the structure creates. For if there were no voids the building would not be habitable. Now architects go through a lot and consider D ORW ZKHQ WKH\ DUH GHÀQLQJ VSDFH DQG KRZ WKH SURJUDP ZLOO LQWHUDFW ZLWK LW EXW RQH WKLQJ WKDW RIWHQ à LHV XQGHU WKH UDGDU LV KRZ SHRSOH PLQJOH ZLWKLQ DQG ZLWK WKDW KDELWDEOH VSDFHV ,Q XQGHUVWDQGLQJ WKH à RZ RI WKH /$ V\VWHPV LW LV HDV\ WR VHH WKH EHQHÀWV WKDW WKH URDGZD\V DQG KLJKZD\V KDYH \LHOGHG for the city. However in doing this it does the city a great injustice, as you can see with most roadways, in that it secludes the population to their individual cars, with the highest deviation being when another car threatens their safety. I believe a city is not just the sum of buildings that you see in passing but an accumulation of people, cultures and systems yearning to be experienced. A city in motion, as Los Angeles is, loses touch with this idea of a city and will continue to until its people can pull away from the road periodically to venture into the city’s atmosphere instead of circulating it.
FIELD CONDITIONS STAN ALLEN
´7KLV ÀHOG JHQHUDWHV FRPSOH[ SDUDOOD[ HIIHFWV WKDW prey on visitors as they move through the space.”
The reason this particular sentence caught my eye was because of the unique visual that it begins to create. Normally when you hear something preys on one another you think of a superior animal that stalks DQG DWWDFNV ,W LQWULJXHG PH WR VHH LW XVHG WR GHÀQH VSDFH 7\SLFDOO\ space can go unnoticed by the people moving through it, but this depictions gives it a life of its own. Rather not it itself but how it could be utilized in a design. Reading it I began to question what it could mean to have space “prey” on the people who move it. The mosque at Cordoba achieves this in multiple ways.the qibla and church inside gives you destination points within the mosque, while the intense colonnade begins to focus your view which in turn funnels you through the space. The beauty of this is that it gives you two options, to abide by your natural instinct and follow the tunnel or break and and meander through. This sentence truly embodies the importance of consideration to a site and transition between spaces can enhances a design. Just because you need a hallway or a have excess space on the site doesn’t mean they have to be dead zones or enclosed entirely by walls. You could take them and give them purpose and begin to attack the senses of the visitors to attract them to new areas or experiences within the design.
THE AGENCY OF MAPPING JAMES CORNER
â€œâ€Ś Thus, mapping typically precedes planning because it is assumed that the map will objectively identify and make visible the terms around which a planning project may then be rationally developed, evaluated and built. What remains overlooked in this sequence, however, is the fact that maps are highO\ DUWLĂ€FLDO DQG IDOOLEOH FRQVWUXFWLRQV YLUtual abstractions that possess great force in the terms of how people see and act.â€?
“This universal relationship is perhaps most evident in the intuitive form of our perceptual world in its spacial form. the relations of ‘together’, ‘seperate’, ‘side-by-side’, are not just ‘given’ along with our ‘simple’ sensations.�
This selection did its purpose, it really opened my eyes to how underappreciated and powerful a map could be. My chosen quotation stood out to me because it’s characterization of the current standing of mapping. Going through for years of school I hadn’t realised how dependent I have been on maps. I had never questioned whether what I was viewing or what it could potentially tell me. As the passage went on I found myself in the description of the indifferent map user. I had never considered to look at a map in ways displayed by Fuller or Calda. Nor how the concept of layering could be used to show or withhold information as it becomes or can potentially become relative to the designs intentions. These notions open up new ways of think and create new opportunities to incorporate mapping not just into the planning phase but throughout the design process. Using these ideas and techniques we can apply such analytical factors to how we study designs to the scale of humans and the environment it resides within. In doing so we FDQ DFKLHYH D PRUH FRKHVLYH GHVLJQ WKDW UHVSRQGV PRUH HIÀFLHQWO\ WR the world around it. Working towards this it becomes necessary to question and understand what each map we analyze is showing, what it could show, and which information is relevant or needed to be kept in mind.
The term that this quote is referring to is perception. I wanted to to take a look at how the three spacial forms can be perceived. Or that i tried to create a visual representation of each. To complete this exercise i had to not only try and draw the visual form but how to be able explain why each was an acceptable representation. For together i used this drawing to show how to separate items join to become one, essentially coming “togetherâ€? to form a whole. It was interesting to see how by reversing the arrows i was able to create “separateâ€?. For me it conveys the idea that the to go hand in hand, because for one to happen they must Ă€UVW EH WKH RWKHU ,Q WKH Ă€QDO GUDZLQJ L ZDV DW D ORVV EHFDXVH LW FRXOG EH drawn in many ways. I declined two straight lines because it offered a notion that the two were independent. I think the double helix represents “ side-by-sideâ€? the best because it shows to entities moving together never touching directly, but the do have connections in how they operate.
WHY LA HAS CLASHING STREET GRIDS
NATHAN MASTERS
“When the Americans conquered the city in 1847, RQH RI WKHLU ÀUVW WDVN ZDV WR LPSRVH $PHULFDQ FDUWRgraphic standards on hispanic settlement patterns…”
It has become fundamentally accepted that once a land is acquired we must impose our way of life upon it. We force it to conform to our standards, our way of life. This can be seen in E.O. Ord’s survey of Los Angeles. He took the standard American survey grid and attached it to the ends of the previous settlements. In doing so he divides the historical moments allowing to see how far each period stretched out. However the plan itself is in essence, a patchwork grid. This patchwork scenario creates pockets of systematic unison within Los Angeles. It begs the question if Los angeles is truly one city, or is it multiple cities under one name? Has the division in the grid effected the inner works of each pocket? It is interesting to see how the changes in the grid doesn’t always occur with a street as the border. In downtown Los Angeles you can see instances where the change occurs across neighborhoods without a street along the border. I imagine this change is so slight that it has no presence in the lives of those in the area. However there are also instances where a street is used a s a border for the grid. This creates dynamic intersections where multiple roads converge. If it were to happen i think a rift between the pockets would occur at these instances, such as the corner of Figueroa and Expedition.
WHY LA HAS CLASHING STREET GRIDS
NATHAN MASTERS
“The surface in landscape, on the other hand, is always distinguished by its material or performative characteristics. Or to be more precise, its performative effects are t direct result of its material characteristics. Slope, hardness permeability, depth, or soil chemistry are DOO YDULDEOHV WKDW LQÁXHQFH WKH EHKDYLRU RI VXUIDFHV µ
This excerpt proposes that landscape can always be determined by the characteristics it portrays. Americans today tend to believe is green and a city is urban, clad in concrete and steel. I have always believed this notion that the two were separate entities that at times could operate alongside one another, serving the city system with limited connections. However, what were to happen if we began to erase the prejudice on the connection between material and zone. In doing so we allow the soft surface of the park to dwell in the hardscape of the urban environment. If we superimpose central park into the grid of NY we can begin to observe and analyze the balance of the two layers as the integrate with one another. The paths of the park begin to contrast the city grid at a local level. The relief from the gridded city life that central park provides now permeates that grid. It creates an alternate circulation at the pedestrian level that challenges the modern walkways that have been sidelined by the vehicular lifestyle. This alternate path steers away from but does not diminish the presence of the automobile culture but strives to live alongside it, intertwining with it. Creating a space where program dictates and becomes surface.
LANDSCAPE AS URBANISM CHARLES WALDHEIM
“Contrasting this tradition, contemporary practicHV RI ODQGVFDSH XUEDQLVP UHMHFW WKH FDPRXĂ DJLQJ of ecological systems within pastoral images of ‘nature’. Rather, contemporary landscape urbanism practices recommend the use of infrastructural systems and the public landscapes they engender as the YHU\ RUGHULQJ PHFKDQLVPV RI WKH XUEDQ Ă€HOG LWVHOI Âľ
It is an interesting idea to use the infrastructural members of the city to dictate the extents of landscape within a design. It is often seen as city streets and grids limiting the experiences of natural landscape to places within a portion of the laid system. However this text seems to be offering the idea that landscaping can live within the infrastructural matrix. Where it can escape from restricted park system to become part of the overseeing mechanisms that begin to transverse the city. It important however to understand how the two can combine. What conditions must be met for the two variables to come together to create one operable system that still allows both individual components to thrive side by side. Upon re reading the quote again it also got me questioning if the landscape occurs on one level of the infrastructure. Could it move between the layers of Los Angeles, scaling buildings or moving under bridges. What surfaces allow for this type of viral landscaping to occur?
LANDSCAPE AS URBANISM CHARLES WALDHEIM
´7KH XQEXLOW VFKHPH H[SORUHG WKH MX[WDSRVLtion of unplanned relationships between varLRXV SDUN SURJUDPV .RROKDDV¡V RUJDQL]DWLRQal conceit of parallel strips of landscape itself having become something of a canonical cliche, UDGLFDOO\ MX[WDSRVHG LUUHFRQFLODEOH FRQWHQWV ´
The idea that you can plan for a project to seem unplanned is an interesting notion. What allows for said project to be perpetually adaptable? Koolhaas’ use of the juxtaposed strips created an opportunity for the space to be used as needed by the public at their disposal, yet still maintained for the program to occur in separate areas. This seems to represent the idea of operable, expanding and compressing zones of program. The juxstaposed strips create a set of grid lines that allow for program borders to be blurred. however does this adaptability also inhibit the future use of space? Does the stage created by this idea of malleabilty induce future scenerios where opinions collide? Will people fully agree on the use of a space and sho handles when the types of space change? If a programless aparatus is introduced in LA what will the effect on the current conditions be? It is possible that the way people inhabit the structure can have a positive impact on the lives of the people and the function of the city, but it is equally possible that the oppostie would be true. For something of this nature to work guidelines would have to be set so that we can limit the negative impact but still allow for the positive potiental to take root.
WHY SITE MATTERS CAROL J . BURNS, ANDREA KAHN
“Geographers have sought to create a sciHQFH RI SODFH WKDW UHFRJQL]HV ERWK WKH GLYHUVLty and the particularity of the way in which different cultures adapt to the environments.�
&XOWXUH KDV PDQ\ PDQLIHVWDWLRQV DQG GHĂ€QLWLRQV 2QH VXFK GHĂ€QLWLRQ LV WKH behaviors and beliefs characteristic of a particular social, ethnic,or age group. In regards to this it can be said that Los Angeles is heavily governed by the presence of a car culture. The pedestrians have turned to vehicular means as the main form of transportation. And in allowing this statement it can be accepted that the nature of the pedestrian has become a recessed or sidelined culture within the fabric Los Angeles. In the past the pedestrian was a viable means of transport and discovery. A median layer between and blurring transport and destination Although i grant that the use of automobiles created opportunities for long distance travel to be made freely and quickly. I maintain that the inclusion of the motor vehicle into the network of Los Angeles has slowly cut off the access or necessity for pedestrian LQWHUDFWLRQ 7KH DXWRPRELOHV HIĂ€FLHQF\ LQ FRYHULQJ ORQJ GLVWDQFHV EULQJV WKH would be pedestrian from beginning to end of the journey without need to meander discover within the surrounding areas. Off the road the pedestrian has been pushed to the edges of city circulation and interaction. How do we pull this culture away from the edge, from a life sidelined to sidewalks?
MAT-BUILDING
STAN ALLEN
â&#x20AC;&#x153;Drawn to scale, the section of the park resembles a VOLJKWO\ ZREEO\ OLQH <HW IURP DQ H[SHULHQWLDO DQG IXQFtional perspective, this modest sectional variation is crucial to support both the natural ecologies that create a vital green space in the heart of the city, and social ecologies that produce programmatic variation in the parkâ&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;Time is a fundamental variable in landscape work.â&#x20AC;?
I found that both these quotes go hand in hand when designing or planning ODQG XVH 7KH Ă&#x20AC;UVW EULQJV XS D SRLQW WKDW VKRXOG DOZD\V EH NHSW LQ PLQG ZKHQ designing across all range of projects. We design from a point where we see the project at a small scale. It can be easy to forget or miss the way a space or design feature can impact the experience of a large project. At this zoomed out scale you canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t experience the rich lifestyle that central park displays. It isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t until you walk through it that you can understand how the topography can impact the events and where they occur within the park. It is this spacial awareness that we should keep in mind. To not forget to keep an understanding of how the design will be experienced at its intended scale. It is an essential idea to keep with you so that you are able to create a design that allows for the most adaptable design. This will allow for the public to permeate the space with their personal programs that allow for a cohesive union with the design project. The second quote works with the Ă&#x20AC;UVW LQ WKDW LW DOVR UHTXLUHV \RX WR NHHS LQ PLQG WKH XVH RI WKH VSDFH +RZHYHU this one is not across scale but across time. It makes you question the adaptability of the design to future project or activities in the area. By doing this we are able to design for a margin of change to extend the relevance of a design past the present and secure it a place in the communities to come.
MAT-BUILDING STAN ALLEN
â&#x20AC;&#x153;The surface in landscape, on the other hand, is always distinguished by its material or performative characteristics. Or to be more precise, its performative effects are the direct result of its material characteristics. Slope, hardness permeability, depth, or soil chemistry are DOO YDULDEOHV WKDW LQĂ XHQFH WKH EHKDYLRU RI VXUIDFHV Âľ
This excerpt proposes that landscape can always be determined by the characteristics it portrays. Americans today tend to believe is green and a city is urban, clad in concrete and steel. I have always believed this notion that the two were separate entities that at times could operate alongside one another, serving the city system with limited connections. However, what were to happen if we began to erase the prejudice on the connection between material and zone. In doing so we allow the soft surface of the park to dwell in the hardscape of the urban environment. If we superimpose central park into the grid of NY we can begin to observe and analyze the balance of the two layers as the integrate with one another. The paths of the park begin to contrast the city grid at a local level. The relief from the gridded city life that central park provides now permeates that grid. It creates an alternate circulation at the pedestrian level that challenges the modern walkways that have been sidelined by the vehicular lifestyle. This alternate path steers away from but does not diminish the presence of the automobile culture but strives to live alongside it, intertwining with it.
2
MEDIA ANALYSIS FOCUSED ON LA REYNAR BANHAM â&#x20AC;&#x201C; THE FOUR ECOLOGIES WANDERLUST THE WALKABLE CITY 4 WAYS TO A MORE WALKABLE CITY
LOS ANGELES
REYNER BANHAM
“Angelenos (and others) hurried down to the beaches for health and recreation, then decided to stay they discovered the railways had made it possible to work places inland. “
It is amazing time and time again to see how fast people migrate to the ZDWHU·V HGJH ZKHQ SRVVLEOH +LVWRU\ LV IXOO RI HYHQWV RI ÁRRGV DQG KXUULcanes devastating cities. Even now we have hurricanes affecting eastern and southern United States. Yet history is also full cities build and rebuild and continue on to prosper along the water’s edge until the next event. There is something to be said about the lifestyle attained along the coast for it to be so resilient and sought for. Even in the case of Los $QJHOHV WKH EHDFKHV ZHUH ÀUVW XVHG DV EUHDNV IURP WKH FLW\ OLIH EXW ZDV soon inhabited and the city expanded to meet it. A surge was created the invited more and more to come and occupy the areas around the beaches. This mass movement creates an important new culture for the city. I think “Surfurbia” was a good word choice to describe the movement. The increase in coastal activity and residence lead to the adaptation of the water as part of their everyday lives. Any changes to their current coastal experience will directly impact multiple factors throughout the community, as it had become built around life on the water’s edge.
IMAGE FROM LA CURBED ARTICLE
IMAGE FROM LA CURBED ARTICLE
LOS ANGELES
REYNER BANHAM
“But that old high density development of hillsides belonged to a primarily pedestrian concept of cities and their workings; they were but a tiny- if likeable- segment within a city whose conception of itVHOI ZDV QHLWKHU ÀJXUDWLYHO\ QRU SK\VLFDOO\ SHGHVWULDQ ´
It seems that from the beginning Los Angeles strove to become a vehicular city. From the adaptation of the U.S. survey grid to the expansion o f the highways, Los Angeles has had its eye focused on a high speed automotive future. It’s’ only reprieve came from the foothills. What allowed the foothills to cater to the pedestrian was it’s restricted vehicular paths. While roads were still needed to move people in and out of the foothills the terrain in these zones called for more intricate movements accessible only to pedestrian means. At a pedestrian scale people were able to use stairs and walking paths to transverse the hillsides and thickets of wilderness behind the residences. Even so because of Los Angeles future course these secular moments for the pedestrian would inevitably be renovated to allow for the expansion of vehicular access. Now that Los Angeles has reached a point where the road systems expansion has become dormant, it is time for the pedestrian layer to awake and re-permeate Los Angeles.
LOS ANGELES
REYNER BANHAM
â&#x20AC;&#x153;Slashed across by endless freeways that have deVWUR\HG DQ\ FRPPXQLW\ VSLULW WKDW PD\ KDYH RQFH H[istedâ&#x20AC;?
Constantly in motion, Los Angeles is majorly experienced from the road. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s intense network of roadways have created a system that focus mainly on vehicular circulation and experience. This experience thrives on movement above 35 mph. The people who navigate this experience ZDQW WR FRQWLQXRXVO\ EH PRYLQJ DV VHHQ E\ WKHLU IUXVWUDWLRQ ZLWK WUDIĂ&#x20AC;F But how can the essence of a city be captured in passing. It is possible that this is the way that Los Angeles had wanted to be viewed. However I believe that for Los Angeles to be truly understood and appreciated. It needs another element, another highlighted perspective. People should be able to interact with the city and its population. That sense of community that comes from it is what creates the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s atmosphere. Yet Los Angelesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; atmosphere is one of seclusion fueled by the privacy of a car. I believe the next phase of Los Angeles development will come from a renewed interest in the pedestrian layer. Where one can experience both the city and observe the necessity and richness of the freeway systems.
IMAGE FROM URBAN SPRAWL ARTICLE
IMAGE FROM LA CURBED ARTICLE
LOS ANGELES
REYNER BANHAM
â&#x20AC;&#x153;The freeway system in its totality is now a single comprehensible place, a coherent state of mind, a complete way of life,â&#x20AC;&#x153;
How does a infrastructural system gain a review like this? In the case of Los Angeles it is simple. LA was continuously moving to this state of being. Because of this it got to a place where the idea of the freeway has become its most distinctive feature. With this system being so intertwined within the daily function and systems of Los Angeles one would be hardpressed to try and completely renovate or reinvent the freeway system. This is not to say that it is a perfect system. It has its problems, but to begin to analyze and propose changes would be to attack one of the life forces of Los Angeles. Instead we could look to a different force to work alongside the freeways that have become so rooted in the image of the city.
WANDERLUST REBECCA SOLNIT
“It could be called marching, in that it is common movement toward a common goal, but the participants have not surrendered their individuality a shave those soldiers ZKRVH ORFNVWHS VLJQLÀHV WKDW WKH\ KDYH EHFRPH LQWHUchangeable units under an absolute authority. Instead they signify the possibility of common ground between people who have not ceased to be different from each other, people who have at last become the public. ”
Marching is one way in which people come together, but I believe that this quote can also apply to people apart from just walking. I can see it the way people may live, and how they interact. In understanding what a sense of community is i think this vision of unspoken unity is a key factor. While there is a form of unity in the way people navigate Los Angeles and the use of the highways has become ingrained into the consciousness of LA, this codependency of the car removes community from the equation. The isolation that SHRSOH H[SHULHQFH ZKLOH RQ WKH URDG DQG LQ WUDIÀF QHJDWHV WKH VHQVDWLRQ RI being in a city. This being because there is no interaction on the road unless when opinions differ or when people crash into each other. When people walk or use public forms of transportation there is an increase in the social interactions that make people feel at home in a city. They are allowed to touch other people’s lives in positive ways. Be it providing information or brightening someone’s day with a compliment, even the smallest interacWLRQV FDQ LQFUHDVH D FLW\·V DSSHDO DQG SURGXFH DQ HIÀFDFLRXV LPSDFW )RU D city so lost in the car as LA is how can we allow people to reengage with one another and the city? To do this it becomes necessary to look at the reasons people choose to or are allowed to walk. Above all is proximity, how close people are to the program and amenities that makes pedestrian life possiEOH WR UHPHG\ WKLV L VHH WKHUH EHLQJ WZR RSWLRQV 7KH ÀUVW LV FUHDWLQJ D ZD\ for pedestrian access can be integrated into areas that already have these necessary program distribution the second being the introduction of the necessary program into areas that have no accommodations for pedestrian life.
THE WALKABLE CITY JEFF SPECK
“But we’ve only started talking about inactivity and how inactivity born of our landscape, inactivity that comes from the fact that we live in a place where there is no longer any such thing as a useful walk…”
Jeff uses this quote in referring to a correlation between walking and obesity, but the underlying message is that cities have become designed in a way that discourages walking. This comes from how we plan the distribution of program necessary for living in a city and the layout of transit systems withLQ WKH FLW\ ,I ZH PDNH LW GLIÀFXOW IRU SHRSOH WR ZDON ZH LPPHGLDWHO\ HOLPLQDWH WKDW DV RSWLRQ IRU PRYHPHQW ,W LV WKH HDVH RI DFFHVV WR DQG WKH EHQHÀWV WKDW allow people to choose walking over the car as a transit option. Of course GULYLQJ LQVWHDG RI ZDONLQJ KDV LWV EHQHÀWV :LWK WKH FDU ZH DUH DEOH WR WUDYHO further distances quicker, we eliminate the reliance on public transport schedules, and can even use driving for therapeutic purposes. However there is an extent we should reach in how far we allow the automobile to dictate city life. Los Angeles has turned to the car so often that other forms of transit have been put on the back burner. In doing so we have to accommodate the use of cars, so roads widen and highways get built. Yet it is this accommodation of the roads that compels the citizens to turn their back on walking. Why would you risk your life crossing 6 lane streets or highways, where the wider lanes allow for faster vehicular movement? How can you navigate the city in its entirety if public transit access takes the back seat to highway entrances?
4 WAYS TO A MORE WALKABLE CITY JEFF SPECK
â&#x20AC;&#x153;If youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re going to get them to walk, then we have to offer a walk thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s as good as the drive, or better. What does that mean? It means that you need to offer 4 things simultaneously. There needs to be a proper reason to walk, the walk has to be safe and feel safe, the walk has to be comfortable, and the walk has to be interesting.â&#x20AC;&#x153;
In this TED talk city planner Jeff Speck breaks down what he believes to be key components of a potentially walkable city. His rundown picks at multiple aspects that are present in Los Angeles. The county has accommodated the use of the car by the creation of the highway network as well as the increase in lanes of ground level roads. The program of the city that allows for living, working, shopping and education has been separated into zones. Areas that have some remnant of walking have been riddled with parking garages to DFFRPPRGDWH WKH LQĂ X[ RI FDU RZQHUV WUDYHOOLQJ LQWR WKH DUHD $OO RI WKHVH can both inhibit the presence walking has in a city and can be found present in Los Angeles. With more walkable cities, such as manhattan, we begin to see features that Speck characterizes as walking friendly. These features inFOXGH GLYHUVLĂ&#x20AC;HG SURJUDP WKDW DOORZ SHRSOH WR ZDON EHWZHHQ SRLQWV RI OLYLQJ work, shopping, recreation, and education. Another being skinnier ground level roads that slow down car movement and allow for pedestrians to cross the street easier and with an increased feeling of safety. They also have a more interactive ground level where interest is sparked by non-garage proJUDP /RV $QJHOHV ODFNV WKHVH PRGLĂ&#x20AC;FDWLRQV WKDW VXSSRUW WKH SUHVHQFH RI D walkable network. Looking at its current networks it is obvious that the vast land makes it impossible for the city in its entirety to adapt to a more pedestrian system, but could we create a network of smaller systems that adapt to the current functions of Los Angeles and spur a growth in pedestrian life.
3
MAPPING LOS ANGELES â&#x20AC;&#x201C; INFRASTRUCTURAL URBANISM MIGRATION INTERMISSION REVIVAL TRAFFIC TRAVEL
MIGRATION
SPRAWL IN LOS ANGELES
AS EARLY SETTLEMENT IN LOS ANGELES BEGAN TO SPREAD MANY PEOPLE FIRST INHABITED LAND CLOSER TO THE WATER, CREATING A LARGE LAND DIVIDE BETWEEN THE INNER CITY AND THE OUTER TOWNS.
INTERMISSION
SPRAWL IN LOS ANGELES
EVEN THOUGH PEOPLE WHERE WIDELY DISPERSED THERE WASNâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;T AN EVEN SPREAD DUE TO MINIMAL TRANSIT OPTIONS. AT THE TIME THE RAILWAYS WERE THE MAJOR FORM OF TRANSPORTATION SO PEOPLE FILTERED INTO THE SETTLEMENTS CLOSELY LOCATED NEAR RAILROAD STATIONS.
REVIVAL: THE HIGHWAYS SPRAWL IN LOS ANGELES
AS HIGHWAYS BECAME AVAILABLE PEOPLE BEGAN TO SETTLE INTO LANDS PREVIOUSLY SKIPPED OVER DURING THE INITIAL MIGRATION PHASES. THIS WAS DUE TO ACCES THAT WAS MADE AVAILABLE BY USE OF THE CAR
TRAFFIC
SPRAWL IN LOS ANGELES
BECAUSE OF THIS NEW LEVEL OF DISPERSAL THAT RELIED ON THE CAR TRAFFIC BECAME A GROWING ISSUE. NOW IT S ONE OF LOS ANGELESâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; ICONIC TRAITS
TRAVEL TIME
SPRAWL IN LOS ANGELES
WITH TRAFFIC INCREASING THIS CREATED A CULTURE WHERE TRAVEL TIMES ARE EXTERNDED AND PEOPLE ARE CONFINED TO EXTENDED SOLITARY TRIPS ON A DAILY BASIS.
4
COMPARITVE UBRAN ANALYSIS GLOBAL ANALYSIS NY/LA COMPARISON BERLIN/LA COMPARISON
5
SITE ANALYSIS URBAN TOMOGRAPHIES OF LA SITE CASE STUDIES IMAGES
WITH THIS SERIES OF I SECTIONS I ANALYZED THE POSSIBILITY OF A NEW APPARATUS THAT GAVE LIFE TO A NEW DEPTH OF VERTICAL MOVEMENT TO COAX MORE PEOPLE TO NAVIGATE THE VARIOUS AREA WITHOUT HAVING TO RELY SOLELY ON THE CAR.
THIS DRAWING HIGHLIGHTS THE DOMINANCE OF INDUSTRIAL PROGRAM THAT PERMEATES THE AREA AROUND THIS EXIT AS WELL AS HIGHLIGHTS PEAK HOURS OF TRAFFIC ON THE ADJACENT HIGHWAY.
THIS DRAWING HIGHLIGHTS THE DOMINANCE OF RESIDENTIAL PROGRAM THAT PERMEATES THE AREA AROUND THIS EXIT AS WELL AS HIGHLIGHTS PEAK HOURS OF TRAFFIC ON THE ADJACENT HIGHWAY.
THIS DRAWING HIGHLIGHTS THE DOMINANCE OF COMMERCIAL PROGRAM THAT PERMEATES THE AREA AROUND THIS EXIT AS WELL AS HIGHLIGHTS PEAK HOURS OF TRAFFIC ON THE ADJACENT HIGHWAY.
THE FOLLOWING MONTAGE DISPLAYS A SERIES OF IMAGES THAT DEMONSTRATES WHERE PEOPLE BEGIN TO CONGREGATE WITHIN LA.
SIDEWALK
BEACH
GRAND PARK
LA RIVER
GRIFFITH OBSERVATORY
ROOFTOP
ADMINISTRATIVE AREA
STAPLES CENTER
WITH THIS SERIES I FOUND THAT PEOPLE ARE RARELY FOUND ON SIDEWALKS OR MOVING IN TRANSIT BUT ARE DENSLEY POPULATED WHEN THE HAVE A POINT OF INTEREST TO FLOCK TO. WILL IT BECOME POSSIBLE TO DISPERESE THE EFFECT SO THAT PEOPLE ARE ABLE TO COMMUNE THROUGHT ALL PARTS OF TRANSIT AND NOT HAVE IT FOCUSED ON THE DESTINATION?
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THESIS STATEMENT CINEMATIC INVESTIGATIONS METAPHOR FOR AN ORGANISM
In Rebecca Solnitâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Wanderlust, she paints the picture of the dynamic and expressive tendencies of walking within a city. She characterizes the act of walking, not just as method of travel, but as movement that embodies the discovery and exploration that results from interaction with the city and its inhabitants. Dense urban environments hold the truest translation of this abstraction. Metropolises such as Manhattan and Berlin have incorporated transit systems that intertwine various SDFHV DV \RX QDYLJDWH WKURXJK WKH FLW\ 7KLV FUHDWHV DQ DOWHUQDWLQJ Ă RZ through pauses from one pace to the next, frequently slowing to allow for the experience of wanderlust to occur. In sprawl cities such as LA, this wanderlust is lost in the network of 35mi/hr freeways, where the GRPLQDQW Ă&#x20AC;JXUH LV WKH DXWRPRELOH 7KLV XELTXLWRXV IRUP RI WUDQVSRUWDWLRQ limited to one speed, restricts the possibility of socio-cultural urban exFKDQJH EHFDXVH WKH HQWLUH MRXUQH\ LV FRQVROLGDWHG IURP VWDUW WR Ă&#x20AC;QLVK With historically lost foothills and proliferation of automotive industry, Los Angeles suffers from the conditions of sprawl and its dispersed nature has come to be described as â&#x20AC;&#x153;dysfunctional densityâ&#x20AC;?. If the transitions made during travel are re-imagined as potential urban nodes, could new system arise where the transit options accommodate and facilitate multi-scalar experiences throughout the city? How can a cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s infrastrucWXUH EH DGDSWHG RU GHVLJQHG WR VORZ WKH FXUUHQW VWHDG\ Ă RZ RI /RV $Qgeles and promote this urban adventure where forms of transit can rely on each othersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; strengths to spur a new cultural growth in Los Angeles?
AS THE CAR CONTINUES TO DEVELOP WE MUST PREVENT THE TOTALITY EFFECT WHERE THE CAR FULLY DOMINATES TRAVEL AND CREATES A SYSTEM WHERE THE JOURNEY IS CONSOLIDATED FROM START TO FINISH WITHOUT THE CHANCE FOR SOCIAL INTERACTIONS. TO DO THIS I BROKE DOWN THE FLOW OF TRAVEL INTO THREE PACES. 1. THE HIGHWAYS 2. EL
THE THAT IS
BIRD, WHICH REPRESENTS THE FOR LONG DISTANCE BEE USED
WHICH REPRESENTS IN FREQUENT POINT TO
USE OF TRAVEL
LOCAL TRAVPOINT JOURNEYS
3. THE FLY WHICH REPRESENTS A MORE FLUID PEDESTRIAN FORM OF TRANSIT THAT MOVES FREELY ALONG THE GROUND PLANE. WITH THIS I LOOKED TO SEE IF IT WAS POSSIBLE TO CREATE A PLACE WHERE EXCHANGES BETWEEN THE PACES CAN BECOME VIABLE.
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PRECEDENTS MOVEMENT PRECEDENTS STRUCTURE PRECEDENT
WITH THIESE PRECEDENTS I WAS ABLE TO FORMULATE MY OWN UNDERSTANDING OF HOW DIFFERENT PACES OF MOVEMENT CAN BEGIN TO INTERACT WITH ONE ANOTHER.
WHILE RESEARCHING OPTIONS FOR USE IN DESIGNING THE STRUCTURE I CAME ACROSS THE ALCOY COMMUNITY CENTER BY SANTIGO CALATRAVA. THE USE OF THE SPACED RIBBED STRUCTURE SPARKED AN IDEA IN WHICH I COULD USE THE STRUCTURE TO IMPACT OF THE SPATIAL EXPERIENCE OF THE BUILDING. UTILIZING A STUDY IN OP ARTI WANT TO MANIPULATE THIS SPACING OF A RIBBED STRUCTURE TO INFLUENCE THE SENSATIONS OF SPEED ONE WOULD FEEL AS THEY MOVE THROUGH THE BUILDING. THE DESIRED EFFECT COULD CREATE MOMEMENTS WHERE YOU FEEL AS IF YOU ARE MOVING FASTER OR SLOWER EVEN THOUGH YOU ARE PASSING BY AT A CONSTANT SPEED.
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THESIS PROPOSAL COLLAGE STUDIES PROCESS FINAL DESIGN
:LWK WKH DQQRXQFHPHQW RI SURSRVHG Á\LQJ WD[LV IRU LQ /RV $QJHOHV and the ongoing road test of autonomous vehicles, the city seems to have a focus on the future of vehicular travel furthering the permanence of the car. Herein lies the potential for deciding where and how entry and access points into the urban core and remote areas can be designed to open a dialogue between the alternate paces of the city. My proposal serves to create a responsive network of apparatuses that works with current infrastructure to both explore the point at which one transfers between pedestrian and vehicle, for current and future evolutions of the car, and GHÀQHV KRZ WKH SHGHVWULDQ QHWZRUN FDQ EH DGDSWHG WR FRH[LVW DQG form a repartee with vehicular transportation to stimulate a new car culture that can promote a more social experience between car and city.
CORREALATION BETWEEN CURRENT FARM LOACTIONS AND HIGHWAYS
HIGHWAY EXITS AND SURROUNDING PROGRAM. GREEN = INDUSTRIAL BLUE = COMMERCIAL RED = INDUSTRIAL
POTENTIAL NEW NETWORK WHERE NEW PATHS FLOW ALONGSIDE HIGHWAYS CONNECTING NODES WHERE PEOPLE CAN EXCHANDE BETWEEN PACES OF TRAVEL TO FIND NEW WAYS TO EXPERIENCE THE CITY
ANALYSIS OF STTE CONDITIONS AND HOW THE POTIENTIAL DESIGN CAN RESPOND TO THE HEIGHT OF THE HIGHWAY AS WELL AS THE PROGRAM SURROUNDING EACH INDIVIDUAL EXIT.
IN RESPONSE TO THE PREVIOUS PRECEDENT ANALYSIS I DEVELOPED MY OWN SET OF DIAGRAMS THAT DEFINED HOW FLOW INTERACTS WITH OBJECTS. THIS INTERACTION IS MODIFIED BY SETTING EITHER THE OBJECT ORT FORCE AS THE DOMINANT FACT AND PROJECTING HOW THE OTHER WILL RESPOND. I THEN ADAPTED THIS ANALYSIS OF FORCE INTO PROGRAM RELATIONSHIP DIAGRAMS AND HOW DIFFERENT FLOWS OF TRANSIT RESPONDED. THIS GAVE WAY TO A SERIES OF MODELS AND 3-D DIAGRAMS THAT INFLUENCED THE DESIGN.
THIS CASE STUDY HIGHLIGHTS HOW THE DESIGN RESPONDS TO THE SURROUNDING RESIDENTIAL PROGRAM. THE CENTRAL SPACE IS BROKEN UP TO ALLOW FOR MULTPLE COMMUNAL GARDENS TO POP UP AND BE ACCESSED BY SURROPUNDING NEHIBORHOODS.
THIS CASE STUDY HIGHLIGHTS HOW THE DESIGN RESPONDS TO THE SURROUNDING COMMECIAL PROGRAM. THE CENTRAL SPACE IS CONVERTED INTO AN OPEN MARKET WHERE PEOPLE ARE ABLE TO PURCHASE THE CROPS THAT ARE MADE IN THE INDUSTRIAL ZONE. THIS DESIGN BRINGS AVAILABILITY CLOSER TO THE ASPECTS OF TRAVEL TO TRY AND PULL PEOLE INTO A SLOWER EXPERIENCE IN TRANSIT WITHOUT HAVE TO VEER TO FAR AWAY FROM THEIR OPTIMAL ROUTES.
THIS CASE STUDY HIGHLIGHTS HOW THE DESIGN RESPONDS TO THE SURROUNDING INDUSTRIAL PROGRAM. THE CENTRAL SPACE IS UTILIZED AND CREATES A 1 ACRE FARM IN EACH HALF OF THE BUILDING. THE ACRE FARMS WILL ALL FOLLOW THE IDEA OF FOCUSED FARMING WHERE THE THE FARM MAXIMISES OUTPUT BY NARROWING THE CROPS IT GROWS TO FEW VARIATIONS . THIS ALLOWS FOR EACH FARM TO PRODUCE A LARGE QUANTITY OF CROPS TO HELP SUPPLEMENT THE CITIES IMPORT OF PRODUCE. IN RESPONSE TO THE DROUGHT IS IS PROPOSED THAT THE FARMS USE A RECYCLED HYDROPONICS SYSTEM TO MAKE USE OF THE MINIMAL AMOUNTS OF AVAILABLE WATER.
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