Project Site Reading Responses

Project Site Reading Responses Los Angeles: The Architecture of Four Ecologies Los Angeles Times: Decades Later, Bitter Memories of Chavez Ravine

The Architecture of Four Ecologies: A Response

The introductory chapters of Los Angeles: The Architecture of Four Ecologies set a framework for how the author wants the reader to approach the topic of Los Angeles in an urban context. Los Angeles is a unique city that may not have developed anywhere else in the world. Certainly things like geography, climate, economy, demographics and culture have to do with why Los Angeles Looks the way it does, but there’s more to the story.

The prologue starts of by describing Los Angeles’ unique urban context. A reference is made to language (design or otherwise) by saying that intellectuals who wanted to read the original Dante would learn Italian, and by learning Italian it would allow the readers to enjoy other Italian language texts.

However a student wanting to “read” a city could learn the language of urban design, but still not be able to “read” Los Angeles.

“...a student wanting to “read” a city could learn the language of urban design, but still not be able to “read” Los Angeles.”

The first rail line in Los Angeles laid by Pacific Electric over a century ago

The original Pueblo de Nuestro Señora Reina de Los Angeles de Porciuncula was built by the British, funded by Canadians, and inhabited by a largely Anglo-Saxon population struggled with an urban and architectural identity as it still held on to its very strong Spanish history. Los Angeles was at a very interesting opportunity to create its own architecture by fusing Anglo-Saxon and Spanish styles, however this vision was never fully realized. There was a more pressing need for the City of Los Angeles: water. With no natural reserves, Southern California’s hydrological frontier was pushed all the way to the Colorado River.

St. Vincent’s Church, an example of Anglo-Saxon/Spanish architecture

However, this addiction to pavement may not be such a headache after all. Sure there are ecological downsides to producing an excess of carbon, but depending on how these infrastructures are approached, a true identity of Los Angeles may finally emerge amongst the palm trees.

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Los Angeles is a city that grew up with the promise of becoming heaven on Earth. Dubbed “the land of eternal spring,” developers were able to draw interest to the area by simply adding water, turning this arid, desert-like region into a veritable Garden of Eden. Settlers were drawn from all over the country; the biggest migration coming from Kansas City.

Travelers headed west to California, bringing with them their belongings, families, and even their prejudices.

Having both elements of religious fanatics from the Bible belt, and those who zealously opposed them, Los Angeles became and entropic cultural melting pot.

While the acquisition and transportation of water is still something the City of Angels struggles with today, the issue of human transportation was of dire importance. When the first rail lines of Los Angeles were laid, distant communities were now linked and the land that lay in between started to fill in to form the framework for a super-city.

The discovery of oil further changed the landscape of Los Angeles. Starting near the La Brea tar pits, one can now find oil drills and pumps all across the Los Angeles basin. With the completion of the Wilmington/San Pedro Harbor (the largest manmade port in the world) Southern California’s economy began to skyrocket. After the first Hollywood movie was shot, car culture took hold of Los Angeles and hasn’t let go since. Freeway networks began to span across Los Angeles, and has cemented the city in monumental form.

Los Angeles Times: Decades Later, Bitter Memories of Chavez Ravine

Former Chavez Ravine Citizens, revisiting the sites of their old homes

This article is the account of a 77 year old former Chavez Ravine citizen, Lou, and his son, Eddie. Lou recounts his stories of growing up in Chavez Ravine and his fond memories of the neighborhood.

He remembers growing up in this shanty town, rural development with unpaved dirt roads, roaming goats, and his back yard, Elysian Park.

“...the Dodgers had nothing to do with the land being cleared...”

In the 1950’s, the city of Los Angeles began paying Chavez Ravine citizens for their homes to make way for a new housing project. The article makes no reference to the designer, but we know this is the Neutra housing project.

The residents who moved out were promised a home in this new housing development.

Unfortunately, this development was during the time of the “Red Scare” and was quickly abandoned for fear of it being a socialist plot.

With the land cleared, except for a few dozen families who refused to leave the site, Walter O’Malley inquired about the site and a year later, the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles.

A great confrontation arose when the city moved to evict the last residents of Chavez Ravine and the entire event was caught on camera. The iconic images of these families being forcibly removed from their homes would forever remain the face of the Chavez Ravine eviction. Roz Wyman spearheaded the eviction campaign to get the Dodgers to their new home in the newly cleared Chavez Ravine. She assures that the Dodgers had nothing to do with the land being cleared in an effort for the former citizens to not hold the team responsible.

Roz believed that since the land was not generating any revenue for the city, it was useless. While Roz Wyman felt that the Dodgers brought Los Angeles together, the citizens of Chaves Ravine only felt further marooned from the city.

A Woman being dragged from her home in Chavez Ravine

Mexican families were often insufficiently compensated for their homes

Beto Elias remembers growing up in Chavez Ravine

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On Dodger Stadium’s opening day, the uprooted citizens obviously not attend the game, and many threw tomatoes in the parking lot. To this day, many of the displaced have remained opposed to the Dodgers. The article references ‘Fernandomania,’ and while this was a great achievement for Mexican-Americans, those who lived in Chavez Ravine must have felt a great deal of conflict.