An open source guide to:
La Tierra de la Culebra Park
Urban Humanities 2018
Welcome Parks are crucial to maintaining the quality of life in a community, contributing to the wellbeing of families, establishing important relational networks, and providing a neighborhood of healthy spaces to have fun. La Tierra de la Culebra Park is not a conventional park. The park was imagined as place where young people could have a creative space and the freedom to explore artistic expressions. It was created by the community for the community. It is a park where neighbors not only interact with each other and meet new people, but also develop their cultural abilities. The park allows people to perform, to paint, to have a picnic, to read, to dance, sing and express freely. It is an oasis of free thought in Los Angeles where freedom and community are the goals. The name, Tierra de la Culebra, comes from the 500-foot serpent made from stone and tiles. It reflects the values of the park: community strength and regeneration. It also resonates with the indigenous history of the area as well as the culture of the Chicano/a community in the neighborhood of Highland Park.
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An open source guide to: La Tierra de la Culebra Park
Rules/Non-rules This section shares with you, our reader, rules to navigate the park: rules that have been choosen by the community as norms to co-exist peacefully and harmoniously. The park, as an open space that welcomes everyone, needs constant care and love. Help us keep it that way. Rules - Enjoy the park - Pick up dog doo - Clean up your trash - Paint the mural wall, not the rocks or trees Non-rules - Make the park your own - Follow the rules - Get involved at http://a.laculebrapark.com/
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A guide to the guide The term ‘open source’ refers to something people can modify, enhance, and share because its design is publicly accessible. Open source products embrace principles of transparency, collaboration, and participation among all stakeholders. This is an open source guide, for an open source park. Use it to reimagine La Tierra de la Culebra as your personal hideout. After all, the park can be whatever you need it to be, whenever you need it. A place to sit alone and think. A place to screen a film you made. A place to watch a puppet show. Or a place to practice your guitar. Either way, this guide will get your started on your journey in the park. It begins with a map of the park and all the different areas for discovery. You’ll find popular spots like the mural wall and the little library. But there may be other objects you never noticed before, like the pool or the ziggurat. Take time to explore each object. Play with them, move them around, do something unconventional. Remember, La Tierra de la Culebra can be whatever you want it to be. The following pages show other points of interest in the park - each one is a social object that can be used in pg.3
An open source guide to: La Tierra de la Culebra Park
seemingly infinite ways. Objects are not always what they appear to be. In La Tierra de la Culebra, a tree isn’t just a tree. It’s an easel, a hanging garden, a shade canopy, a napping spot. Each of these objects is open source. Move it around and make it your own. In the final pages of the guide, you can build your own park. Use this space to document other social objects and how you and your friends use them. Or introduce something new into the park to share with the community. Either way, make sure you share your guide with friends and loved ones. Teach them about La Tierra de la Culebra and that it is a place to explore, to contemplate, and to take pride in. You can even print new guides here: http:// www.urbanhumanities.ucla.edu/?/projects/tierra-de-laculebra-pocket-guide/ Above all, this guide is intended to initiate a community dialog about the park. Who is it for? How should it be used? Does it meet the needs of neighbors? This guide starts that conversation by imagining La Tierra de la Culebra as your personal sanctuary, and the social objects within the park as shapeshifting tools that can mold to your needs, moods, and activities. pg.4
Park map
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6 3
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9 Entrance
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An open source guide to: La Tierra de la Culebra Park
10 Mural Wall
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Amphitheater
5 Fire Pit
Neighborhood Creative Space Little Library
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Social Objects
1. Connect 4 You can use this object to play a game of Connect 4 or as a calendar to plan out the next month of park events. If you’re feeling adventurous, paint a poster, cut out a few holes, and set up a tintamarresque for fun photos.
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An open source guide to: La Tierra de la Culebra Park
Connect 4 pg.8
Social Objects
Calendar pg.9
An open source guide to: La Tierra de la Culebra Park
Tintamarresque (Photo Stand-In) pg.10
Social Objects
2. Playground Use the playground to play with your friends, as a fort to hide out in and fly your flag, or a projection booth to play a movie on the blank wall nearby.
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An open source guide to: La Tierra de la Culebra Park
Playground pg.12
Social Objects
Fort pg.13
An open source guide to: La Tierra de la Culebra Park
Projector Booth pg.14
Social Objects
3. Dandelion We call this metal sculpture a dandelion, but it’s more than just an art feature. Why not a mobile lamp or maybe a hanger for poetry or other objects?
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An open source guide to: La Tierra de la Culebra Park
Art Feature pg.16
Social Objects
Lamp pg.17
An open source guide to: La Tierra de la Culebra Park
Hanger pg.18
Social Objects
4. Trailer Reimagine the trailer as a stage or pop-up boutique, or use it to bring new social objects into the park (commercial driver’s license required to operate trailer).
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An open source guide to: La Tierra de la Culebra Park
Stage pg.20
Social Objects
Pop-up Boutique pg.21
An open source guide to: La Tierra de la Culebra Park
Car Trailer pg.22
Social Objects
5. Trees Trees in the park can provide shade, serve as a your easel, or even produce fruits and vegetables like a food market.
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An open source guide to: La Tierra de la Culebra Park
Shade pg.24
Social Objects
Easel pg.25
An open source guide to: La Tierra de la Culebra Park
Food Market pg.26
Social Objects
6. Logs You can sit on logs like a stool, arrange them to make signs, or stand them up like bollards.
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An open source guide to: La Tierra de la Culebra Park
Stool pg.28
Social Objects
Sign pg.29
An open source guide to: La Tierra de la Culebra Park
Bollard pg.30
Social Objects
7. Snake The snake, or la culebra, is an iconic symbol of the park, but can also be used as a bench or navigation tool to lead the way to one of the park’s other social objects.
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An open source guide to: La Tierra de la Culebra Park
Symbol pg.32
Social Objects
Bench pg.33
An open source guide to: La Tierra de la Culebra Park
Navigation Tool pg.34
Social Objects
8. Pool The pool can be used for children to swim in, as a hydroponic garden, or as a cooler for your drinks (bring your own ice).
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An open source guide to: La Tierra de la Culebra Park
Children’s Pool pg.36
Social Objects
Hydroponic Garden pg.37
An open source guide to: La Tierra de la Culebra Park
Cooler pg.38
Social Objects
9. Can Crusher This strange looking device was built to crush cans, but can also be an interactive scultpure, or an instrument.
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An open source guide to: La Tierra de la Culebra Park
Can Crusher pg.40
Social Objects
Interactive Sculpture pg.37
An open source guide to: La Tierra de la Culebra Park
Instrument pg.38
Social Objects
10. Ziggurat The zig-zag shaped ditch is a ziggurat, a feature aligned with the sun for solstice ceremonies. Now, it can be used as a napping spot, aqueduct, or speed-dating station.
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An open source guide to: La Tierra de la Culebra Park
Napping Spot pg.40
Social Objects
Aqueduct pg.45
An open source guide to: La Tierra de la Culebra Park
Speed-Dating Station pg.46
Social Objects
11. Picnic Table Use one of the many picnic tables in the park for picnics, arts and crafts, or to play one of your favorite board games.
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An open source guide to: La Tierra de la Culebra Park
Picnic Table pg.48
Social Objects
Craft Station pg.49
An open source guide to: La Tierra de la Culebra Park
Board Game Area pg.50
Build your own park!
My social objects On the next few pages, use your imagination to build your own park. Document new objects or illustrate the ways in which you use them. La Tierra de la Culebra Park is always evolving. By recording your adventures here, you can forever lock them on paper, and in time.
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An open source guide to: La Tierra de la Culebra Park
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Build your own park!
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An open source guide to: La Tierra de la Culebra Park
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Build your own park!
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An open source guide to: La Tierra de la Culebra Park
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Build your own park!
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An open source guide to: La Tierra de la Culebra Park
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Build your own park!
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An open source guide to: La Tierra de la Culebra Park
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About the guide This pocket guide to La Tierra de la Culebra park is an attempt to create our own story of the park while leaving room for others to amend, redact, or expand upon it. It is a book of social objects that is also a social object within itself. The guide does not choose sides, but may be wielded by different community stakeholders, each with their own vision of the park. Our goals are twofold. First, we seek to illuminate the hidden contestations within La Tierra de la Culebra. The park is home to many ‘rooms’, each of which hosts different activities for different groups of people. But the complexities of the park’s programming avenues, obscurities of acceptable uses, and murky reputation in the neighborhood may be symptomatic of a greater power imbalance between the park’s proprietors and it’s users. Perhaps the park is an intentionally well-kept secret. The park is not publicly maintained by the City; thus those that invest the most in its longevity also have the most control over its use. This guide questions the status quo by revealing the objects within the park to everyone. While pg.61
An open source guide to: La Tierra de la Culebra Park
we do not directly challenge anyone’s power in the park, we hope that others’ use of park objects provokes a dialog among stakeholders about how to equitably program and maintain the park for a shifting cadre of users. Second, this guide will empower agency and belongingness among park users. The guide’s form follows the park’s function: an open source guide for an open source park. We borrow from programming language to encourage park users to leverage the various park elements (what we call social objects) to construct, or ‘code’ a space that fits their needs and moods. The beauty of La Tierra de la Culebra, and what separates it from traditional City parks, is its energy. Unearthed by community members, it possesses an unparalleled sense of entrenchment and place. The guide draws inspiration from the park’s founding principles. It is a tool to nurture arts and the artist, to promote civic and cultural engagement, and to ensure these rights are available to all. The social objects documented herein attempt to widen the park’s user base, and expand the number of park stewards interested in sustaining the park and ensuring its availability for future generations. pg.62