I. Ex. 01 - Body + Senses II. Ex. 02 - People,Use, Systems III. Ex. 03 - Urban Intervention
Ex. 01 - Body + Sense
PATTERNS & PALETTES STUDY
MELROSE AVE On e o f t h e mo st i con i c sho p p i ng distr ict in West Hollywood has to be Melr o se A ve . It w as one o f t h e u n i qu e se cti on s o f th e city which helped define the LA exper ienc e. It had the r es i dual 6 0 ’s c o u n t ercul ture o f a n e w hip and funky er a. A place to shop, a plac e to di ne, and m os t of a l l , i t w a s a p l ace to se e a n d be seen. For this fir st assignm ent, I have gotten a c hanc e to ex pe r i e n c e a n d o b se rve th e b u sy str eets of M elr ose. Fr om the hipster and s tr eet ar t m ov em ent to th e v i n t a g e a rchi tectu re d e si gns. It is a huge com m unity of diver sity in ev er y as pec t of l i fe. Walking down the street, you might run into a famous celebrity shopping in a high-end designer s t o r e o r y ou mi g h t se e a stree t ar tist cr eating a m aster piece on the si de of a bui l di ng. T he th e m e o f my p roj ect i s P atte rns and Palet t es. I was able to analyzed the s tr eet patter ns of M e l r o s e , t he traffi ce l i g h ts, a n d the business com plexes. Fr om the patter ns of bi l l boar ds to the a w n i n g s o n a l mo st e ve ry stores, though the stor es that ar e facing Sou th hav e m or e num ber of a w n i n g s d ue to th e d i re ct su n l ight fr om the Sun. I also cor por ate in m y ow n patter n obs er v ati on is t h e “ p e o p l e” of Mel ro se . T he com m unity of young teens and fam ous c el ebr i ti es . M el r os e Av e is t h e o n l y sho p p i ng d i stri ct i n LA that has m or e celebr ities shopping than any other pl ac es . P e r h a p s , t hat i s w h y a n d w ha t m akes M elr ose Ave one of the unique and i c oni c pl ac e to v i s i t i n L o s A n g e l es. Ove r the l ast d e cade or so, m any funky and fr eaky shops has di s appear ed, and n o w w i t h man y i nte resti ng a n d exotic shops ar e now popping up. Like any m aj or L.A. s tr eet, M e l r o s e s t i l l h a s a l ot to o ffe r: com edy clubs, night spots, lots of boutiques , and a few k ey r e s t a u r a n t s ; ho w eve r, i ts cen ter has shifted far ther west, towar ds the P ac i fi c D es i gn C enter, a n d i t s f o c us h a s b e co me fa r mor e tr aditional in r ecent year s. Now on s i dew al k s of M el r os e Av e fe a t u r e s m an y n e w up co mi n g br and nam e of clothing shops to r estaur a nts that s ti l l pr om otes th e g e n u i n e tra d i ti o n a l l o o k w i th a twist of a hipster edge.
West Bound - Pomona
Pattern A - Blocks ( 310 ft. )
Pattern B - Businesses ( 40,000 sq. ft. )
4 ,2 0 0 F T.
Art Morals Movement 35 % Business
Lack of Shades/Tree Melrose Elementary
FairFax High
65 % Residence
Billboards Overcrowded
Unique/Independent/Vintage Shop
Ex. 02 - People,Use,Systems
DEMOGRAPHICS STUDY For this Demographics Study Assigment, I have to study Melrose Ave ( between N La Brea Ave and N Genesee Ave). Melrose Avenue is a shopping, dining and entertainment located in the Los Angeles County - specifically in the Fairfax District. At the corner of Fairfax and Melrose is Fairfax High School, which marks the start of the Fairfax District. A brief history of Faifax District is that it is the very first home of the Jewish Community in the 1930s. It is also the birth place of the Original Farmers Market in the West Coast. The Fairfax High School is also a landmark in the district. Fairfax High School has been known since the 1930s as a breeding ground for future major figures in the entertainment industry. Fairfax was the foreign language magnet school in the 1960s and 1970s, offering Hebrew, German, Chinese and Latin, among other languages. The Fairfax Magnet Center for Visual Arts opened in 1981 and remains the only visual arts magnet in the Los Angeles Unified School District. This was quite an interesting assignment to work on because the demographics data i have found is totally different from the observation i have been gathering. One of the thing that makes Melrose Ave stands out is all the young teenagers or “hipster� that shop on this shopping strip. I had to gather the age (19-34) date from its neighbor districts to get a sense of where else are these group of hipsters from that might go through and shop here. Overall, I had a really great time exploring and study demographics for the first time, which really helped me to understand and connect with the street even more.
Home of the first Jewish Community in Los Angeles
1929 Fairfax High School
1930
1934 The Original Farmers Market
1980 Melrose Ave - Shopping Strip
Districts Age Comparison (19-34) 40,000
Fairfax - 4,562
30,000
Population
Beverly Grove - 7,245
Hancock - 2,408
20,000
Hollywood - 28,740
10,000
Mid-Wilshire - 13,491 West Hollywood - 11,707
5,000
District
http://censusreporter.org/profiles/79500US0603731-los-angeles-county-central-west-hollywood-beverly-hills-cities-puma-ca/ http://www.point2homes.com/US/Neighborhood/CA/Los-Angeles-County/Los-Angeles/Fairfax-Demographics.html http://maps.latimes.com/neighborhoods/neighborhood/fairfax/
Present
Ex. 03 - Urban Intervention
DESIGN STUDY The way Melrose Shopping Ave. is set up for the past decades has been enclosed and intimacy. With many obvious things that we can promote and change throughout the street study process that we have analyzing. We noticed there is a lack of public spaces, lack of parking, lack of shades, pedestrian biking hazard, street maintenance, etc. With a limited space on this street, we have to try not to tear down and build up anything that might ruin the image and culture of Melrose Ave. For our PROPOSAL, we will be focusing on the core of the street itself. We want to remodel the street with sustainable designs and new concepts that will benefits the neighbors, vendors, and vistors in the long run. We believe we can bring a new vibe and attractive look to Melrose Ave. The street of Melrose is a long stretch from West Hollywood to Santa Monica. Melrose Ave is designed above a huge drainage sewer system for the City of Los Angeles. It has become a huge problem for the past decades when there is a season of heavy rain. As we are getting prepared for the El Nino 2016, my group is proposing to design and build a swale into the street by removing the parking spaces from both sides of Melrose Ave for drainage purposes. We have already found a vacant parking lot on South Bound of Melrose Ave between Gardner St. & Sierra Bonita Ave. We will rebuild this parking lot into a 2 to 3 stories structure. Our next design is to put a friendly and safe bike lane on both sides of the street with the swale between the cars and bikes to create a safety barrier. This will reduce the chances of bikers getting hit by cars. In the swale, we will have a variety of planters and trees to create shading and bringing an enclosure to the street. As our ideas and CONCEPTS are becoming together, we will produce a satisfactory new look of Melrose Ave to the people and the street itself.
Native plants Filter strip
Gravel and soil
Under ground drainage
Diagram B - Swale Study
Rooftops
Diagram A - Street Study
Vegetation Diagram Plants
Generate Swales ( phase 2 )
Rebuild Bike Lanes ( phase 3 )
Rooftop Water Collection
Street Accessories
Tables&Chairs
Tables
Waterproof Material Roof Concrete
Parking Structure ( phase 1)
Top View
Herbs Tomatoes Beans Other plants Lettuces
Diagram C - Rooftops Study
PLAN MAP A B
H G H
C
N Gardner St & S Sierra Bonita Ave
OBJECTIVES
D
F
A - new improved sidewalk B - swales C - bike lane D - rooftop purposes F - new parking garage
G - Traffic Lights at every intersection H - Reduce speed limit to 25 MPH
The goal for our design is to have swale and planters to help maintenance the street. Build a parking garage for more parking spaces. We also want to put in a new and safer bike lane for bikers. We are also putting more traffic lights at every intersection to prevent people from J-WALKing, and last but not least we will reduce the speed limit down to 25 MPH for safety purposes.
PHASE STUDIES PHASE 01 - Construct a public parking garage
What would be done? -Stores would be kept on the bottom to support the streets image.
How does this help? -Helps with the parking congestion -Allows the street to be more accesible Using the space has a bike storage system for the community.
Remove the street parking to make room for a bike lane protected by a swale -Change the street light’s timing to schronize with the speed limit to help congestion
PHASE 02 - Create safe & accessibility pathway
- Change the speed limit to 25mph for saftey -This creates a safer enviornment for younger and older people -Helps support the public health crisis
Temporary parking lot to help support the school during non school hours
Installing places to park bikes
Colored lighting for trees that can alternate colors
Why plants help
Installing new street lights
PHASE 03 - Plant trees & shrubs & install lights
- Vegetation consumes other pollutants which becomes plant matter - Provides shading and is visually stimulating Riversidian alluvial fan sage
Encilia Farinosa
California Buckwheat
Chilopsis Linearis
Yucca Whipplei
Parkinsania microphyla
Types of plants -Riversidian alluvial fan sage -Encilia Farinosa -Chilopsis Linearis -Parkinsania microphyla -California buckwheat -Yucca whipplei
SCALE STUDIES
A
SECTION A - Daytime
B
F
C
A - Basket-can B - Trees create barrier & shade C - Reduce speed limit to 25mph
D - Lights washing E - Swale helps drainage/maint. F - Bike Lane Friendly
D
E
SECTION B - Nighttime
WEST ELEVATION
URBAN SCALE -
Swale & Bike Ln. stretching down Melrose Ave create a sustainable and well maintenance street movement.
BUILDING SCALE -
The trees creates a low canopy that shrink down the building and create intimacy between the people, the buildings, and the steet.
HUMAN SCALE -
and the traffic.
Swale & Planters create a natural shade and safety barrier between the street
N Gardner St & S Sierra Bonita Ave
SCENARIO STUDIES Scenario 1 During the day, rooftops could be a perfect place to experience outdoor dining with friends or family. It can also be used as green roofs to grow vegetables or fruits.
Dining
DAY
Rooftops Green Roofs Green Roof
Tables
Plants Waterproof Material Roof Concrete
Herbs Tomatoes Beans Lettuces
Night At night, rooftops could be used as bars/lounges. It will be a comfortable and fun place to go to with a date or friends.
Tables and Chairs
Day
EVENTS
Scenario 2 During the day, an event that could add to the culture of Melrose is perhaps a beer festival. The street will be closed for a whole day and anyone over the age of 21 can attend this event. It will be overlooked my multiple security people in order to prevent any dangerous actions.
There will also be street musicians to attend the event to vors of beer, and will be limited to create a more exciting and fun how much a person can drink. vibe.
Night At night, the beer festival will be followed by a concert with rappers, cover bands, or other artists that the young generation like to listen to when having fun with friends.
Enclosed Section of Melrose Ave
Concert stage for rappers or dj’s performing
Melrose Ave Beer Posts Intersecting Streets
Night concerts will include an appropriate amount of alcoholic beverages, and will have a variety of music including rap, electronic, and hip hop.
Outdoor Seating
Scenario 3 Day
STREET
Steet Lights
With all additions to Melrose Ave, the street will have a much nicer apperance, will be both pedestrian and biker friendly, and will have an overall nicer view from rooftops.
Bike Lane
Night The nightlife on Melrose Ave will become more welcoming, with activities like concerts and beer festivals, larger and younger groups will want to visit the street. With some additional lights, Melorse will become a very pleasing location to visit on weekends or special events.
Swale
JOHN T. NGUYEN Cal Poly Pomona ENV 101 Professor Delgado Fall ‘ 15