04 - 05
06 - 07
08 - 09
10 - 11
/ MIDTERM MODELS / ARCHITECTURAL NARRATIVE
VICINITY MAP / SITE DESIGN + CONTEXT
SITE PLAN / PROJECT INFORMATION / CONTEXTUAL AXONOMETRIC DRAWING
CONCEPTUAL BASIS FOR DESIGN / AERIAL VIEW
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION AND TABULATION / PROGRAMMATIC AXONOMETRIC / STRUCTURAL AXONOMETRIC / FORMAL DESIGN STRATEGY
12 - 13
14 - 15
16 - 17
18 - 19
WATERFLOW AND CIRCULATION AXONOMETRIC / CONCEPTUAL IMAGES OF PROGRAMMING / SUN STUDIES
NORTH ELEVATION IN CONTEXT
EAST ELEVATION IN FUTURE CONTEXT
SUSTAINABLE DIAGRAM EAST-WEST SECTION / SUSTAINABLE DIAGRAM NORTH-SOUTH SECTION
20 - 21
FLOOR PLANS
COMMERICAL ZONES 22 - 27
ENLARGED GROUND FLOOR PLAN / EXTERIOR WALKWAY
PERSPECTIVE SECTION
WALL SECTION
EXPERIMENTAL URBAN AGRICULTURE LEARNING CENTER 36 - 37 SOLID VERSUS VOID AS DEPICTED IN MATERIALITY AND PROGRAMMING 38 - 39 LEVELS OF OCCUPATION: PROGRAMMATIC TRANSPARENCY
40 - 41 INTERACTIVE WALKWAYS: VISUAL DELAYS WITHIN INTERIOR AND EXTERIOR PROGRAMMING
A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A FAMILY: THE LIVINGROOM
A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A FAMILY: THE BEDROOM
A CASUAL DAY 48 - 49
A MOMENT OF PRIVACY IN A GARDEN
KEY ELEMENTS RECAP
Solid Versus Void: Initial massing studies and structural integration.
ARROYO S-ECO VILLAGE
n. “Dry Creek” in Spanish.
THE ECO-VILLAGE IS AN EXPERIMENTAL PROJECT WITH HOUSING + FOOD PROGRAMMING IN DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES, CA. WHY IN LA? ONE REASON HAS TO DO WITH CLIMATE CHANGE.
IT AFFECTS EVERYONE IN THE WORLD AND NOW IS THE CHANCE TO LIVE IN A WORLD WHERE CONSCIOUS LIVING, SPENDING, AND EATING WILL BE THE NORM. WHY NOT SAVE THE EARTH? IT’S OUR ONLY HOME.
I N T E NT :
The Arroyo Seco Village is a complex located in 1819 N Barranca Street, Los Angeles, CA. The village incorporates non-traditional programming within a multi-functional space of a different genre: housing, commercial spaces, and an experimental greenhouse for educational purposes.
The complex provides workers and other people housing whilst the greenhouse produces organic produce utilizing experimental technologies.Urban agriculture is the future and experimental growing methods are displayed and practiced within the greenhouse learning space.
Commercial zones such as a zero-waste retail store and a cafe selling locallysourced food are also displayed on-site.
S T R A T E G Y :
The strategy is to create smaller components of building programming that is intertwined within the larger pixelation of the site, creating a composition that binds uncommon spaces together.
The solid and void spaces of the housing complex and industrial greenhouse is bound together by a commercial “band” consisting of the retail space and restaurant as a public zone that acts as a median between private and semiprivate areas.
WHERE ARE WE?
Situated in the intersection of Barranca Street and N Avenue 19, the site depicted is currently a parking lot. The Ed P. Reyes River Greenway is adjacent to the lot on the northern end. There are also food trading companies located in the north with their small trucks parked on their respective lots. Furthermore, there is the abandoned Lincoln Heights jail. To the east, the Rodriguez Auto Repair shop and a junkyard filled with cars sits on a large lot. In order to market my project as being a family-friendly place for people to congregate at, the main problem would have to be creating a barrier between the highly-industrial space and my lot. That’s where the nature park comes in. I project that the park is going to be an attraction similar to the nearby Los Angeles State Historic Park located just across the North Broadway Bridge.
To the southeast end of the site context, there is the LAFD Supply & Maintenance shop which houses large machinery. The direct southern end currently has the Young Nak English College Ministry. And lastly, the southest end has small bungalow homes and a media studio called Open the Portal buffering the train tracks and Los Angeles River that run along the entire site. The problems that I will encounter here are trying to account for the noise pollution created from the industrial lots and also dealing with perspective issues in regards to whether I want some of my greenhouse and housing units facing attractive spaces.
It is important to note that the site-specific plan has important setbacks that I need to consider. The north-end has a 30 ft. requirement whilst the sides have 15 ft. requirements. Thus, I will be taking the lower half of my site as the buildable area, allowing for the northern end to be the park mentioned beforehand. The parking areas will be placed on the south and southwest end of my site where the greenhouse and commercial areas will be so that it is closer to the street and away from the park.
The socioeconomic landscape of the neighborhood is primarily lower class. People live in homes that are adjacent to the I-5 freeway and in clusters that surround industrial and commercial spaces. The problem with this is that the air pollution inhaled by the people is a driving factor as to why so many of them develop health problems. My intention is to have my housing development be surrounded by greenery in order for it to be a safe and healthy environment for families to be in.
The last thing that will truly impact the design of my senior project will be the fact that even though I am creating a space for the near-future of the area, it will take a long time to construct. That, and also the fact that there will still be industrial areas surrounding my site - noise and air pollution will always be there.
Address: 1819 N Barranca St, Los Angeles, CA 90031 (currently a parking lot)
APNs: 5447017004, 5447017005. Acreage: 1.72 acres Parcel: PT LT A Lot Area: 74,859.4 SF
Zoning: “CM” Commercial Manufacturing Zone (Hybrid Industrial); Multi-Family Housing Incentive.
Urban Village category under the Cornfield Arroyo Secco Specific Plan.
2 Development Standards
Permitted Uses: The intention is to create a mix-used project with multi-family residential and urban agriculture.
Front setback: none
Side setbacks (Arroyo Secco Specific Plan): 0-15 ft maximum.
Rear setback: Same as R3 Zone for residential uses (15 ft); otherwise the plot for Arroyo Secco Specific plan that is adjacent to a park has a 30 ft setback from the property line.
Maximum Lot Coverage: Arroyo Secco Specific plan states 85% of total lot. 112,289.1 SF * (.85) = 95, 445.7 SF. Will be reduced to 80,000 SF.
Minimum Open Space: None; adjacent lot is already an open green space.
Minimum Landscape Coverage: 15% of total lot coverage. 112,289.1 SF * (.15) = 16,843.4 SF.
Building Height / Number of Stories: min. height is 45 ft, max. height is avg. 110’.
Parking: WAREHOUSE: first 10k SF = 1 per 500, beyond 10K SF = 1 per 5K
OTHER BUILDINGS OR COMMERCIAL (urban agriculture): 1 per 500
DWELLINGS (single-family): 2 per unit.
Minimum Building Separation: min. 20 ft; max. 30 ft.
Standard FAR: limited C2 or R3 uses --> Arroyo Secco specifically states 1.5:1.
PRECEDENTS:
The Mountain by BIG
I chose this project for its modularity in units and the fact that there is an open space “backyard” for each apartment unit. What’s great about it is that its terrace-like form is me most unique part of the building itself made from prefabricated building systems.
Saltholmsgade Social Housing Project by WE Architects
Saltholmsgade was chosen due to the simplicity of its unit layouts. It is smart, simple, and efficient.
Via Verde Apartments by Grimshaw + Dattner Architects
Via Verde has unique layouts for their unit typologies and it makes sense to modify existing modules in order to accommodate for entryways, hallways, etc.
For the greenhouse aspect, my case studies either centered around the traditional form of a greenhouse as something encased in steel cage structure and even the thought of having urban farming in on-traditional spaces where people spend most of their time in. As mentioned earlier, this greenhouse is merely to demonstrate future practices of growing, not actual production for the community.
Here are the ones chosen for this project:
Pasona Urban Farm by Kono Designs
This experimental hybrid of having different types of growing areas intertwined with an office environment is something that piqued my interest due to the fact that the concept of urban farming can be something that people can be surrounded in even if they are working. Passive cooling methods are introduced to control airflow and natural to artificial lighting is used for crop production.
VerticalHarvest Farm by e/Ye Designs
This takes urban farming to a new level - the production space is not only separated into different growing rooms, but provides jobs for workers with disabilities, and it also is an educational space for people to tour and learn about agriculture.
FRAC Dunkerque by Lacaton & Vassal
This art museum space is inside a towering modern glass edifice. What I found interesting about this project is its materiality difference from solid to void spaces. It is the driving force in my project in terms of form inspiration.
Lastly, the cafe and zero-waste store was inspired by stores already in business in downtown Los Angeles.
No Tox Life - Vegan Bath, Body, and Home Cleaning Products
This shop is one of many that advocates for no-waste products that counter the wasteful consumerism culture of the modern world.
Openaire restaurant at The Line
This restaurant is open and airy - situated in a greenhouse-like space, I am emulating this project for when I make a cafe in my project.
PROGRAM SPACE SUMMARY:
Required FAR (Limited to C2 or R3 Uses): Arroyo Seco Site-Specific Plan states 1.5:1.
112,289.1 SF (FAR - calc. #) * (85% of buildable site) = 95,445.7 SF of buildable land required.
112,289.1 SF * (15% of landscapable site) =
16,843.4 SF of outdoor programmable area required.
Height Restrictions: 75 ft. of 6 stories.
Actual building height: 43 ft. (greenhouse top height).
Actual Total SF: 70,782 SF (building areas)
16,445.7 SF (nature park)
Occupancy Numbers:
Residential: 270
Greenhouse Areas: 36.9
Retail: 7.59
Parking (Total in accordance to the Arroyo Seco Specific Plan): 87 spots.
Residential (2-bed market rates, 1-bed lowincome rates): 77 spots
Greenhouse + Cafe + Retail: 10 spots
Program SF:
NSF: 70,422 SF
GSF: 88,000 SF LEGEND:
In this project, I am proposing a residential complex, cafe, small commercial area, and an experimental greenhouse to demonstrate growing technologies in downtown Los Angeles near Elysian Park. The site itself is surrounded by industrial complexes. Even though it is also adjacent to the Los Angeles River, there is no connection and there is hardly any open space for natural landscaping except for the Ed P. Reyes Greenway which sits just north of my chosen site. What I have done is taken the rest of the site that I am not developing and turned it into a public nature park with hiking trails. In accordance with the Cornfield Arroyo Seco Site-Specific Plan that surrounds the immediate area, I decided to incorporate all of these various programming due to the flexibility that the Urban Village category allows. The specific plan states that multi-family housing and commercial areas are highly wanted in order to transition this part of the city to accommodate urban density.
The purpose for such varied programming stems from the need for amenities to be placed in a concentrated area whilst being conscious about the current and future needs of the environment that we live in. Climate change will continue to have an important role in our world and as the city develops, open spaces will become scarce and fresh produce will be more difficult to obtain as prices rise. People are becoming more cognizant of the fact that the current ways of living in this world are unsustainable. It would be easier to live in complexes where smart designs are incorporated. Smaller homes within the proximity of amenities makes it so that people wouldn’t have to use their cars in order to commute to their desired destinations. In terms of produce, there is a growing need and interest for people to become a part of the urban agriculture movement. The greenhouse allows for fresh produce to be grown and sold on-site whilst primarily being a space to test advanced agricultural technologies. And in order to market a zero-waste culture downtown, the complex will have a zero-waste product store centered around the concept of buying artisan-made items in bulk. The cafe area is another social space for visitors and residents to go to which will have the added benefit of seeing the greenhouse production space adjacent to them.
The proposal will be created in stages of development. The first aspect is making the residential area, commercial spaces, and the greenhouse experimental center up and running. These are primarily important so that people can start renting the space and the greenhouse can start growing food for people. Although the food will take a while to grow, the next aspect is tearing down the last part of the current parking-lot site and terraforming the landscape back to its natural form - a park filled with hiking trails and indegineous flora native to California.
RAIN WATER FLOWS FROM THE ROOF TO THE GUTTERS.
GREYWATER FROM HOUSING UNITS AND COMMERCIAL SPACES ARE USED IN THE GREENHOUSE.
RAINWATER FLOWS INTO THE CISTERN FOR COLLECTION.
CAFE ADJACENT TO THE EXPERIMENTAL GREENHOUSE CENTER
NOTE:
EDUCATIONAL GREENHOUSE ELEMENTS 01 - 08 INCORPORATES DRIP IRRIGATION FOR WATER CONSERVANCY. WATER FROM THE AQUAPONICS SYSTEM IS NUTRIENT-RICH AND IS USED AS FERTILIZER FORPLANTS WITHIN THE VERTICAL GROWING CAROUSELS.
04 - 05 UTILIZES VALOYA NS1 LED ILLUMINATION LIGHTING FOR ARTIFICIAL GROW-LIGHTING.
ORGANIC FERTILIZER IS COMPRISED BY CONSUMER COMPOSTRESIDENT AND VISITOR-ALIKE.
CAFE + RETAIL STORE PROMOTE ARTISAN-MADE PRODUCTS WITH LOCAL MATERIALS FROM THE AREA.
