URBAN choreography

CHOREOGRAPHY TYLER PAGE

LA 403 SPRING 2015

URBAN DESIGN

PAMPHLET ARCHITECTURE

[UR+BAN] OF OR RELATING TO CITIES AND THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN THEM

[CHO+RE+OGRAPHY] THE ART OR PRACTICE OF DESIGNING SEQUENCES OF MOVEMENTS OF PHYSICAL BODIES IN WHICH MOTION, FORM, OR BOTH ARE SPECIFIED

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URBAN POSITION

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P H O T O E S S A Y S

BIG BUY / 0 3

THEORY READING RESPONSES

_ 0.1 URBAN STRATEGIES _ 0.2 PUBLIC SCALE _ 0.3 NAKED SPACE _ 0.4 SOCIAL ECOLOGY / 0 4

LECTURE - PROJECT

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DISCUSSIONS

FUTURE OF URBAN ENVIRONMENTS _ 0.2 URBAN PATCHWORK _ 0.3 CULTURAL ICONOGRAPHY _ 0.4 RETAIL EXPERIENCE

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URBAN POSITION

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URBAN POSITION

West Hollywood, CA is a city defined by its culture. Its collective identity can best be described as an intricate choreography of hyper diverse influences, each very different from one another yet equally influential to the greater identity of the city. The poised urbanity of the studios project site, situated on Santa Monica Blvd and Robertson Ave in the heart of West Hollywood’s design and civic district, is representative of this dialogue the city is having with its developing urban fabric and intricate social choreography.

Directly influenced by its surrounding urban context of nearby cities like Hollywood and Beverly Hills, West Hollywood is continually evolving a lifestyle niche that makes it unlike any of its surroundings demographically. Traditionally the cities urban form has consisted of a fine grid, producing a feeling of a village, but this form is threatened by dangerous shifts in urban scale, such as the monolithic Pacific Design Center.

Speculation throughout this pamphlet attempts to generalize not only the current societal values of the city, but suggest notions for future catalytic influences that the studio project could contribute to the urban setting of West Hollywood.

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P H O T O E S S A Y

BIG Monolithic. Uncomfortable. A few of my initial reactions to the Pacific Design Center, one of the most contextually and visually influential pieces of urban architecture in WeHo. Matched only in scale by the well established ficus trees that line the surrounding streets, both are physically and metaphorically uprooting the “urban village� feeling of the city. What can remediate these jumps in scale, restoring the intentions and ideals of the community?

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P H O T O E S S A Y

BUY WeHo’s heavily branded environment reflects the prevalence of lucrative commercial opportunities as well as local lifestyle choices. The city embraces its diverse population and local culture, however the overabundance of LGBT pride rainbows take away from any interesting diversity that actually occurs. Furthermore, architecture only emphasizes this with its rigidity and lack of transparency, not at all suggestive of the true cultural mix that occurs in a much more spontaneous response. Design considerations need to address this in an inclusive manner, while remaining reflective of the areas true social diversity. WeHo is selling an image, but who is buying?

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T H E O R Y R E A D I N G

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RESPONSES

URBAN STRATEGIES

RESPONSE //

“Defining the Urbanistic Project: Ten Contemporary Approaches”

by Joan Busquets

Site sensitive design should always be a primary concern, but perhaps it is none more crucial than in highly urban public settings. Speaking on the level of agency that urbanistic projects entail, author Joan Busquets in “Defining the Urbanistic Project”1 emphasizes the importance of design disciplines and how their individual methodologies contribute to the greater discussion of urbanism at large. Busquets ten taxonomies (see diagram on right) operate in synchronization throughout architecture, landscape architecture, and urban planning to strengthen their impact as a collective whole in the urban realm.

Busquet outlines techniques I think are directly applicable to West Hollywood’s urban design milieu. Ideas such as iconic architecture and its subsequent revitalization effects, high density reuse of converted infrastructure, and development of space as a stimulus for successful urbanism are all valid approaches to frame and understand the development that the city is undergoing and how projects such as our studio’s engage with it. However, within the dynamic discussion of urbanism these are by no means the only practiced ideologies. In many regions, especially developed historical urban sites, retrofitting existing infrastructures to modern demands, without loosing the intricacies and appeal of place, is of the utmost importance. In an area like West Hollywood however I would argue enough time hasn’t passed for history to be a significant driver to the design process.

Whichever framework development is viewed in it is to be understood that they interact simultaneously, creating a symbiotic relationship to stimulate urbanism. Within the Los Angeles region designers need to consider all of these strategies as we operate in a landscape that while still continuously developing a rich cultural history, has specific urban constraints unlike anywhere else- such as our complicated infrastructural transportation network of highways, or in West Hollywood specifically, streets and parking structures.

Lastly, speculation is encouraged because only through operating at different scales can outside considerations be properly addressed. Political and cultural contexts have direct implications on physical design frameworks, and call upon other theorybased disciplines outside of the design practice to emphasize a holistic approach to urbanistic practices.

A notion that needs to be intrinsically applied to our development plans in West Hollywood.

1 Busquets, Joan. Krieger, Alex, and William S. Saunders, eds. “Defining the Urbanistic Project: Ten Contemporary Approaches”. N.p.: Univ Of Minnesota Press, 2009. Urban Design. Online.

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T H E O R Y R E A D I N G

RESPONSES

SYNTHETIC GESTURES

MULTIPLIED GROUNDS

TACTICAL MANEUVERS

RECONFIGURED SURFACES

PIECEMEAL AGGREGATIONS

TRADITIONAL VIEWS

RECYCLED TERRITORIES

CORE RETROFITTING

ANALOG COMPOSITIONS

SPECULATIVE PROCEDURES

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T H E O R Y R E A D I N G

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RESPONSES

PUBLIC SCALE

RESPONSE //

“Here’s How American Cities Can Learn From Italian Piazzas” by A Ghigo Ditommaso

“The Street, the Block, and the Building”

by Moule/Polyzoides

Projects involved in the public realm demand a level of interaction unlike that of conceptual work.

At the most fundamental level, they need to work for everyone: young, old, disabled, etc and for the full range of diversity in demographics and economics that the public consists of. I believe this challenge is often met unsuccessfully due to a variety of real world constraints, but nonetheless need to be strived for as a responsibility as practitioners and scapers of the public realm.

Often, as we have learned in class lectures on the topic of New Urbanism, the ideal is to create a thriving public space where people can interact with one another, the built environment, and even naturehowever synthetic it might be. This notion commonly takes the theoretical form of an Italian piazza. As the article “Here’s How American Cities Can Learn From Italian Piazzas”2 by A Ghigo Ditommaso explains, the typology of the piazza is the foundation of “peoplecentered urban design”. Spatial references of these famous urban settings are found in many modern public projects, with examples given in New York and California (see diagram on right). But even with copying the piazza model, there are numerous examples of unsuccessful copies.

Designed as places for people, these pastiche urban plazas neglect their context and sense of place.

Ditommaso’s argument is that the setting of these piazzas in the center of historic cities, lends them serving as the “nuclei” and “genome of the city’s public life”. Through this analogy the importance of connecting to paths is implied, but I would argue it is the engagement of edges that activates the space.

In “The Street, the Block, and the Building”3

by Moule/Polyzoides this idea is supported by the implied importance of the street as a critical “communal room and passage”. If a plaza is indeed meant to function as a integral part of the urban public realm it needs to be well connected to the urban landscape, and in West Hollywood this is dominated by the street and sidewalk.

2 Ditommaso, Ghigo. “Here’s How American Cities Can Learn From Italian Piazzas.” NEXT CITY. N.p., 2009. Web. 5 May 2015. http://nextcity.org/ daily/entry/italian-piazzas-the-future-of-public-space 3 Moule, Elizabeth and Stefanos Polyzoides (1994). “The Street, the Block and the Building,” in Katz, Peter, ed., The New Urbanism. New York: McGraw Hill, Inc.

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T H E O R Y R E A D I N G

RESPONSES

PLAZA MAGGIORE, ITALY

BRYANT PARK, NEW YORK

CIVIC CENTER, SAN DIEGO CA

CITY HALL, SAN JOSE CA

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T H E O R Y R E A D I N G

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RESPONSES

NAKED SPACE

RESPONSE //

“Queer Space: Closet Cases and Mirror Worlds” by Aaron Betsky “The Split Wall: Domestic Voyeurism” by Beatriz Colomina

Space is determined by many contributive factors besides physical form, such as human psychology. One influence rarely discussed is sexuality and its associated social spatial characteristics.

Orientation of space directly dictates behavior, and in a diverse and varied community such as West Hollywood sensitive orientation of spaces that provide for heterosexual, homosexual, and bisexual communities is of the utmost importance.

Traditionally architecture is derived without consideration of a specific gender or sexual orientation. But, as Beatriz Colomina’s explains in her writing “The Split Wall: Domestic Voyeurism”4, spaces can be attributed male and female qualities based on their relationship to other areas and also interior/ exterior orientations. Colomina uses a metaphor of a theater box to make the analogy, relating the success of being in a small space looking out to a larger area beyond and the associated psychological ties. It is explained that comfort in a space as such is a relationship between intimacy and control. Like a theater box, those who operate within these spaces are both actors and spectators, blurring the “classical distinction between inside and outside, private and public, object and subject…”. However Colomina elaborates that the theater box calls as much attention as it provides comfort and protection. An important realization I made from this reading is that the most intimate feeling of any space is the interior, where the object becomes the subject.

This idea is not only a main driver of my groups studio project involving a large public plaza that is the central focus of the surrounding architecture, but also is a common theme of Betsky’s writings on “Queer Space”5. Betsky supports the idea that queer space is reflective of the body, where much of the focus of homosexuality is placed. Queer space is not a highly organized or developed spatial relationship, but instead it tends to be more ambivalent, ephemeral, and contradictory. Categorizing these spaces as closets and mirrors, and the interaction with them as a gestural choreography.

Relating to the form our project, the landscape is a direct contradiction to the architecture. It provides the opportunity for a variety of spaces, and more importantly spatial relationships much like a theater box. The perceived openness of the central interior courtyard design is highly intentional to provide a level of “nakedness” and seduction, allocating space to be developed by a wide variety of lifestyle orientations.

4. Colomina, Beatriz. “The Split Wall: Domestic Voyeurism.” Sexuality & Space. Ed. Beatriz Colomina. New York: Princeton Architectural, 1992.

Print.

5. Betsky, Aaron Queer space : architecture and same-sex desire (1st ed). William Morrow & Co, New York, 1997.

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T H E O R Y R E A D I N G

THEATER BOX / GREEK BATHOUSE MODEL

RESPONSES

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T H E O R Y R E A D I N G

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RESPONSES

SOCIAL ECOLOGY

RESPONSE //

“Synthetic patterns: Fabricating landscapes in the age of ‘green’ “ by Karen M’Closkey “Ecology and Landscape as Agents of Creativity” by James Corner

The manner in which us humans organize our living conditions and inhabit the land is our cultural landscape. An integral function of this is the idea of social ecology, a complex organizational idea that includes everything from the human condition and behavior, to cultural values and varying degrees of interaction with nature.

Visionary landscape architect James Corner, whose work often operates with natural systems in mind, addresses the idea of social ecology in his writing “Ecology and the Landscape as Agents of Creativity”6 . He explains that urban or social ecology synthesizes “nature” with the interaction of anthropogenic activity is solely an idea, consisting of “metaphorical and ideological representations” (82). The idea of “nature” itself being a “cultural construction”, inherently is just a way of discussing naturalistic phenomenon. He elaborates that “In social ecology, the ecological idea transcends its strictly scientific characteristics and assumes social, psychological, poetic, and imaginative dimensions” (94). By this statement Corner is implying that social ecology is a framework to address everything from social conditions and responses to nature, to “linguistic and imaginative structures”.

Strategies to organize this ecology often consist of order, or pattern. According to Karen M’Closkey’s writing “Synthetic patterns: Fabricating landscapes in the age of “green””7 , patterns are used to connect landscape functions and aesthetic values, “between systems and signs” (16).

M’Closkey is suggesting that the natural order of landscape can be conceptualized in a representational fashion. Beyond being ornamental, patterns consist of a multitude of influences both spatially and behaviorally. As a result patterns might be best thought of as “diagrams of process” (Bell 1999:33). At its most fundamental level patterns help humans understand order and process, both psychologically and ecologically. An aesthetic value can be attributed to the form derived from the process, which M’Closkey outlines as fields, pattern, process, and figures (see diagram).

This concept can be directly related to the cultural landscape of Southern California and the City of West Hollywood specifically. The social ecology of the region involves a highly synthetic relationship to nature in exchange for a dominant social environment. In WeHo there is a unique relationship created between the diverse range of alternative lifestyles and economic conditions, resulting in a dynamic social ecology that is evolving but with friction between interests. Landscape patterns can address by staging themselves for cultural flexibility.

6. Corner James. 1997. Ecology and landscape as agents of creativity. In Ecological Design and Planning, ed. Thompson G., Steiner F. John. New York: Wiley & Sons. Pg 82-94 7. Karen M’Closkey, “Synthetic Patterns: Fabricating Landscapes in the Age of ‘Green’” Journal of Landscape Architecture, Spring 2013. Pg 16

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FIELDS

PATTERN

PROCESS

FIGURES

T H E O R Y R E A D I N G

RESPONSES

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DISCUSSIONS

FUTURE OF URBAN ENVIRONMENTS

PROMPT // The Future of Urban Environments, including West Hollywood Lecture: “Urban Design, Urban Architecture, Urban Nature” by Robert Harris

Reading: “Landscape As Urbanism” by Charles Waldheim “The Topographical Premises of Landscape and Architecture” by David Leatherbarrow

The urban form of West Hollywood as previously mentioned consists of relatively dense development, largely consisting of retail and residential influences.

The immediate context of the project site however introduces several large examples of urban architecture, namely the Pacific Design Center, West Hollywood Library, and WeHo Park. As discussed in Robert S. Harris’s lecture these developments are described as urban architecture in that they were built all at once and intend to be catalytic to the surrounding context.

They play into the strategic urban planning in which our studio project operates within, the urban landscape. As Harris discussed, these three aspects of urban design operate with three timelines- the immediate historic influences, the present milieu in which we operate as citizens and designers, and speculative future immediacies. By Harris’s definition, urban design occurs over a wide time frame. In West Hollywood, this has lead to a consolidated linear organization based around the major thoroughfares, namely Santa Monica Blvd. Only relatively recently urban catalysts, such as the Pacific Design Center, have influenced the physical relationships and boundaries of the urban form.

Their dramatic shift in scale reframes urban development, and consequently the makeup of the city. This magnification in scale invites and justifies a shift away from local scale development, a threat to the previous urban form and with it many social, economic, and environmental ramifications. Speaking of these three impacted aspects is best framed within the landscape urbanism discussion. Charles Waldheim in his writing “Landscape As Urbanism”8 describes landscape as a medium “capable of responding to temporal change, transformation, adaptation, and succession” (39). As such, it responds to the newly introduced urban architecture forms. Socially, the shift in scale can also shift the interaction that community has with the development and the city fabric at large.

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David Leatherbarrow in his writing “The Topographical Premises of Landscape and Architecture”9 refers to this cultural framework as topography. This reduced interaction of the public with topography threatens the effect interactive capacity of the public realm, a dangerous proposition to urban activity. Economically, the larger scale is conducive to profit from large companies, but ignores small independently owned businesses, and the diversity of products and shopping experiences that they offer. Lastly, environmental ramifications to the urban landscape condition need to be considered. Large developments provide less space for opportunistic landscape forces- topography, vegetation, wildlife, and natural processes. Overall, the reduced interaction with the cultural topography, or landscape is detrimental to the urban environment.

DISCUSSIONS

Considering the current and future impacts of this development trend, it can be argued that small to medium scale, dense development best responds to the urban environment of West Hollywood. Not only does this offer the most opportunities for social, economic, and environmental conditions, it is best in-line with the ambitions of the city’s master plan of maintain an urban village feel. Through investing in the relationship of urban architecture with the urban landscape, a dynamic and resilient urban environment can thrive for future generations.

Instead of supporting singular and disparate structures void of ground connections, a rich fabric of dense development that works in conjunction with the existing contextual landscape supports a myriad of beneficial urban conditions in the public realm.

8. Waldheim, Charles. “Landscape as Urbanism.” The Landscape Urbanism Reader. 1st ed. New York: Princeton Architectural, 2006. Print.

9. David Leatherbarrow, “Introduction: The Topographical Premises of Landscape and Architecture,” in Topographical Stories: Studies in Landscape and Architecture (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2004)

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LECTURE

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DISCUSSIONS

URBAN PATCHWORK

Provide a Critique of the Current Master Plan Lecture: “Urban Patterns” by Luis Hoyos “Not for Profit Housing” by Jim Bonar

Reading: “Where and How Does Urban Design Happen?”

by Alex Krieger “Methodologies and Practices” by John Dutton

West Hollywood’s current master plan (including phase II) is a valuable repositioning of the cities urban form. The largest moves to be inorporated are the overhaul of WeHo Park, and a notion of extending a pedestrian thoroughfare that connects the park and library all the way to the Melrose Triangle, the western gateway to the city.

This master plan incorporates street improvements to several districts that directly interact with this new alignment. Our studio project would serve as an important connecter from the park on its trajectory to Melrose Triangle by providing resources and ammenities for visitors and citizens alike. The form of the city is derived not only by the terrain, a concept Professor Luis Hoyos explained in his lecture “Urban Patterns”, but is developed around the linear corridor that major streets like Santa Monica Blvd provide.

Master plans, such as the one in effect for the city of West Hollywood, orient the future goals of the city, plan expansions, and attempt to predict future urban trends. The concept has been around formally since the 16th century. Author Alex Krieger in his writing “Where and How Does Urban Design Happen?”10 explains that Spain’s Philip II formulated precise codes for urban development as did Pope Sixtus V.

Today, urban master plans do not differ drastically. Trends such as new urbanism or “smart growth” planning are simply frameworks to view how we operate. We as designers face more constraints environmentally and spatially, but we also have information and technologies that were not available in the past. Our modern advancements are all the more reason why planning should be more efficient and democratic than ever, however this often isn’t the case. Jim Bonar in his lecture “Not for Profit Housing” explained some of the many obstacles to development projects in the public sphere. We could have the opportunity to provide social outreach in the form of healthcare or housing services in conjunction with new public developements like WeHo park but this rarely occurs. Public stigma, corporation funding, and legislation blockades prevent this from even being considered. My critique of the master plan is its neglect of these fundamental social considerations. Perhaps future planning will be even “smarter”, allocating resources towards providing these tools to better our society, but only time will tell. If urban design is truly a collaboration of ideas for the formation of community as Krieger suggests, then schemes which are not inclusive of all public needs are non-viable.

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An exciting notion of new urbanism planning is the collective nature. As John Dutton explains in his writing “Methodologies and Practices”11, instead of one firm master planning on every scale, there is flexibility to inocrporate many smaller specialized firms. The result is an urban patchwork rich in diversity. This strategy of planning allows for more opportunistic reactions in the public realm. By removing control from one overseeing power design can be more flexible to cultural needs and aesthetics.

In the city of West Hollywood this is especially important as their is no cultural monoculture.

New Urbanisms rejection of master planned urban renewal stems from the trend to obliterate the historical ties of an area. Through small scale, fine grained redevelopment, greater allocation of resources and sensitivity to the cultural fabric can occur than in larger development schemes. What results is not only more interesting design, but design that is more adaptable to current and future societal trends.

Currently West Hollywood is following the trajectory of a single firm devised master plan, but maybe as things continue to evolve decision makers will realize that a balance can be struck between cohesive planning, and allowing small spontaneous moments and flexibility. But for now, predictability and “safe” planning seem to have taken command of future urban progress.

10. Krieger, Alex and William S. Saunders, eds. “Where and How Does Urban Design Happen?” N.p.: Univ Of Minnesota Press, 2009. Urban Design. Online.

11. Dutton, John A. ““Methodologies and Practices” by John Dutton.” New American Urbanism: Re-forming the Suburban Metropolis. N.p.: 2001.

Print.

DISCUSSIONS

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DISCUSSIONS

CULTURAL ICONOGRAPHY

Describe West Hollywood’s Urban Form and Social make-up Lecture: “Landscape and The Public Imagination” by Kate Harvey

Reading: “The Real Fake and the Fake Fake” by Ada Louise Huxtable

The urban form that West Hollywood has developed into is the result of many generations contributions to the configuration of the city.

What each generation contributed though varied depending upon the social makeup of the time. The most obvious cultural class consists of homosexual men, from where the area gets the nickname “boys town”. One doesn’t have to look hard while driving down Santa Monica Blvd to notice the plethora of gay bars and sex shops. However, the complexity of West Hollywood’s social diversity does not end here. The city is home to a wide distribution of homosexuals, heterosexuals, and everything in between. Where it is diverse in sexual orientation, it is surprisingly less so in racial makeup being predominantly Caucasian.

Beyond demographics, a more interesting discussion is the contribution that each of these various cultures has on West Hollywood. Relating this idea to Professor Kate Harvey’s lecture entitled “Landscape and The Public Imagination”, much of what an area develops into is contingent upon a cultural and societal value. West Hollywood is very interesting in this regard because its most identifiable culture characteristic hasn’t always

(cont.) been so prominent. Gay culture wasn’t always so publicly accepted so its roots had to grow in the underground long before being publicized as “pride”.

It was the repressed nature of this progress that eventually lead to the cultural revolution of LGBTQ pride that is seen today. Whereas West Hollywood use to be largely run-down and derelict, the city’s openness to the greater LGBTQ community has not only given it a strong identity but also contributed to the revitilization of the area into the prominent area that it is today.

This transformation was not an accident.

It occurred as a result of cultural progress, political changes, and societal acceptance.

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This transformation was not an accident.

It occurred as a result of cultural progress, political changes, and societal acceptance. But these stimuli only were able to take effect through one commonality: imagination. Only through imagination of the cultural makeup has West Hollywood progressed. It was the initial mainstream counter culture that envisioned an ideal in how they would like to publicly lead their lives. It was their vision that lead to the accompanying economic progress that resulted from a united vision. As author Ada Louise Huxtable explains in her writing “The Real Fake and the Fake Fake”12 , authenticity can never be a single response. Often, interpretations or “fakes” never gain the cultural grounding and traction to be truly catalytic. Illusions are only temporarily engaging phenomenon, it is the genuine quality of a place that is endearing to a culture.

But even with this fundamental cultural heritage, the makeup of the city is continuously evolving. Today the challenge is to maintain many of the qualities that this specific culture (some 40% of West Hollywood Residents) created in the face of economic progress. With West Hollywood’s success came economic pressures for new growth.

The struggle is to allow growth and prosperity for the city without losing identity. West Hollywood can easily turn into an extension of Hollywood if the right balance is not struck. But with an aging LGBT population and a growing situation where young LGBT can not afford to live in the city, the future cultural identity is uncertain.

12. Huxtable, Ada Louise: The Real Fake and the Fake Fake, in: The Unreal America: Architecture and Illusion, New York, 1997.

DISCUSSIONS

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RETAIL EXPERIENCE

The goals and possibilities for your approach to the urban design project Lecture: “Retail” by Luis Hoyos

Reading: “Jerde Transfer” by Daniel Herman “Principles of Urban Retail Development” by Robert J. Gibbs

Planning

and

The urban design strategies involved in our studio project focused upon the programmatic criteria of including a mix hotel, retail, and office uses.

The first strategy was the idea of diversity of sizes and spaces, meant to reflect the diverse makeup of West Hollywood and todays retail shoppers. Secondly, we recognized the opportunity to provide public civic space and social outreach due to the sites connection with WeHo Park and Library, other outstanding public resources. This involved designing around the function of a large civic space where gatherings for both celebration and protest could occur. Lastly, our strategy was to provide a public stage, a destination for entertainment and public spectacle, as reflection of the areas thriving nightlife and alternative lifestyle trends.

Unlike some strictly economic based retail developments like the typical suburban mall, this project was designed to be an extension of its urban context and form while still performing basic retail, office, and hotel industry based needs. Inspiration for the form of which the project would develop into was derived from the context as explained earlier in this pamphlet, but many spatial configurations sought inspiration from established retail trends.

As Professor Luis Hoyos introduced his lecture on retail, the modern consumer shopping experience is the result of a great deal of evolution in mall architecture and its attempt to keep up with consumer trends. Historical mall precedents like the Crystal Palace in London, or the Galleria Vittorio Emanuelle II in Milan established many of the same values of todays shopping centers. As Hoyos explained, it was largely the popularity of the carin the 1950’s that drastically changed how we configured retail architecture, for example the Eastland Shopping Center in Covina. Malls developed the standard “dumbell plan”, which author Robert J. Gibbs explains in his writing “Principles of Urban Retail Planning and Development” is a layout with two large department stores anchoring a thoroughfare of smaller stores, surrounded by a sea of surface parking.

This simple layout strategy, popularized by architect Victor Gruen , has many advantages in its easy navigation, predictability, visibility of advertising space, and cross-traffic between stores. Criticisms of this design strategy, as explained in “Jerde Transfer”

by David Herman, is termed “Gruen Transfer”. In Gruen Transfer the shoppers experience is visually pulverized through a “narrow-spectrum stimulation and continual interruption of attention”.

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GRUEN “DUMBELL PLAN”

In contrast to this Gruen notion, Jerde designs stimulated shopping experience through the body, not visually. Jerde took many cues from urban downtowns, and their often perceived formless organization. Critically, Jerde uses three techniques to create an urban shopping experience: amplification, bombardment or transfer, and entertainment. Jerde recognized that retail is a “one liner”, and in that regard is not dynamic. By introducing entertainment, dining, and communal experience Jerde enriches the complexity of the retail experience.

Our project design intentions are much the same, while incorporating feedback to earlier retail design such as the work of Gruen and Jerde. We aimed to create a dynamic circulation, much like Jerde, to entice shoppers to discover and experience the development. We staged entertainment, dining, and accommodations to accommodate experiences of various durations. We tried to provide destination experiences and opportunities not found in the region. Perhaps most importantly, we embraced the urban edge connecting the development to adjacent Santa Monica Blvd, Robertson, and La Peer. Lastly, we made speculations to the future of retail shopping by following trends in destination brand retail, destination mixed use shopping experiences, and destination branded hotels and while incorporating a real civic space that is hyper public and a reflection of the city in which the project functions. By employing the idea of transparency the project orients itself to become the cities new public living room.

JERDE

13. Herman, Daniel. “Jerde Transfer.” Harvard Design School Guide to Shopping. Ed. Rem Koolhaas.: Taschen, 2001. Print.

14. Gibbs, Robert J. Principles of Urban Retail Planning and Development.

N.p.: Wiley, 2012. Online.

EHMT LA 403 STUDIO PROJECT WEHO

// W O R K S C I T E D

1. Busquets, Joan. Krieger, Alex, and William S. Saunders, eds. “Defining the Urbanistic Project: Ten Contemporary Approaches”. N.p.: Univ Of Minnesota Press, 2009. Urban Design. Online.

2. Ditommaso, Ghigo. “Here’s How American Cities Can Learn From Italian Piazzas.” NEXT CITY. N.p., 2009. Web. 5 May 2015. http://nextcity.org/daily/entry/italian-piazzas-the-future-of-public-space 3. Moule, Elizabeth and Stefanos Polyzoides (1994). “The Street, the Block and the Building,” in Katz, Peter, ed., The New Urbanism. New York: McGraw Hill, Inc. 4. Colomina, Beatriz. “The Split Wall: Domestic Voyeurism.” Sexuality & Space. Ed. Beatriz Colomina. New York: Princeton Architectural, 1992. Print.

5. Betsky, Aaron Queer space : architecture and same-sex desire (1st ed). William Morrow & Co, New York, 1997.

6. Corner James. 1997. Ecology and landscape as agents of creativity. In Ecological Design and Planning, ed.

Thompson G., Steiner F. John. New York: Wiley & Sons 7. Karen M’Closkey, “Synthetic Patterns: Fabricating Landscapes in the Age of ‘Green’” Journal of Landscape Architecture, Spring 2013

8. Waldheim, Charles. “Landscape as Urbanism.” The Landscape Urbanism Reader. 1st ed. New York: Princeton Architectural, 2006. Print.

9. David Leatherbarrow, “Introduction: The Topographical Premises of Landscape and Architecture,” in Topographical Stories: Studies in Landscape and Architecture (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2004)

10. Krieger, Alex and William S. Saunders, eds. “Where and How Does Urban Design Happen?” N.p.: Univ Of Minnesota Press, 2009. Urban Design. Online.

11. Dutton, John A. ““Methodologies and Practices” by John Dutton.” New American Urbanism: Re-forming the Suburban Metropolis. N.p.: 2001. Print.

12. Huxtable, Ada Louise: The Real Fake and the Fake Fake, in: The Unreal America: Architecture and Illusion, New York, 1997.

13. Herman, Daniel. “Jerde Transfer.” Harvard Design School Guide to Shopping. Ed. Rem Koolhaas.: Taschen, 2001.

Print.

14. Gibbs, Robert J. Principles of Urban Retail Planning and Development. N.p.: Wiley, 2012. Online.