The urban fabric of Los Angeles has long been dictated by the reign of the automobile; extra wide roads, six lane highways, and an abundance of parking lots are the physical manifestations of the city’s biased growth. In Downtown Los Angeles, the square footage allotted for parked cars triples that allotted for public use. The overpowering presence of the automobile has left Los Angeles a city for cars rather than a city for people. Park 24 is a conversion of a frequently used but under utilized urban space (parking lot) into a multifunctional space. The design of Park 24 is driven by the idea of coexistence: multi-purpose, multi-cultural, and multi-generational.

In Los Angeles, public space and public parks in particular have a negative stigma. Associated with homelessness, low income, and crime, rather than bringing vibrancy to the community, these spaces segregate the community based on social, economic, or racial boundaries. How can public space be designed to accommodate the wide diversity of people in the community? Cultural and religious festivals (Chinese New Years Festival, Rose Bowl Parade, etc) and public spaces in high-density cities (such as Central Park in New York or Victoria Park in Hong Kong) successfully engage different people groups. Which principles of coexistence can be extracted and applied from these examples?

Park 24 renews the car park into a space that exists for the both the automobile and the person. The five major spaces of Park 24 are designed for parking, entertainment, circulation, dining, and resting. Replacing the current surface level parking, the new parking garage will depress the garage space underground to free space on the ground level. The entertainment space will have open space for general seating, a children’s play area, a space for art exhibitions, and a space for informal performances. The circulation space is designated for use by bikers, joggers, and walkers. The dining space consists of a café/restaurant that serves the residents, the office workers, and visitors. The resting space is comprised of pods that can be used day or night.

RE-DO

In downtown Los Angeles the square footage allotted for parked cars nearly triples that allotted for public use. Space 24 is a redesign of an existing parking lot into a public space that functions 24 hours a day. The conversion of a massive parking lot into a multifunctional space that retains its function of parking and adds site-specific programming will renew the dull landscape of urban vehicles.

Los Angeles is a city of contradictions. Though the second most populous city in the United States, the urban sprawl places it eighth in density, though the city boasts more than 140 ethnicities, many ethnic communities function entirely amongst themselves, and though the economic demographics of Los Angeles have an enormous range, rarely are spaces designed with both the very rich and the very poor in mind. The design of Space 24 is driven by the idea of co-existence: the car and pedestrian, the black and the white, and the rich with the poor.

The design consists of five programs: parking space, outdoor space, circulation space, eating space, and resting space. Instead of a surface level parking lot, the parking structure (either underground or on an elevated surface) will be a more efficient use of space. The outdoor space will be used for general outdoor seating, informal performance spaces, and informal art exhibits. The circulation zone consists of a track that will be available for runners, bikers, and walkers to exercise. The cafe will serve the residents of the neighborhood, the office workers during their lunch hours and breaks, and tourists who come to see the sites during the day and during the night will become a bar. The resting space addresses the homeless in L.A. Instead of instead of ignoring the “problem”, public pods can serve as temporary spaces for the homeless.

Space 24

Space 24 is an outdoor public space which is open to the public 24 hours a day in downtown Los Angeles. Currently, the area of parking spaces clearly doubles and possibly triples the area of public space. This space is planned for the incredibly diverse population of Los Angeles: from children to the elderly, the business man to the homeless man, the Asians to the African American. By converting a massive parking lot into a multifunctional space that can still acommodate parking, space 24 seeks to bring a range of people to this site.

The program:
1) Jogging path + Stretching Zone
2) Rest pods/shelters
3) Outdoor seating
4) Semi indoor/outdoor restaurant + bar
5) Informal performance/exhibit spaces
6) Parking lot



Some references/books:
Landscape within Architecture (306090 Architecture Journal 07)
Big Box reuse- By Julia Christensen
Magnetic Los Angeles- Greg Hise
The Provisional City: Los Angeles stories of Architecture + Urbanism - Dana Cuff

http://www.edaw.com/intern08/
http://www.publicspacela.com/

second pass

The lonely park bench:



Often times, in the attempt to discourage the homeless from using park benches as a temporary home, these benches have become cold and lonely objects within a landscape.
Dynamic. Responsive. Relevant. In every design review or crit, words like this are constantly thrown out. As students of architecture, we seek to create spaces which can engage with the users. Can individual objects in a public space evoke this type of environment?

Case study: Sean Goodsell

These benches designed by architect Sean Goodsell can be adapted to be temporary shelters for the homeless. His projects such as the bus shelter house and the park shelter house not only provide a practical place for the homelss, but provide insight and social commentary to the way in which we use our public space.

Some other inspiring images:



Instead of individual objects placed on sidewalks, and parks, can public furniture be integrated create a more applicable and relevant environment for the public??

Possible design projects... very rough brainstorming?
1) Every Sunday in Hong Kong, the density of people along walkways and streets grows exponentially. For domestic helpers in Hong Kong, Sundays are rest days and subsequently, public spaces become places to picnic, socialize, and gather. Can a system of adaptable or transportable furniture be created to service these areas? Would traditional furniture (such as benches and tables) really be the correct solution for these places?

2) "Grown up playground"?

Some questions I'm thinking about:
1) What SCALE and SIZE is necessary for a public intervention?
2) Can furniture in a landscape be architectural??
3) Do the objects placed in a space really affect the way people interact/respond??

Initial Thoughts?

Hoping that something will eventually inspire me.

Some preliminary thoughts??
1) Furniture in the public realm.
How do the objects we use in the public sphere differ from those of our personal living spaces?
2) Architecture for home health and assisted living
With the developments in modern technology and medicine, the life span of the average human has been increasing. How can architecture respond to the needs of the future older generation, especially those who are in need of home health care or assisted living? Are institutional nursing homes the correct solution?
3) shipping ports, containers, and docks
Large docks are many times unoccupied or unused. Can a solution be implemented to make the docks into a multifunctional space?