Re-imagining new forms of Los Angeles "Shelter", opening today at the A+D Museum

Like several major cities in the U.S., Los Angeles faces increasing density, skyrocketing rent prices, and decreasing amounts of buildable land — among other problems. Opening at the A+D Museum tonight in downtown L.A., the "Shelter: Rethinking How We Live in Los Angeles" exhibition explores new possibilities of housing design in the Southland with engaging projects by a notable roster of architects.

Read on for more details.

Co-curated by Sam Lubell and Danielle Rago, the exhibition features both speculative as well as recently constructed and in-progress housing proposals that address the city's evolving cultural and physical landscape.

Be on the lookout for works by firms like Bureau Spectacular, Bestor Architecture, Michael Maltzan Architecture, PAR, OMA, MAD Architects, LA Más, and more.

Get a glimpse of the projects that will be on display at the A+D starting August 20 until November 6, 2015.

Five Normal Houses: The L.A. River Story
by Bureau Spectacular

"Along  the  L.A.  River,  there  is  a  language  within  the  typologies  of  domestic  architecture.  This  raises  an  important  question:  Just  what  makes  a  house  normal  in  L.A.?  If  the  word  shelter  suggests  a  lack  of  extravagance,  what  are  some of the qualities of 'normal' architectural languages in Southern California,  and how are they constituted? Is it possible to study the techniques of normal,  and produce  almost normal architecture?

Bureau  Spectacular  embarked  on  field  research  along  the  river.  When  they  returned,  they  noted  five  conditions  to  pursue.  The  wet  and  dry  pool  cultures,  the fascination with vegetation on facades, the car culture and the dingbat, the  physical  de-compartmentalization  of  a  domestic  unit,  and  the  asymmetrical  mash-up  of  Spanish  Styles  or  Queen  Anne  Revivals.  The  firm  proposes  five  applications of normal vocabularies of domestic architecture, spoken with some  sense of hyperbole."

Backyard Basics: An Alternative Story of the Granny Flat
by LA-Más

"In  Elysian  Valley,  also  known  as  Frogtown,  the  rising  tide  of  developer-led  speculation and neighborhood-wide fear brings into question the nature of new development, and how future  projects  can  and   should   support  housing,  affordability,  and  mixed-use. LA-Más proposes  a  resident-led  and  resident-owned  model  for  low-rise  high-density  housing.  By  critically  engaging  lot  lines  and speculative buildable space level this strategy reconsiders the granny flat  as  a  collective  development  area  capable  of  supporting  studio  and  one-bedroom apartments  through cooperative development,  combined  entitlements,   and  consolidated services. 

The firm  has  structured  combinations  of  two and four collective lots to accommodate a variety of uses. E ach grouping has at least one shared parking  entrance,  with  direct  access  cores  leading  to  raised granny  flats.  The  firm  has  also  organized  each  block  end  with  shared  parking  hubs  and  shared  bike stations to coordinate  a  larger  community  transit  plan,  allowing  for increased density  without  taxing  the  already  at-capacity  infrastructure of the residential streets abutting the Los Angeles River."

WATERshed
by LORCAN O’HERLIHY ARCHITECTS [LOHA]

"Lorcan  O’Herlihy  Architects  investigates  the  relationship  between urbanization and water use to develop new  models  of  densification  that  tap  into  existing  ecological  and  infrastructural  patterns.  By  occupying  publicly  and  privately  owned land remnants and capitalizing on the redundan cies created by outdated  land  use  and  infrastructure networks,  a new model  for urban  regeneration can emerge .

In these traditionally overlooked residual spaces, LOHA has designed a system of interventions  at  multiple  scales,  combining  living,  public  space  and  water-based  infrastructure into a hybrid  patchwork  that  will  capture,  recycle, purify, loop, and reconnect ground and storm water back to the water table and the Los  Angeles River. The network of interventions makes the best use of limited space and finite ecological resources, developing an urban culture that sets in motion critical transformations."

Cloud Corridor
MAD

"With  new  facilities  being planned for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art  (LACMA), the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, the Petersen Museum, and  the  Purple  Line  Metro, L.A.’s  Museum  Row — one of  the city’s  cultural  epicenters  — needs to activate its community after museum hours. MAD places residential architecture at the 'front door' of the area’s institutions.

Among L.A.’s  sprawling street grid and multiple  city centers,  Cloud Corridor offers a contemporary housing  typology — the vertical   village  — to   connect  the  disparate neighborhoods surrounding Museum Row by redistributing density and creating a sense of community.  Cloud Corrid or transforms everyday urban  experiences into opportunities for residents to interact with nature. An undulating podium provides public space and acts as the base for nine sinuous towers that  feature floating garden patios with connective landings and bridges."

6030 Wilshire
by PAR

"PAR  offers  a new  model  for  high - rise courtyard  housing,  integrated  with  mass  transit,  on  LACMA’s  proposed  tower  site  on  Wilshire  Boulevard  in  the  Miracle  Mile. The tower typology, an important element in the contemporary metropolis,  has  become  anonymous,  d efined  mainly  by  its  height.  Typical  residential  skyscrapers,  while  successfully  providing  density,  rarely  produce  unique  living  environments with access to green space, qualities that are emblematic of Los  Angeles living. PAR’s proposal acts against this  endemic monotony, creating a  930-foot-tall stack of individual houses, each with a direct connection to nature  through extended terraces, some containing common spaces and leisure zones."

UN \ FOLDING WILSHIRE
by wHY

"wHY’s  Ideas  Workshop  examines  the  inter section  of  physical,  social,  and  regulatory  space  to  alleviate  pressure  on  Los  Angeles’  housing  accessibility,  diversity,  and  affordability.  Raising  the  question:  How  do  we  manage  our  shrinking  resources,  increasing population, and ‘accepted’ cost of living?  Using public space along Wilshire Boulevard’s Metro Purple Line, this new landscape  inhabits  the  grey zone  between regulation and disorder, and challenges  our  expectations of  ownership, how projects are funded and how they are built.

Drawing  inspiration  from  the  shared  economy  and  our  changing  transportation  expectations  (including  automated  vehicles),  the  infrastructure  can  accommodate  a  new  mini-city  that sustains itself through community and shared resources. wHY demonstrates the  proposed infrastructure in a playful way, reflecting on the seemingly   endless roadways and hodgepodge  architectural  expressions  that define our  perceptions of Los Angeles."

Star Apartments, Downtown Los Angeles, 2014
by Michael Maltzan Architecture

"Located  in  Los Angeles'  Skid  Row  neighborhood,  Star  Apartments  transforms  an  existing  single-story commercial  building into a mixed-used  residential  complex with 102 apartments for formerly homeless individuals.  The six-story,  95,000 square foot  building  sets  a  new  model  for  housing,  urbanism,  and  density within the city. The  building  is  organized  around  three  spatial  zones  stacked  one  upon  the  other:  a commercial/retail  zone  at  street  level;  a  second  level  for  community  programs; and four terraced floors  of  residences above.  

The first floor encompasses a residents’  lobby  as  well  as  the  new  headquarters of the LA  County  Department  of  Health  Services  Housing for Health Division with a medical clinic for the Skid Row community. The second floor features numerous common  spaces  for  the  building's residents including open-air patios, a community kitchen, meeting room, art room, running/walking track, a pickle ball court and 2,000 square feet of edible gardens.

The LEED for Homes  Platinum project, completed  in  2014,  was constructed using prefabricated  modular  units  stacked on a new concrete superstructure. Individual  units  were  built off-site, delivered to the project site, and craned into place.

Overall, the design facilitates a recovery process for residents based on positive re-socialization and healthy interpersonal relations with a strong emphasis on wellness. With terraces for communal and rehabilitative activities, the design maximizes natural light and ventilation and encourages safe social activities.  Apartments  are  spacious  and  designed  to  promote independent,  healthy living. The project seeks to improve the quality of life for residents and inspire a sense of pride, independence, and dignity."

Blackbirds, Echo Park, 2015
by Bestor Architecture

"Blackbirds is a cluster of eighteen houses that are embedded in the hills of Echo Park,  Los Angeles.  The  multi-house  development is a progressive design solution  for  high-quality  dense  housing  in  a  city  with  little  available  land.  The  houses range from 1200 to 1900 squ are feet and are built around a living street;  a  central  courtyard  that  comprises  both  landscape  and  parking  areas,  and  serves as a stage for larger community functions and play.

The placement of the houses in the hills mimics the older wooden houses of the  area, and deploys a strategy of “stealth density”, combining several houses into  a  single  house - shaped  volume.  For  instance,  two  free - standing  houses  are  connected by flashing a nd the roofline creates the illusion of one house mass.  Three houses, whose separation is masked, creates the illusion of two houses.  This conceals the actual density of units by maintaining the neighborhood shape  and  landscape  context  across  the  site.  The community  is  a  blend  of  private,  semi - private,  and  public  space,  and  promotes  a  sense  of  neighborhood  by  encouraging interaction and exchange.

More event info here.