Woodbury student Stephanie Green wins AIA|LA Mobile Center for Architecture and Design competition

AIA Los Angeles recently announced Woodbury University student Stephanie Green as the winner of their Mobile Center for Architecture and Design competition, which was open to architecture school students across the region. As part of the AIA|LA's efforts for stronger community outreach in sprawling L.A., The Mobile Center will include exhibition, classroom, and meeting spaces for various educational and community activities.

Green's winning proposal, “The Capsule”, is a structure loaded onto an 18-wheel truck with a width as narrow as 9 feet. The AIA|LA will move forward to realize Green's scheme and, as it develops, will re-address the design if necessary. Read on for more about the proposal.

Exhibition, classroom, and meeting spaces of The Capsule are housed in three curvilinear horizontal capsules that telescope from street to sidewalk. During events, the smallest capsule becomes a pop-out balcony that connects the Mobile Center with visitors.

“Getting involved with the community not only brings connections together, but it also creates long lasting bonds,” Green said during her presentation of The Capsule. “With the open glass front, the Capsule expands into the surrounding area for both indoor and outdoor activities.” 

Green's concept “allows for the Mobile Center to be bigger than ‘just a container’ on the back of an 18-wheeler,” commented AIA|LA Past President Douglas Teiger, who oversaw the competition. “The ability to expand the display area in such a small space provides for larger exhibits and uses as the Mobile Center moves from location to location.”