Parklabrea Housing Project at Los Angeles

bcfore the war and since completed, are now <lccupie<l by (/r fanrilies.

1'hc original portiorr of the housing project, built before thc rvar, contains 1,316 apartmcnt units. Thus, thc complctcrl dcvelopnrent, located on a 176-acre tract near the farnous Wilshire lloulevard "Miracle Mile" district, will lrrovi<le a total of 4,253 dwelling units capable of housing ovcr 13,000 t)ersons, 'fhere are several novel features allout the design and building methods used in the I'arklalrrea project. The design is noterv<lrthy because, in an area rvhere rnost lluildings arc built in sllrarvling horizontal m:rsses, thcse btrildings go up to a height of 13 stories, renriniscent of torvering Ncrv York aparttnent houses. This rvas done rnainly because land values in l,os Angeles have soared t<l a point u'hcre it has beconre impractical to purchase enough far'orirlrly located lan<l to :rccomnto<l:rtc thc same numlrer of al):rrtnrcnt units in lrorizontal tyl)e structures. Too, by lltril<ling vertically, a maximunl am()unt of space is given to llarks and wide streets, rvith anrple space betrveen lluildings.

The architectural firm for the huge rental development, Alrn<lst three nrillion s(luare feet of l)ouglas fir plyrvoorl Lc<lnard Schultze and Associates of Nerv York, representis lleing usecl for concrete form u'ork in the giant lrarkl:r- c<l in Los Angeles by the firrn (iordtln ll. Kaufman and brea housing project of the Metrolxrlitan Life Insnrancc J. I')' Stanton, I-os Angeles, develol>ed an ttnusttal design Courpany in Los Angeles, describecl as the biggest archi- rvhich eliminatcs a fault of nrany large apartment htluses, tcctural concrete job in the United States. rvherein some rvindorvs look ()ut on unsightly airshafts or rnrcc quarrers ot il mr'on square teet of plastic.r,crlai<l inside c'urts' An X-shalled plan *'as their s,ltlti'n' rvith D.uglas fir ply*,o'd are being usecl t. f'rm mirr'r-smooth thc itltersecti,n .f the lines el,ngated t. f,rtrr a rectangular cxterior u'alls anrl interior ceilings; in a<ldition, 2,000,000 brrilding c.re' -fhis 1>lan asstlres all apartments ample squarc feet A-A Iixterior type fir plyrvoocl are being uscd light' space a'd a 'ie*' r'arying fr.m fair t, excellent' in ro rorm lnterlor warls. roun(riltlons. star.r'elrs. etc.. orr thc llrttP.rti'n t' the allartment height' huge rental development.

IJecause of the great number of re-uses obtained from each set of plyu'ood frlrms, one set is used for an er-rtirc building, thus saving time on the job by elinrinating the necessity for form reconstruction during thc pouring of one of the l3-story structures.

According to the architectural representatives of Leonard Schultze and Associates in Los Angeles, cooperating orr the Parklabrea development, Douglas fir plylr,'ood was specified for all form work because the sr.r.rooth, rigicl panels create a "more monolithic looking job, u,ith far feu'cr joints to rub and grind". Commer-rting on panel perforntance on the job, the architect said, "They are light arrd easy to use; large size means big areas are covered rapidly and because there are fewer pieces to handle, rvork is speeded."

Completion of the u'ork on the $40,000,000 project, schecluled for late 1950, will provide 2,754 new dwelling units in eighteen l3-story apartment buildings and, ll7 units in three city blocks of 2-story apartment houses. In addition, seven 2-story, block long concrete garages rvill provide parking facilities for tenants of the huge housing project. Several Z-story apartment structures, which were started

(Continued on I'age 32)