Unearthing Ecologies

unearthing ecologies Kevin Perez

LA 403

Spring 2015

CHP 1 Digging for a Change

1,2

Synergistic Planning

3,4

Where the Wildlands are...

5,6

We are Nature

7,8

CHP 2 Entropic Forces at Work

9,10

Amalgamating Futures [West Hollywood]

11,12

Targeting the identites of Santa Monica Blvd.

13,14

Cascading Ecologies in West Hollywood

15,16

CHP 3 [Hop]ing for the Best

17,18

CHP 4 Bee Famous

19,20

table of contents

Digging for a Change In James Corner’s: The Agency of Mapping we can make the connection that West Hollywood was designed heteromormatively.

Heterosexual capital makes it appear that only gay, rich, white males are contributing to the city when in fact they represent just as many cultures and heterosexual people in the city. West Hollywood was planned around entertainment such as music, movies, and performances. The city is designed after the car but it is very walkable at the same time. What is West Hollywood was not planned by using methods of traditional urban planning? Instead what if the city was mapped instead of planned.

The agency of mapping states that we must no longer use traces to dictate design methods but use the latent potential of the site and area to construct space that holds true to the unseen conditions of a site. The use of a field to create a set of rules must hold true to West Hollywood.

By using demographics as a key factor to making decisions we can extract and extrapolate what types of behaviors and attitudes West Hollywood Produces in conjunction

with historical events that are relevant to the field. Speculative procedures must shape and later formulate the plan of the urban design by digging/excavating/ exposing site conditions we can have a better urban design that speaks to the current attitudes of West Hollywood. The city of west Hollywood can be looked at as a type of game board with multiple futures with the multitude of programs it has it is destined to become a more performative city.

traditional methodologly of mapping closed system

trace

space

place

future methodologly of mapping dig

excavate

open system

expose

2

-james corner mapping

Synergistic Planning The Standardization, monofunctionality, and permanence of infrastructure has been shaped by civil engineers. Over the years we have seen the separation of ecologies, land use, and cultures.

Freeways can separate the rich from the poor or even blocks of a city.

More over how is infrastructure performing to sustain life for other life forms? The point being that the way we are constructing is not necessarily the best way for future generations and ecologies. For the case of West Hollywood we can see a very clear delineation of space.

Everything has a very specific use.

Food, retail, and hotels line Santa Monica Blvd. Parks are sparse and hidden within the fabric of the dense city. The Santa Monica Blvd. master plan continues to abide by the Euclidean way of planning and refuses to morph into a flexible and synergistic system of planning.

There are still single land uses, there are still mono-functional infrastructure, and the collective

idea of the West Hollywood image seems to be for important than resources or current issues the state may be facing. Money rules the vote. West Hollywood could become a more interconnected and functioning system that begins to cater to not only residents and tourists but also lifeforms such as animals and plants that serve a purpose in that system. Harnessing the energy from natural sources and merging them with other uses will render a city that can become sustainable to a certain extent. The best interest of the city is to move to synergistic ways of planning. traditional planning model -Land use is divided for singular use

residential

commercial

institutional

industrial

residential

open space

E D U C A T I O N

HOUSING

residential

commercial

4

institutional

BUSINESS

open space

HOUSING

exchanges

PRODUCTION

industrial

residential

R E C R E A T I O N

synergistic planning model -Multiple land uses begin to converge

Where the Wildlands are...

Our climate, cities, people, ideologies, and ecologies are evolving at an exponential growth. The society’s perception of being sustainable is skewed and misunderstood. Most people choose a lifestyle of belongings instead of belonging. The urban dweller is a natural contributor to living sustainably in the city and the urban fabric of the city functions as the building blocks to a hyperdense future style of living. As the human population skyrockets towards 10 billion by the year 2100 how much more resources can we salvage, how will we live, and what types of attitudes will be emerge.

Vishaan Chakrabarti analyzes the American consumption rate and states that Americans will need roughly 550% more land on planet earth to keep resources stable.

We cannot increase the amount of land on earth so we must map our future endeavors in the present by becoming hyper-urban dwellers.

The city has the image of being a place that is dangerous, cold, and a concrete jungle. This is a misunderstanding that should be addressed in order to inform and educate future generations. The city is a mega-living system that is able

to run multiple systems whether it be economic, social, cultural, transportation, or ecological. Before cities where born there was nature.

Building on top of it never changed that. We still have the natural systems that were in play before either controlled or beneath the Earth. In the case for Los Angeles it is the LA River. Nature is more of a process than an aesthetic.

-Hurricane Katrina aftermath

6

more

Humans

less

human life

animal life

plant life

less

natural phenomena

NATURE

HUMANS

infrastructure

more

bio-phenomenological controls

alexkreiger where does urban design happen

We are Nature Where does nature happen? Where does urbanism happen? These two phenomena are seen as separate entities working apart from each other. If you want to experience nature in California people tend to get in their cars and plan a trip to the mountains, the beach, or the desert. If you want to experience entertainment you go to the city.

The perplexity of this dichotomy is highly misunderstood. Alex Krieger argues that Urban design is less a technical discipline than a mindset among those of varying disciplinary foundations, seeking, sharing, and advocating insights about forms of community. What binds urban designers is their commitment to improving the livability of cities, to facilitating urban reinvestment and maintenance, and indeed to enhancing urbanity. As a child I lived in the suburbs of East LA and I experienced nature and urban living in the same place. I never separated the two. Reyner Banham compartmentalizes the immediate ecologies in California by stating that the automobile, foothills, beaches, and plains are our main centers for urbanistic + ecological phenomena.

Perception and observation reveals that nature is integrated within the

reyner banham 4 ecologies

very fabric of urbanity. To answer the question nature happens in all circumstances. Planning and engineering is long neglected the phenomena of ecological process and its integration into the city RURAL fabric. Natural systems may be built over by commercial buildings and housing but the systems do not cease to function. As urban designers the architecture of the SUBURBS city must begin to develop methods and mechanisms for making these systems work in tandem with CITY infrastructure. As ants make hills and beavers build dams, bees make hives, and people build cities. We are nature. nature as a compartmentalized system

NATURE

“As a child I remember my grandfather rocking me to sleep. As I lookup from my grandfather’s arms I saw the loquat tree. The church bells would ring and I would become sleepy until a barking dog or a passing car would wake me and remind me that I wanted to get the fruit. As I rush up to the tree and saw the birds fly out of the dark green leaves, I picked up a fruit and ate it as I watched the cars pass by through the chain link fence.�

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NATURE RURAL SUBURBS CITY

nature depicted as a porous system through external forces

Entropic Forces at Work The City of West Hollywood is nestled under Laurel Canyon to the north, and juxtapositioned next to the high class community of Beverly Hills to the West. If we turn our back SE of the foothills of Laurel Canyon we have the Los Angeles skyline hiding behind the infamous smog of the city.

The hidden phenomenological systems at work in the city play a major role in how the city is formed. The form of Santa Monica Blvd. mimics the movement of the foothills and in turn follows the direction of the Hollywood fault to create a grand street that is flooded by cars, busses, bikes, and pedestrians. West Hollywood sits on the Hollywood basin where groundwater levels have depleted due to lack precipitation of water in streams and lakes and subsurface flows. The groundwater table is however very shallow along Santa Monica Blvd. which can impose infrastructure from being built. The shallow water table can also pose as an opportunity for future eco-reservoirs

and artificial aquifer systems. The historic landscape of West Hollywood still lies underneath the concrete jungle of the city and still exists as a functional system even though it has been built over. The wild historic landscape of West Hollywood once housed an ecology which was directly related to the adjacent terrain which is Laurel Canyon. The native oaks pines, and manzanitas moved animal species up and down the canyon through canopies like an ecological freeway. This concrete jungle is still able to house variable forms of ecologies through roofs, streets, lights, alleys, edifices, and open space. Reynar Banham would argue that Santa Monica Blvd. is a type of autopian ecology with views of billboards, advertisements, lights, people, bars, rock venues, and the sunsets that keeps people coming back. There are multiplied grounds that allow for different experiences and points of views from the car or on foot.

10

West Hollywood is an entropic force of nature with a rhizomatic structure that has the capability of shifting perceptions in a way that is unnatural to the straight individual. The sexual terrain in West Hollywood is targeted towards the LBGT community towards the west side known as Boys Town. The views and standards are elevated as a resident of WeHo you need to be fit and fashionable. Gyms are important and so is what you’re wearing. With a 40% LGBT community it is not uncommon for same sex couples to be hand in hand. The liveliness of Santa Monica Blvd. is in the LGBT oriented cafes, bars, clubs, and restaurants. WeHo is a destination not only for the gay but also for the music fanatic. With clubs like the Whiskey a

go go, The Roxy, and The troubadour WeHo brings in large amounts of local tourism. This opportunistic phenomena allows for two cultures to merge and coexist alongside each other. Future endeavors such as West Hollywood Park and the future promenade on Robertson Blvd. will not only strengthen and increase the volume of cultures and people but also create economic revenue to further develop the latent potential WeHo has to offer. The urban patterns of the found in Boys Town were borrowed from the Eastside of WeHo were predominately Russian immigrants resided. The success and walkability can be linked back to the urban form of walkable Russian cities where amenities are close in proximity.

Amalgamating Futures [West Hollywood] The cities of Hollywood, West Hollywood, and Beverly Hills have been converged for public safety and re-zoning in the megalopolis of Los Angeles. The population of Los Angeles has increased by nearly 30%. Problems such as housing, transportation, and environmental concerns will be addressed in the new zoning codes of Sherwood Hills [Hollywood + West Hollywood + Beverly Hills]. The new economic benefactors of converging these economic engines is to exponentially increase tax revenue to carry out housing and transportation alternatives for the overpopulated areas of Los Angeles.

The boom of the electric and solar vehicle has lowered carbon emissions in the city of Los Angeles however the vehicular traffic remains a daily struggle. The high speed rail from Los Angeles to San Francisco has encouraged the public to walk, bike, and use other means of public transit. With less traffic on the streets, Sherman Hills will create the first bicycle super highway by linking crucial districts together. Major streets such as Sunset Blvd, Santa Monica Blvd, Melrose Ave and Wilshire Blvd will be the first to be transformed streets to implement the bicycle super highway plan. By reducing the width of streets we can create a multifunctional highway system that transports pedestrians by solar powered streetscapes, aerial skyways for cyclists and electric cyclists, and 2 lanes for vehicular traffic. As a direct result of population growth the emergence of mixed use towers is becoming a city standard.

The creation of a hyperdense city is not only beneficial to the human race but also the most environmentally sound decision for the city. The city of Sherwood Hills will implement its first modular mixed use building that changes with the needs of its residents. Integrated affordable housing with opportunities to expand within the building will allow people of varying demographics and situations to dwell and work in.

The modular mixed use building will not only create housing for people but also provide a plethora of jobs for residents

within the building itself. Amenities will include participatory agricultural vertical farming with plants and animals. The mix of residential, commercial, open space, institutional, and industrial zoning within the building will eliminate the need to use a vehicle to be able to reach a workspace. In turn creating less vehicular traffic and increased tax revinue. The implementation of sustainable practices will be incorporated through the city’s infrastructure, open space, transportation modes, and construction materials. The severity of the California drought is extreme. As we prepare to begin to receive water from the Columbia River in Washington state we must secure our hydrofutures by creating massive artificial aquifer systems within Los Angeles County for future generations to use. For every impermeable surface constructed there must be 35% permeable space for groundwater recharge or use of underground aquifer system to reach an equivalent of 35% per square foot constructed. Porous and aquifer space may be mixed to reach 35% minimum requirement.

Hollywood West Hollywood

Beverly Hills

12

Targeting the identites of Santa Monica Blvd.

The Santa Monica Blvd master plan has 10 main objective that must be achieved for reinforcing the identity of the city. The LGBT community is highly prominent on the West portion of the city while the East side consists of mostly residents. The resident of West Hollywood are eager for more open space.

Plummer Park is the biggest and most utilized park at the moment which is also highly walkable. The Santa Monica Blvd master plan is looking to improve the volume of pedestrians by creating aesthetically beautiful spaces that reflect West Hollywood’s identity, increasing the streetscape to improve pedestrian safety, Program and design the boulevard to accommodate for cultural, recreational, and community activities, opportunity for public art, connecting the boulevard to major parks and public space. The most important objective that must be prioritized is the connection to the boulevard and the parks along with open spaces. The Pacific Design Center stand as the landmark of West Hollywood and should be utilized to make a direct connection the future of West Hollywood Park and into Robertson Ave. Once connections have been made the second most important objective remains programming spaces for public events and activities. West Hollywood Park is momentarily occupied by a small fenced children’s park on the West side. The current demographic for children in West Hollywood is currently 4% meaning that a play structure in that area would be better suited towards the East side where resident reside. The future west side of the park can be transformed to a highly programmable space that in tandem with Robertson avenues future promenade project can become a highly utilized public plaza for music events, art exhibits, food truck festivals, holiday events, meetings, leisure, passive sports, and other festivities. The third most important aspect to increasing the volume of pedestrians using the city as a form of transportation and economic opportunity is making their experience memorable by

capitalizing on human scale. West Hollywood’s architectural identity is mostly in human scale. The Pacific design center is an exception which fits the character of the city due to its color and architectural style along with building program. The objectives of the Santa Monica Blvd. master plan can serve as a starter kit to begin to transform the city to a more pedestrian oriented experience. The goals of the city are highly focused on the aesthetic and cultural elements instead of the functional, environmental, and sustainable practices. The planting of 1200 new trees on Santa Monica Blvd. is a good thing however the reason for planting them is aesthetic. The ecological opportunities trees can bring into a city are beneficial in tandem with certain programs related to activating urban agriculture and reinforcing ecological systems to thrive. The future implementation of water fountains in the master plan is unnecessary and contradictory to current conditions in California. The drought in California should be dictating the direction of urban planning in West Hollywood and every city for that matter. The use of high/average water thirsty plants that are going to be used in the master plan such as Bradford pear, Jacaranda, and Queen palm are also contradictory to California’s current conditions.

The identity of West Hollywood is well established and famous throughout the state. Alex Krieger and his principles for urban design argue that the focus needs to be shifted towards helping the city become a sustainable pedestrian city. By letting the city partake in the vision of Santa Monica Blvd. and creating stewardship opportunities that activate developing mechanisms for making moments happen in the urban fabric of West Hollywood.

14

-Future West Hollywood Park

Cascading Ecologies in West Hollywood The urban design of the parcel between Robertson Blvd. and La Peer Drive is currently in a state of inactivation. The current conditions are geared towards commercial business and industrial uses. By creating a multi-level structure that is able to house tourists in a high end retail atmosphere West Hollywood will increase the volume of visitors in the city per year. With architectural programing such as shopping, dining, night entertainment, music, spa, beauty, exercise, and office space will become an iconic hotel and retail space for the community of West Hollywood. The multi-terraced levels allow for open air-space activity that is able to contribute economically and physically while involving the public.

As Robert Sullivan argues the city is able to house ecologic opportunity regardless of any other process that is existing.

By taking the frame of Sullivan’s beliefs, the air-space found on higher levels of the building will be mixed use landscapes that support and incorporate principles of stewardship, leisure, and generating capital. By coupling programs directly from the architecture we are able to merge business with ecology. The use of vines as planes that support ecologic systems that help animal species thrive and connect to West Hollywood Park is a priority. The use of Humulus Lupulus can render an array of benefits in the city of West Hollywood.

The bar scene is a major reason why people travel to the city.

The amount of bars and cafes on Santa Monica Blvd is what brings in local tourism. By having bars and brewery produce their own hops on rooftops we are able to make agricultural industries while supporting ecological systems as a natural antibiotic for animals. As drought becomes more extreme the capture of rainwater becomes more important. The west side of Hollywood park will house massive underground aquifer system that stores rain water for future use. The rooftops of the building will direct water across Robertson Blvd and filter it, and store it. Above grade the implementation of programmable

space willbe at play by designing a public plaza that is able to house a multitude of events ranging from food truck festivals, music festivals, outdoor shopping, passive sports, leisure, and meetings. The purpose of a plaza is to connect the pubic to the new West Hollywood Park and Pacific design center. The connection will also lead to the heart of the new development which is an open top courtyard with surrounding business and ecological infrastructure. Within the development the use of cascading terraces will be used as open human, animal, and plant space. The implementation of native plants merged with infrastructure that can house native animal species will invite an already existing system to thrive within given parameters. The streetscape is an essential vehicle that pushes people through a stretch and encourages to stop, observe, participate, and think. As linear infrastructure that spans for miles it should provide opportunity for sustainable systems that clean water, energize with photovoltaic systems, and use viable alternatives in material that are low carbon emission. The identity of West Hollywood is so strong that it isn’t about reinforcing the city image it is well known that West Hollywood is a place for entertainment, shopping, and a place for the LGBT community. The focus needs to start being environmental for future generations. The future of West Hollywood needs to benefit people animals and plants through mixed use planning, eco-habitat and practices to create a sustainable vision for its residents and local tourists.

ECOLOGICAL OPPORTUNITITES

16

CASCADING ECOLOGY

BRIDGING

BRIDGING

WEBBING ECOLOGY

[Hop]ing for the Best The main landscape architectural goal of the project is to link ecology while making profit. Considering the type of commercial businesses that would be at play, predominately bars, the best choice of plant material to utilize to achieve the goal was Humulus lupulus, also known as the hop. In hopes to use the hops in a participatory farming event for the resident of West Hollywood we can engage and educate, and involve the community in hop farming. When harvesting season begins the hops will be able to be used by the local breweries. The hop has many uses especially ecologically. By implementing hop vines it is possible to funnel ecology in and out of the project site via webbing structures. The hop vine acts as an ecological highway for animals such as insects, avians, and small mammals. Hops are also a natural antibiotic in the plant kingdom which can help increase the lifespan

of specific insects and other animals. The beer business is becoming more and more prominent in our society with beer enthusiasts being born every day WeHo can become a leader in urban hop farming. The current percent of urban farming in WeHo is 0%. Supposing we solve the drought issue in the next 30 years urban rooftop farming should be implemented throughout the zoning code for the Los Angeles County. This optimistic idea of becoming an urban farming community tied with ecological principles while reinforcing the image of West Hollywood and its culture can render a very economically successful opportunity for the city and future development for it. The basic urban design principles such as widened streetscapes and sustainable infrastructure can assumes to be implemented as West Hollywood has reached most of its master plan goals.

RETAIL+HOTEL GRAND OPENING

HOP SELECTION PROCESS

HOP FARMING BEGINS HARVEST

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

HOP SELECTION

18 BREWERY

FARMING

RESTAURANT

HARVESTING

HABITAT

FUN

MAMMALS PLANTS

JOBS

TASTING

AVIANS INSECTS

BREWERY

SOCIAL

FARMING

FARM

MONEY

RESTAURANT

BEER INDUSTRY CULTURE

SCIENCE

TEXTILES

2028

2026

2025

FACTORY INTEGRATION

URBAN AGRICULURAL RE - ZONING OF WEHO

2027

ECOLOGIC FUNNELING INTO HOP LAB AND TEXTILE WEHO PARK

URBAN AGRICULURAL EXPANSION ON MELROSE AVE

Bee Famous Santa Monica Blvd. will be an ecological power house. The human race has turned to the force of nature in order to restore and replenish what once was. Hauling in nature by force seems to be the only answer. As celebrity Bee walks the big green carpet an army of ants race to fix our soils. Aerial insect freeways are flowing at full force. Birds are unknowingly transporting seeds to their next destination. Finally, the paparazzi begins to publicize the realities of the ecologic world and all of a sudden it becomes important, and people are interested. The birds are tweeting about it and so are the people. The air has never been so clean. The sky has never been so clear. The smell has never been sweeter.

Why didn’t we think of this earlier? We all want to be famous and so do the bees.

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