Los Angeles | IDEAS

Created by of the founders of GOOD, the Goldhirsh Foundation supports innovators through grants whose ideas can shape and change the world. This year the Goldhirsh Foundation is tackling a new approach to grant making through the “My LA2050 challenge.” This application is specific to the Los Angeles region and the opportunities for its future, but open to voting by everyone. My LA2050 will support the areas of arts & cultural vitality, education, environmental quality, health, housing, income & employment, public safety and social connectedness.

As part of our ongoing collaboration with From Lot to Spot, we submitted an application that addresses the need for urban revitalization by the greening of community spaces: we have seven days left to collect votes for the project to receive funding (deadline: April 17, 2013)!

Our goal is to create a planning and implementation tool that will assist in the realization and installation of simple landscape based interventions. The manual will lay out details on how to identify and create green space networks in low-income communities and how to implement green spaces with the utmost respect to the environment. Given the opportunity we would provide communities, city officials, friends and neighbors a tool to create much needed green spaces throughout Los Angeles.

Can you imagine a Los Angeles with a large system of parks, gardens, micro-spaces, plazitas, parklets, pedestrian walkways that lead to and from work, play and living spaces? By taking simple ideologies of space, connectivity and landscape, Los Angeles can become a beacon for urban environments around the country. We want the community to be involved in the planning and construction of green spaces which are in their neighborhoods, to make a deeper connection to their environment. These are grassroots play spaces, nature spaces and contemplative spaces. With the implementation of these green spaces, Los Angeles will reap the benefits of planting trees and vegetation that sequester carbon emissions and improve air quality; designing permeable surfaces such as low/no-mow grasses and porous paving will capture and clean stormwater; creating beautiful, clean green spaces will spur economic investment; and providing areas where adults and youth can interact with the natural environment in their neighborhoods will create ample health and wellness opportunities by combating nature deficit disorder.

These will be green spaces that will support communities to thrive, not just survive.

Please vote for this project and help us make a significant impact in Los Angeles!

Thank you!

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Posted by Martina Dolejs
in Landscape Infrastructure, Social Impact
on 11 April, 2013

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The city of Los Angeles acts as a natural flood basin where the surface flows that come from the Santa Monica and San Gabriel mountain ranges travel across the city to reach the Pacific Ocean. This natural system experiences an occasional 100 year flood, where water reaches extreme levels. In 1938, the city experienced the… Read more »

This event was deemed Southern California’s deadliest flood of the 20th century and was the catalyst in channelizing the river systems within Los Angeles County.By 1938, the “wild west” character of Los Angeles was quickly disappearing due to the rapid pace of urbanization. The population in Los Angeles grew rapidly from 1900 to 1930; there were 102,500 residents in 1900, and by 1930, the census counted 1,238,048 residents. In historic photos from this time, supplied by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, large river beds make up the landscape, formed by the natural paths of the water. Up to this point, few concrete channels had been built and methods of erosion prevention such as gunite banks, pipe and wire, rock paving and rock mattresses were commonly used to tame the rivers.

During early March of 1938, five days of continuous rain fell on Los Angeles. Erosion controls that were in place could not hold the high level of water coming from the mountains. In downtown Los Angeles, Broadway Avenue became a small lake and truck beds were strapped on top of motorboats to carry workers in and out of the area. The Academy Awards were postponed for a week due to excessive flooding. It was unlike anything the city had experienced before.

In the two decades following the 1938 flood, the concrete channelization of the rivers was a major infrastructure project that altered the ecology and identity of the waterway systems. The transformation, documented by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, depicts the phasing of the waterways becoming a single use infrastructure system, which was designed for the sole purpose of discharging stormwater as quickly and safely as possible.

These images show a vast infrastructural and natural water system heavily ingrained within the urban environment. The majority of the time, the channel sits idle, absent of vegetation and a barrier for neighborhoods. Preventive flood measures are necessary yet can there be a more sustainable solution?

In analyzing the potential for multifunctional infrastructures, understanding the natural systems like the flood cycles of the Los Angeles watershed, is an important first step to finding real solutions.

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Posted by YingYuHung
in Landscape Infrastructure
on 30 July, 2012

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Urban heat island effect is measured as the temperature difference between the air within the urban canopy layer and that measured in rural areas. Built urban environments can suppress air movements, obstructing cool flows and exacerbating pollution. However, as Alexander Robinson argues in his research for SWA, “high density cities may be our best sustainable… Read more »

FORMATTED Freeway Potential Heat Island Mitigation_001

Borne of the urban condition, urban heat island effect has even more complex impacts, from precipitating the formation of smog (as temperature rises) to creating scenarios that encourage huge consumptions of energy (e.g. air conditioners during a heat island-induced heat wave). This phenomenon is mainly caused by the absorption of solar radiation by urban surfaces, and subsequent trapping of the heat-energy by the geometries of built environments. Mitigating these impacts is just as complex.

Los Angeles is currently posed for worsening heat island effects. Projected temperature rises from global warming will make Los Angeles hotter regardless of heat island effect. With a growing population, the increased development and mineralization of the urban environment seems inevitable. Surface modification, in the form of rooftop greening, has the potential to mitigate heat islands in Los Angeles. The temperature was moderated at one point in history with surface modification: the agricultural irrigation of orchards drastically dropped summer temperatures. The most water-efficient method of surface modification are trees, which produce deep shade and comfortable microclimates.

Facilitated air movement and surface modification are used as urban heat mitigation techniques. The city of Stuttgart in Germany provides an excellent precedent in designing for air movement to mitigate urban heat island effect. The city’s Urban Climatology department has identified areas critical for nocturnal air flows, called “STEP” zones. Cold-air generators (e.g. agricultural fields, forests, oceans) and flow corridors are identified and protected from development, so cool air can flow into the otherwise poorly ventilated city at night. Corridors must be at least 100m wide and kept free of obstructions (including trees).

Many reports provided in Alexander Robinson’s research for SWA recommend wider streets and stepped back buildings to improve air circulation. Depending on urban geometry, freeways have the potential to act as corridors for cool-air movement. Perhaps freeways can be enlisted in moving cool air from the Pacific Ocean through the urban neighborhoods of Los Angeles?

Alexander Robinson was a designer at SWA from 2007-2009. He is currently an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Masters of Landscape Architecture Program at the University of Southern California.

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Posted by YingYuHung
in Landscape Infrastructure
on 27 March, 2012

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The 48,876 miles of national highways consume 1% of the land in the U.S., which is about the size of South Carolina. This network conceived our sprawling land use habits, extended our commutes and expanded our waistlines. In Los Angeles, the nation’s capital of traffic jams, the average person loses 93 hours yearly sitting in… Read more »

Posted by GerdoAquino and Ying-YuHung
in Landscape Infrastructure
on 19 March, 2012

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This year’s annual CELA (Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture) conference was held in Los Angeles. CELA’s conferences focus on recent research and scholarship in all aspects of landscape architecture. Members of the academic community, as well as others, submit abstracts for peer review which, when accepted, are presented at the annual conferences. Ying Yu… Read more »

Abstract:

The American Society of Civil Engineers estimates the US needs an investment of $2.2 trillion over the next five years in order to bring the nation’s infrastructure to a satisfactory condition. These neglected structures need more than repairs; many require massive overhauls or completely new construction. The physical infrastructural system as we know it today— a system that is mono-functional, centralized, conceived in isolation and independent of the overall urban vision, has caused detriment to the city’s developing urban fabric, creating physical barriers to the communities nearby.

The aim of this paper is to reposition these antiquated and ill-conceived infrastructures within a new paradigm that is directly linked to their ability to provide multi-functional purposes. Three case studies will illustrate the imperatives of a more flexible and adaptable infrastructural system as the key towards a more sustainable future. The first example is the Buffalo Bayou in Houston, Texas—a once neglected urban blight transformed into an ecologically diverse riparian corridor by SWA landscape architects. The project maintains its original function of sustaining heavy periodic flooding, while providing access for a variety of water-based recreation. In a related initiative, the Greenway Plan for New York City published in 1993 envisioned 350 miles of bikeways through the City that would create a continuous ribbon of “parks” as well as a healthful transportation alternative. Today, the City’s ongoing efforts in reconfiguring existing roads into separate dedicated bike and car lanes, has increased bike ridership and has transformed New York City into an inspiring model for urban living. Yet another case study explores the potentiality of a contingent infrastructural system whereby decommissioning strategies in Youngstown, Ohio, has lead to the consolidation of its current infrastructure (utilities, roads, bridges, etc.), to generate and identify new resources for future re-appropriation.

Today’s infrastructure is successional— akin to succession of ecosystems in nature, where modes of infrastructure may quickly become obsolete, redistributed, reinvented, and subjected to global geopolitical and economic forces. The uncertainty of today’s infrastructure necessitates the system to be designed for flexibility and adaptability, contingent upon the temporal needs of our complex urban society.

References:

1. Charles Waldheim, Landscape Urbanism Reader, New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2006.

2. A Greenway Plan for New York City, New York City Department of City Planning, 1993.

3. Pierre Bélanger “Landscape As Infrastructure,” Landscape Journal, vol. 28, no. 1, 2009.

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Posted by YingYuHung
in Landscape Infrastructure
on 27 January, 2012

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This year’s Urban Land Institute (ULI) Fall Meeting was held in Los Angeles and I had the opportunity to speak on a panel titled, “From Eye Sore to a Must See: Creating Urban Parks from Thin Air and Adding Real Estate Value” moderated by Kirk Humphreys of Humphreys Corporation (and former Oklahoma City mayor) and alongside Daniel Biederman of Bryant Park Management Corporation and Biederman Redevelopment Venture Corporation and Vaughn Davies, Principal at AECOM. My presentation focused on what creative solutions can be brought to our aging urban infrastructure.

I shared case studies of SWA projects such as Milton Street Park, the Buffalo Bayou Promenade and Katy Trail to demonstrate how public open space can be integrated into a city’s infrastructure to enhance community use, increase value in adjacent properties and nurture a new, attractive destination in the public realm.

The aim of my talk looked at two questions:

1) Can infrastructure be multi-functional? and

2) Can newly created open space increase land value while solving issues of ecology, programming, safety and access?

In the Buffalo Bayou Promenade example, office building rents dramatically increased in 2006-2007, the same year that the promenade was completed. The rents in these buildings have since stabilized at that rate, despite the downturn in the economy.

Biederman’s focus demonstrated the real value that can be seen in creative programming to revitalize a park. Notably, he shared data on Bryant Park’s transformation in the 90’s having dramatically benefited the adjacent Grace Office Building, which experienced a 114% increase in rents from 1990-2002, versus comparable rents adjacent to times Square rising 67%, Grand Central’s 55% and Rockefeller Center’s 41%.

Davies’ brought to the table the conceptual design of cap parks over freeways and its promise of connectivity and beautification for urban areas, specifically AECOM’s proposal for a linear cap park over the 101 freeway in Los Angeles.

This open forum discussion is another step in furthering the conversation of Landscape Infrastructure and its potential to make our cities better.

[For a CD copy of the presentation, please contact us as mdolejs@swagroup.com.]

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