Category: EXPO 2024 Courses

This thesis explores digital media as a form of representation. The conversation focuses on the imagery of Los Angeles that is “driven” by automobiles – Gas Stations, billboards, drive thru’s, and stripmalls. In the near future, the population of Los Angeles will reach 13 million people. The seemingly boundless real estate of Los Angeles soars. The city extends vertically; not upwards, but downwards to accommodate automobiles. As the infinite grid of city blocks completely consume the vast landscapes of Los Angeles– mountains, valleys, plains, and sea coast, –the city becomes pixelated with rectangular street blocks, connected by a web of highways and streets. “Pixel” is the keyword of this thesis. Pixelation reflects the increased residents of Los Angeles, and pixelation is also the smallest unit of any visual digital media, which us humans are already at the point of no return. It is not a bad thing; all we can do is to fully embrace pixelization. Digital media becomes a form of representation; screens become the facade.

An at Home Manual for Urban Grafting investigates the evolving dynamics between bio-building materials and aging buildings – where their intersection results in a system for urban reuse and climate intervention.
This proposal explores the potential of future urbanism through the introduction of advanced biomaterial envelopes in the form of permanent scaffolding. Extruded realms of space form a network on the surface of existing buildings to support, enhance, and provide beyond its original purposes. Such a system deviates from existing building surface mediations by employing algae and mycelium to achieve results in both realms of reuse and climate positive energy production. As it evolves in time, the intervention intrudes into the existing spaces and creates new typologies centered around current programs, arriving at new urban spatial conditions.
Urban grafting beckons the utility of architectural reuse to adapt existing structures, to evolve needs and sustainability standards mirroring the plasticity seen in grafted plants, and to ensure the longevity and relevance of the current built environment. To raise awareness of the lasting effects of short-lived buildings through the lens of climate change, this project provides a case for biomaterials as a worthy strategy for future building.

Do you feel safe on Los Angeles public transportation? ‘Lights Camera Action’ explores how scale, tools, and users impact safety on Los Angeles Public Transportation. Every community addresses safety differently; some utilize technology and police while others promote grass-root actions and unspoken guidelines. With the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics and Paralympics in mind, this thesis works alongside existing transit improvement projects to increase safety at the scale of the vehicle, the station, and the surrounding area. Several perceived and proven safety methods are examined and tested for their potential efficacy in Los Angeles. For a better understanding of these seemingly hidden components, the methods are broken down into place (lights), tools (camera), and community (action). Ultimately, increased safety on Los Angeles public transportation means community involvement as it leads to a redefinition of place.

While wood offers a short-term sustainable alternative to concrete and steel, owing to its lower carbon emissions, concrete and steel are favored for long-term sustainability considerations. However, integrating adaptable rooftop configurations, particularly through prefabricated modules, into construction practices can enhance sustainability beyond material choices alone. Through a comparative analysis of wood, concrete, and steel, particularly in the context of constructing Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs), this thesis explores the potential for holistic sustainability, encompassing not only ground-level construction materials but also innovative roof additions to elevate environmental performance.

This thesis explores Los Angeles as a food desert, and how food vendors provide an informal resource that impacts the street at a human scale and transportation at an urban scale. Street vendors become an agent for urban renewal to create equitable pedestrian friendly third spaces.

The project publicizes data as a method for storytelling liminal spaces, such as streetscapes, alleyways, lots, and their contributions (or lack thereof) to community. Illustrating data will visualize LA as a design desert, including existing programs and missing resources from in-between built spaces. This proposal showcases street vendors as an agent for urban renewal using technology to reconstruct and reimagines these in between spaces. This includes proposals at three levels, and developing methods for (1) grounded, (2) aspiring, and (3) revolutionary change in historically divided LA communities. This enables pedestrians to take back the street as a public, communal space.