Category: Arch 698B: Advanced Design Research Studio

Taylor Yard configuration plan, making Taylor Yard land as a refreshment area for fish
frogs can swim back, rest and have fun here. Create a new morphology to the river using finger-shaped wetland to offer sheltering cove during high winter flows, cover and rearing habitat in the summer, and resting deep ponds for overwinter. Meanwhile, increase water capacity by developing a secondary channel, add paths to connect two banks, exhibition area, children’s play and overlook deck will be set along the path.

Through processes of social learning, learning through observation and interaction, learners can engage in collaborative problem-solving, feedback, and group reflection, providing space for the sharing as well as the hearing of other people’s perspectives. Designing and redesigning large landscape infrastructure, such as the Los Angeles river, is not an easy task. With many interests at hand, there are competing priorities and a lot to consider so we explored play and gaming as a method of engaging with the Frogtown community. Our driving goals were to facilitate thoughtful dialogue, consider the conditions that are needed in which to rebuild trust, and challenge typical landscape infrastructure-practices that operate too often in silos through a collaborative and playful approach. How could we create the conditions where social learning is possible?

The People’s Lab for Creative Ecology (PLaCE) is the imaginative and expansive community programming arm of the existing Los Angeles River Integrated Design Lab (LA-RIDL). Its pilot program is an extracurricular community science program for local high school students. The program follows a Youth Participatory Action Research framework, an approach to research and social change that is youth-driven and adaptive, focused on producing research that is actionable and directly responsive to the communities in which it is based. Each aim of this program braids together students’ educational growth, professional growth, and growth as River stewards.

Aligning with the 51-mile-long Los Angeles River and the sufficient natural assets, this proposal transforms Taylor Yard G2 Parcel into A Riverine Habitat Observatory. While maximizing the habitat values by mimicking the historic habitats situations, providing favorable habitat types for native species, and integrating topographic and hydraulic features, this proposal also aims to provide a dynamic immersive habitat experience that reconnects both sides of the river, reconstructs the circulation, and offers various observational options with educational purposes.