Public Domain

Inspired by Lebbeus Woods’ ‘free spaces,’ this thesis creates an architecture that is truly shared: free for anyone to use and existing on public land. The idea of sharing has already greatly changed our society in the past decade, from the way we think about cars, work space, and even homes. This thesis is pushing our current idea of ‘sharing’ by questioning the need for ownership, how much space we really need, and by creating a series of architectural installments that provide communal space and support a nomadic lifestyle. One of the designs is a library of everyday items that allow visitors and locals alike to borrow material things—giving everyone the opportunity to own less and minimizing the amount of space needed to live. All of these structures blend into the background of Los Angeles by attaching to existing infrastructure, lightly touching public property, and mainly existing in the public airspace, becoming a part of the city’s fabric. Rather than being built by an entity, these structures will be built by members of a boundless community, aided by designs and construction documents published for anyone to use. Technology has allowed us to enter into a new renaissance: an era where mundane jobs and tasks no longer take up the majority of our days, one in which we can explore new creative endeavors and ideas and live more freely, but we still lack the infrastructure to support this. An open source architecture for shared structures in the public realm allows for a much needed void to be filled.