On March 13, policymakers, architects, sociologists and other experts come together at SCI-Arc in round table discussions for the student body, and open to the public. The following two days will be dedicated to students working in small groups, visiting recommended sites for their projects and meeting residents of various cohousing in the city. The results of the Charrette will be put into an exhibition curated by students on March 16 at SCI-Arc.
The low-density residential character and the related sense of property and self-sufficiency that have historically defined Los Angeles are no longer enough to satisfy the shifting demographics and exaggerated economic realities of the city today. With only twenty percent of today’s households being nuclear families, single-family home typology does not reflect the needs of an aging population and shrinking middle class, as well as more fluid family structures. There is a void in visions of collective living not as a temporary solution, but as a permanent and desirable condition. New forms and formats of housing that do not consist of separated identical units can be more attuned to the needs of multigenerational families, single parents, elderly people, formerly homeless, and people with disabilities. We set out to design spaces with varying degrees of isolation and openness, of public life and privacy, for a wide range of tenants.
FRIDAY, MARCH 13th
W.M. Keck Lecture Hall
1:30 PM Introduction – Hernan Diaz Alonso, SCI-Arc Director / CEO
David Ambroz, former President of Los Angeles City Planning Commission. Executive Director Corporate Social Responsibility at Walt Disney
2:00 PM
Panel talk. Beyond The Nuclear Family.
Moderator: Luis Ortega Govela, architect and writer, author of Hate Suburbia and Garage
Panelists: Fred Buzo, Associate State Director, AARP
Tara Stephenson, Community Curator, Node Coliving
3:00 PM
Panel talk. Affordability and Architectural Diversity.
Moderator: Mimi Zeiger, architecture and design critic, co-curator of the US Pavilion for the 2018 Venice Architecture Biennale.
Panelists: John Perfitt, Director, Restore Neighborhoods LA
Elvina Beck, Founder, PodShare
4:00 PM
Closing remarks
Mark Vallianatos, LA Metro, Executive Officer, Office of Extraordinary Innovation
MONDAY, MARCH 16th
W.M. Keck Lecture Hall
6:00 PM
Student work exhibition opening. Open to the public and held at Keck Hall at SCI-Arc.
