"They Paved Paradise and Put up a Parking Lot"

In a recent editorial for the Architect's Newspaper, Sam Lubbel believes Los Angeles must find new uses for underused spaces: "As our urban fabric moves into the 21st century, we need to rethink our infrastructure in serious, holistic ways. While we’re stuck resorting to parking lot cultural space there’s so much wasted infrastructure that could be transformed into something better." Forced into existence by excessive minimum parking standards, the ever ubiquitous surface parking lot is now providing a tabula rasa for experimental architecture and cultural installations in most major cities throughout the US, not just Los Angeles. For proof, just look at the explosion of "park-lets" and popularity of "Park(ing) Day."

Source: Architect's Newspaper

Lubbel also provides the framework for rethinking our infrastructure in more holistic ways and makes some provocative suggestions that go beyond just parking lots: "Outside of turning parking lots into parks, why can’t the concrete-lined LA River become a place to show off art? How about the subway? Couldn’t that be a place for artists and architects to show off their stuff in a much more profound way than it usually is? Have you ever seen the amazing subway stations in Stockholm? You should take a look. And why do the spaces under freeways need to be vacant concrete zones? In Mexico City, for instance, they’re the spaces for parks. Smart infrastructure planning goes a long way. Then of course there’s the most famous example: re-using an abandoned train line to become the High Line in New York."

Los Angeles Electricity Use

Check out this incredible map showing electricity use by block group. The data is very fine grain and can even be manipulated to show change over time and monthly consumption. I could imagine this is particularly helpful for solar companies, like SunCraftsmen Solar, looking to find potential customers. Use the map here.

Smog Eating Buildings

Reducing point source emissions is a necessary first step in the fight against climate change and air pollution. Finding ways to merge science + architecture to create innovative solutions that reduce air pollution by design takes things one step further. It would be great to see Los Angeles, still ranked among the worst air quality in the US, build smog eating buildings like the one shown below in Mexico City. In fact, the new Broad Museum on Grand Avenue, with its honeycomb exterior facade, would be a perfect candidate for this sort of technology.

Fast Company describes the chemical process: "When UV light cuts through smoggy air and hits the titanium dioxide on the tiles, a chemical reaction occurs between the tiles and chemicals in the smog--mono-nitrogen oxides, or NOx. A lot of chemistry goes on in the interim, but for simplicity’s sake, the end result of the reaction is that the smog is broken down into small amounts of less noxious chemicals, including calcium nitrate (a salt used in fertilizers), carbon dioxide, and water. The titanium dioxide itself remains unaffected, so it can keep making reactions happen."

Parklets in Los Angeles

Source: Architect's Newspaper. One of two new parklets on Spring St. in DTLA.

Multiple news sources have reported on the opening of LA's first "parklet" last week. Here is a clip from The Architect's Newspaper: "On February 3, Los Angeles kicked off its pilot parklets program, announced last fall, with the opening of a miniature public space in Eagle Rock, a neighborhood in East Los Angeles. Designed by LA landscape architecture firm Shared Spaces, the park is located on the site of a former illegal parking space in front of Bobby’s Auto Parts near the corner of Avenue 50 and York Boulevard." You can find the rest of the article here.

Source: Architect's Newspaper. The other parklet on Spring St.