Los Angeles, 1877

The map below is from the BIG Map Blog. It provides a sense of what the landscape looked like in Southern California as it began to urbanize. Bunker Hill is in the distance and you can even see Pico House (#20), which still stands today.

Convert Plastic Into Oil

Akinori Ito developed a machine that converts plastic into oil. Watch the video.

CicLAvia Reminder - This Sunday 4/10/11

Source: CicLAvia.org

Don't forget to enjoy the second CicLAvia this weekend from 10 am to 3 pm on Sunday. A message from the sponsors:

CicLAvia opens LA streets to pedestrians and bicyclists, creating a temporary web of public space on which residents of Los Angeles can walk, bike, socialize, celebrate and learn more about their own city. On 4/10/11, 7.5 miles of roadways will temporarily close to car traffic and open for recreational purposes. From Boyle Heights to Downtown, MacArthur Park to East Hollywood, CicLAvia encourages Angelenos to not only make active use of their streets, but to rediscover the roadways and neighborhoods that too often go unnoticed in a car. Help open LA’s streets… take part in the second CicLAvia on 4/10/11.

Los Angeles, 1871

NEXT ECO-CITY // Emergent Urban Symposium

The University of Washington's Landscape Architecture Department is hosting the "Emergent Urban Symposium" this Thursday. Much of what will be discussed is at the heart of today's discourse on urban sustainability, particularly the symposium's emphasis on interconnectedness, contingency (as a response to complexity and uncertainty), the importance of planning at multiple scales and environmental resilience. Below is the description from their website.

Urban environments worldwide are in the midst of multiple shifts, driven by interconnected flows in capital, people, and resources at local, regional and global scales. It impacts not only cities but also the network of social and ecological systems well beyond their borders. In contrast to the complexity of today's urbanization, the concept of the "Eco-City", arguably dating back to the ideal of the 19th Century Garden City, seems like an overly simplistic and utopian vision. Yet, the imagery and language of an idealized "Eco-City" continue to shape the planning and design of contemporary cities while disregarding the vital complexity of contemporary urban conditions and issues. This symposium will examine today's multifaceted urban environment in order to explore emerging theories and practices that will enable us to address these critical issues. Specifically, it investigates three areas of knowledge and practices: emergent ecologies, emergent cities, and emergent tactics.

Emerging Ecologies
While early attempts to conceptualize urban ecological conditions primarily focused on traditional ecological methods and subjects, a new paradigm is emerging that embraces the complexity and uncertainty associated with coupled human/natural systems. This session explores the relationships between environment, equity, economy, and design in our rapidly urbanizing world.

Emerging CitiesThis session examines the dynamics and implications of rapid urban growth in the emerging mega-cities of the global south. Critically engaging issues of environmental resilience and social equity as they relate to urban form at multiples scales, it explores the present and potential evolution of design, technology, policy and practice in these contexts.

Emerging TacticsThis session focuses on new approaches to remaking the urban environment that are distinct from the paradigm of master planning and conventional practice of design. It examines how seeing the urban landscape as a set of systemic and interactive matrices with interconnected and spontaneous possibilities can inspire new approaches and methods in design and implementation.

 

Parking Lots as Solar Farms

There are ways to transform surface parking lots, which are altogether too numerous in Los Angeles, from an eyesore into a resource. Surface parking lots can be planted with "solar groves" - rows of solar panels - that generate electricity for immediate use (electric charging stations) or provide renewable energy for the grid. 

Retrofitting existing parking lots is not terribly difficult and parking capacity is unaffected. In fact, providing electric vehicle owners with a simple and affordable way to recharge their cars while in the office or while out running errands will reduce "range anxiety" and provide the infrastructure needed to make electric vehicles a viable alternative to gas cars. You can read more about "solar groves" here.

LA Bike Master Plan

The recently passed Los Angeles Bike Master Plan has been lauded by many as a great success. It certainly goes a long way, assuming it is actually implemented, towards making Los Angeles a more bike-friendly city. With miles of mass transit proposed for the region and a growing population, the need for transportation modes that support the transition away from a strict reliance on cars is essential. The fact that Los Angeles is warm and sunny nearly all year, and relatively flat in most areas makes an emphasis on biking all the more obvious.

My major criticism is that there are still not nearly enough class-1 bike lanes (green lines on the map), which are the hallmark of any world class biking city. Most people will remain reluctant to bike unless protected by some sort of physical barrier separating them from vehicular traffic. To understand the importance of physical barriers watch the video from Streetfilms below.

New CicLAvia Dates Announced

The 2011 CicLAvia dates are Sundays April 10th, July 10th and October 9th. April's route will be the same route as last October: 7.5 miles from Boyle Heights to East Hollywood. Later in the year, CicLAvia will extend the route in South L.A. and Chinatown, and further east into Boyle Heights.

Sustainable Communities Building Blocks

The US EPA developed the Sustainable Communities Blocks Program in an effort to help communities improve the quality of life for existing residents and manage future development while becoming more economically and environmentally sustainable.

The program "seeks to provide quick, targeted technical assistance to 20 communities using a variety of tools that have demonstrated results and widespread application. This technical assistance will help selected local and/or tribal governments to implement development approaches that protect the environment, improve public health, create jobs, expand economic opportunity, and improve overall quality of life."

The EPA's technical assistance will cover zoning code reviews, walkability assessments, parking policy analysis, climate action planning, commuter benefits, complete streets, and fiscal and economic tools.

A Request for Letters of Interest (RFLI) was released last week. Letters must be received by February 23, 2011. Use the link here to learn more and apply.

"Hedonistic Sustainability"

METROPOLIS published an article online recently on incorporating activity and pleasure into sustainable technologies. Drawing sustainability out of the realm of science and placing squarely into peoples' lives is essential for building public support and expanding our expectations for how sustainability ought to interact with the built environment.

Leave it to Bjarke Ingels to win a competition for his proposal for a new waste to energy plant by designing a 31.000 m2 ski slope. The competition, which yielded 36 proposals in fall 2010, was the largest environmental initiative in Denmark. With a budget of 3.5 Billion DKK, competing teams designed structures to replace a 40- year-old Amagerforbraending plant in Copenhagen with a more sustainable waste energy plant. 

Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) decided to approach their design in a way that truly celebrates the idea of sustainability. What they call “hedonistic sustainability,” refers to design that improves the quality of life, both directly and indirectly- ecologically and socially.

Physical exercise and fresh air are rarely associated with waste treatment plants. But here the ski slope reaches out to citizens and gives them a new recreational facility, even as it creates a new relationship between waste plant and city. It shows a connection between shaping a healthy future and disposing waste. And it employs the latest technologies in waste treatment, while focusing on environmental performance. This is not a hidden, isolated, utility structure, but a celebration of health and well being. 

BIG really topped itself this time. While the firm’s buildings continue to be green, innovative, and never fail to surprise, here they propose the ultimate in sustainability. The ski slope, made from recycled materials, sits atop a building wrapped in a green facade formed by plant modules. Beneath this living skin are new waste management and energy management technologies. This building takes the idea of mixed use to a whole new level. Shouldn’t all our buildings strive to do the same?

In Los Angeles, like most cities, sustainable practices are integrated into things like building design or streetscape improvements but rarely is the sustainable technology itself the focus of the design exercise. Ingels' design forces us to rethink our understanding of "sustainability" and conceive of new ways in which Los Angeles could leverage sustainable technologies (like waste to energy plants) as cultural and social resources. Creating a symbiotic relationship among these concepts can advance the sustainability of the region while also adding to its vitality and livability.