Split vision urbanism: Investigating visual connections in Los Angeles

Abstract

Single-family residential zoning continues to be a key tool for carrying out planning policy in Los Angeles, and a praxis that instantly hampers design innovation from correlating suburban development with new socio-economic and cultural tendencies. An architectural ecology is, today, surfacing in Los Angeles, where generic suburban houses camouflage experimental practices that challenge the constraints of single-family residential zoning. Reconceptualizing the suburban backyard, these experimental practices pursue design intervention under the radar of planning administration to implement new forms and uses in Los Angeles. Drawing from such observations this design research project encompasses an on-going investigation at the intersection between planning praxis and experimental architecture. Questions include: How can we close the gap between DIY culture and disciplinary practices? How can architectural experiments advance the administrative process of city building? How can we correlate informal place-making and formalized design without compromising collective identities?