The Caltrans Headquarters located in downtown Los Angeles designed by Morphosis Architects (Thom Mayne, Founder and Principal)
Updates
Sale of the original preferred site on Broadway to investors
The original location planned for the Downtown Arts Center was located on Broadway, in the downtown Historic Core. At the time of DCA’s grant application, the Community Redevelopment Agency of Los Angeles (CRA/LA) had recommended this site for the planned use, since it is one of the few buildings on Broadway that has been designated as non-contributing to the National Register of Historic Places, thus allowing flexibility for future site development. With the dissolution of the Community Redevelopment Agencies in California in Fiscal Year 2012-13, a key source for acquisition funding was removed. A new team of investors has purchased the site, and the DCQ team recently met with the leadership of the investment firm. Artspace is in the process of working with the investment firm to determine any shared interests and potential partnerships.
Continued exploration of viable City-owned sites in downtown Los Angeles downtown area, available with limited acquisition funding
Realizing the current situation with the Broadway parcels, the project team has been in discussions with multiple City agencies to identify alternate sites. DCQ team partners (Artspace and The Actors Fund Housing Development Corporation, which are working together under the name Broadway Cultural Quarter LLC, or BCQ LLC) have also been working with a number of private developers in the downtown area to discuss viable sites and partnership opportunities.
A design charrette was held to explore massing possibilities for two potential scenarios: urban in-fill in the area’s historic core, and new development potential to repurpose existing lots
DCQ team partners have continued honing in on final site selection, influenced and guided by factors such as local community interest, artist district viability, ownership financing, policy-level incentives, and community livability and amenities. Additionally, Morphosis designers have explored massing typologies in preparation for initial programmatic planning on the site. The exercise was fruitful in uncovering parameters and limitations of space, financing, and jurisdictional boundaries. The presentation of this first charrette to the multi-sectoral team, including City Planning officials, local community leaders, as well as the diverse members of our team consortium, allowed for an immensely productive discussion about both pragmatic realities and visionary possibilities.
Recent Wins
A design charrette was held, allowing for a productive discussion among future building occupants regarding programming, potential collaboration, and facility sharing.
Initial spatial massing designs by Morphosis were presented in an informal meeting with collaborators and local leaders and officials. The work focused on two typological options for site development – open site and urban site – as a starting point for program planning. The charrette encouraged more rigorous thought about construction phasing, operations, and management by future co-occupants of the development. Additionally, the wide network and specialization of diverse consortium members allowed for helpful understanding of current challenges within broader political and economic circumstances across the city.
A City-level motion was introduced by Councilmember José Huizar (Council District 14) to incentivize downtown high-rise development.
Introduced mid-September, the intent of this motion is to facilitate higher-value, higher-density development in downtown Los Angeles during a time when investors and developments are unwilling or unable to take the financial risks that burden high-rise development. The motion positively affects our initiative in helping overcome Floor Area Ratio (FAR) limitations and increase the desirability of mixed-use programming for developers. Aside from our specific project, the motion will also lead to a broader movement towards increased walkability, livability, street activity, and density in the downtown area, which we support and commend.
Strengthened relationship with on-the-ground actors (investors, community) yields clearer information about current local conditions.
A sustained and growing relationship with community leaders and planning officials presiding over neighborhoods of interest has been critical to our ongoing efforts. Our team has forged and very much valued our working relationships with leadership in the Little Tokyo, a neighborhood in downtown Los Angeles adjacent to the Historic Core and the Arts District, as well as the Arts District, and downtown’s Historic Core. Through these community relationships, we are able to act with an understanding of real and tangible parameters for implementation.
On September 27th, and Sept 28, 2013, DCQ project team members from Actors Fund and Artspace participated in a roundtable discussion and charrette process led by the Little Tokyo Service Center, a neighborhood organization created to meet the needs of business and residents and build community. The series of charrettes was titled “Sustainable Little Tokyo,” and invited community members and area stakeholders to envision an economically, culturally, and environmentally sustainable Little Tokyo. The DCQ project team is participating in the Little Tokyo planning process closely, as there are potential project sites in the area.
All Little Tokyo community charrettes were attended by members of the DCQ project team. As reported, there is a nexus between the goals of the community and the DCQ, as arts and culture was the most frequently cited focal point for development, according to one of the afternoon presenters, and affordable housing also appears to be a deeply held concern. Constituents at the charrettes also expressed a need regarding other neighborhood’s issues to increase livability, including public safety, bicycle and pedestrian access, green space for community festivals and physical activity, support for small businesses, and advancement of the Japanese cultural identity of the community. The DCQ, as a planned transit-oriented development, can advance these issues by activating the area with artists, students, and creative entrepreneurs, which generates additional pedestrian activity, leading to increased economic sustainability as well as public safety.
Insight/Provocation
“A Macro/micro approach”
Throughout Morphosis’s 40-year history, their design approach has used radical specificity to context enabled by knowledge of broader macro trends and local micro conditions. They are deeply invested in urban and cultural research to amplify the depth and reach of their strategic thinking and insights. To accomplish this, their professional work has been complemented by a growing and necessary research counterpart via The Now Institute, an urban think tank at UCLA, which has become a hub and outlet for Morphosis’ urban thinking and research projects.
The Downtown Cultural Quarter initiative has been an opportunity to test and validate this macro-micro design approach. Rather than operate in a design vacuum, Morphosis allows the complexities of current real social, political, and economic conditions to generate parameters and inform their design. Additionally, as architects and urban thinkers, they balance the needs of physical planning with strategic vision for cultural and policy planning. Their thinking encompasses the immediate effects of physical design in a given context as well as the ability to enact broader changes via future implications. Pragmatically, Morphosis champions a dual strategy of pursuing efficiency for economic and real estate values, while engaging, promoting, and enhancing outreach concepts to serve constituent communities.