LA Low-Rise Sanctuary Housing

Developed for the City of Los Angeles’ Low-House Housing Competition, our concept Staying Put was inspired by hermit crabs who coordinate their moves into proper ‘housing’ in harmony.

LA’s traditional courtyard housing was the perfect vessel to provide for human’s preference towards small familial units or tribes. It fosters neighborliness due to its scale and design, creating a commitment to place and a common purpose. As an individual’s need for housing changes over a lifetime, it can be accommodated by residents simply entering into a covenant in which they arrange to swap units.

Most of Los Angeles is oriented on a 90-degree North-South grid and only in the far eastern portion of the city does the grid change to 45-degrees. In our hypothetical site in Wellington Heights of East LA, we have reoriented the structures in accordance with the Law of the Indies. By angling these closer to 45-degrees, there is more shade and cooling loads for the buildings are drastically reduced. To satisfy the housing changes that occur as familial units ebb and flow, we have developed an adequate mix of units and provided access to functional and productive outdoor space and parking. The two-story structure features a terra-cotta screen which provides privacy, water collection, cooling, and fire suppression, while its materiality draws from the Spanish influence found in the neighborhood and around LA.

Staying Put is an Anti-Displacement design that can propel residents beyond mere property ownership to a state of full community investment and engagement. By utilizing the shop ‘LA Tiendita’ and the integrated agriculture portion of the site, residents are able to propagate and monetize their land while still being connected to transit and the greater community. This connection and harmony with the land, buildings, and residential community unit will create a transformative environment for individual and collective growth.