USC School of Architecture: Observations and Adaptations

This year an undergraduate studio at the University of Southern California’s School of Architecture has been studying the industrial heritage of Los Angeles. Their propositional work has been to suggest ways in which existing industrial structures can be re-used to create new spaces for primary education.

In the words of tutor Juan Salazar; “The studio has been investigating the industrial shed as a building type, specifically how its spatial neutrality and industrial grade materials can become the container for new and alternate uses. Industrial sites were chosen in Los Angeles, a city with a history of experimental architecture that has leveraged the misuse and deconstruction of anonymous, industrial, and non-conventional material assemblies to challenge architectural typologies. By taking stock of how architects have worked with economic and fiscal constraints, the manipulation and deployment of materials in this fashion has acted as a background to the studio’s attitude toward materiality and form.”

The following drawings depict the student’s proposed new insertions within the structural frameworks of the existing buildings.

NOTES

Published 6th June 2020.

Many thanks to Juan Salazar for his help in compiling this article.

Many thanks to John Daniel Ocampo, Ashley Onyeador, Emily Huang, Jessica Chen, Junie Huang, Samual Vermeer, Thomas Wang and Tzu-Tung Chang for sharing their work with us.