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Opening Event
Friday Nov 9, 2007
6 - 9pm
SCI-Arc
960 E. 3rd Street
Los Angeles, CA 90013
Map
Project on view at SCI-Arc until Nov 30, 2007.
6 - 9pm
SCI-Arc
960 E. 3rd Street
Los Angeles, CA 90013
Map
Project on view at SCI-Arc until Nov 30, 2007.
+
Project Description
The Instant City Artists in Residence program is an experimental collaboration between architects and artists organized by SCI-Arc design instructor Stephanie Smith and students from her fall 2007 design studio (title: “INSTANT CITY: A Manufactured Kit for a Temporary Community”).
In the fall of 2007 Smith and her students will design and build an Instant City in the large parking lot next to SCI-Arc (SCI-Arc is housed in the historic Santa Fe Freight Depot building at the center of the downtown Los Angeles arts district).
The design will be inspired by “ad hoc” and “outlaw” architectural conditions in numerous cities and intentional communities around the globe. The 1000-square-foot Instant City will have areas for sleeping, lounging and working, as well as a “stage” for events or performances, and ample wall surfaces to display artwork.
Once complete, three “artists in residence” curated by LACE (Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions) will inhabit the environment for two weeks. These artists will be encouraged, as part of their creative output in residency, to adapt, manipulate or add to the Instant City.
At the end of the two-week period an opening event at the Instant City site will showcase this built collaboration between architects and artists.
In the fall of 2007 Smith and her students will design and build an Instant City in the large parking lot next to SCI-Arc (SCI-Arc is housed in the historic Santa Fe Freight Depot building at the center of the downtown Los Angeles arts district).
The design will be inspired by “ad hoc” and “outlaw” architectural conditions in numerous cities and intentional communities around the globe. The 1000-square-foot Instant City will have areas for sleeping, lounging and working, as well as a “stage” for events or performances, and ample wall surfaces to display artwork.
Once complete, three “artists in residence” curated by LACE (Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions) will inhabit the environment for two weeks. These artists will be encouraged, as part of their creative output in residency, to adapt, manipulate or add to the Instant City.
At the end of the two-week period an opening event at the Instant City site will showcase this built collaboration between architects and artists.
Contributions from Dazian Fabrics and Chris Stone, Inc. have made this project possible. Thank you!
Architects (SCI-Arc students)
- Alan Guillen
- Aaron Nicholls
- Adam Murray
- Barbara Leon
- Eileen Dikdan
- Emilio Paciole
- Gustavo Zinkewich
- Jaime Valenzuela
- Jesus Gomez
- Kim Luu
- Markus Imhof
- Mary Aramian
- Rulla Asmar
- Sareen Proudian
- Thor Erickson
- Will Hsu
- Instructor, Stephanie Smith
Artists
- Aaron Garber-Maikovska
- Iana Quesnell
- Jomo Jelani Haywood and Alex Neroulias
Ideas
The concept of Instant City is inspired by Archigram. In 1967, its utopian Instant City scheme (never constructed) was assembled out of “cranes, pods, Zepplins, and flashing signs, and could roll into town, bolt together and plug itself in overnight.”
Today ad hoc, self-organizing “instant cities” can be found tucked into intersticial spaces in every urban condition globally. And self-organized temporary communities, both large and small, thrive on the fringes. Case studies include Rio’s favelas, Kowloon Walled City in Hong Kong, Santee Alley in downtown Los Angeles, Burning Man in Black Rock City, Nevada, Dignity Village in Portland, Oregon, and the desert southwest’s “snowbird” communities in and around Quartzsite, Arizona.
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The goal of this project is to examine, and then to respond to, both the radical and the useful ideas found in these “instant,” ad hoc, temporary and outlaw communities.
Today ad hoc, self-organizing “instant cities” can be found tucked into intersticial spaces in every urban condition globally. And self-organized temporary communities, both large and small, thrive on the fringes. Case studies include Rio’s favelas, Kowloon Walled City in Hong Kong, Santee Alley in downtown Los Angeles, Burning Man in Black Rock City, Nevada, Dignity Village in Portland, Oregon, and the desert southwest’s “snowbird” communities in and around Quartzsite, Arizona.
.
The goal of this project is to examine, and then to respond to, both the radical and the useful ideas found in these “instant,” ad hoc, temporary and outlaw communities.
About: SCI-Arc
Founded in 1972, SCI-Arc (Southern California Institute of Architecture) was a radical alternative to the conventional system of architectural education. Architect and educator Ray Kappe—formerly the chair of Architecture at Cal Poly Pomona, and director of SCI-Arc until 1987—leased an industrial building in Santa Monica, and, with a group of six faculty members and 75 students, started what they initially called the "New School," based on the concept of a "college without walls." Shelly Kappe, Ahde Lahti, Thom Mayne, Bill Simonian, Glen Small and Jim Stafford were among the founding faculty.
United by their commitment to an alternative to the more rigid, hierarchical structure they had encountered at other institutions, they established SCI-Arc as a mechanism for invention, exploration and criticism. The school grew rapidly and quickly developed an international reputation, ranking among the best schools of Architecture in the country.
SCI-Arc attracts motivated students and faculty from all over the world who are interested in pursuing their own independent ideas about the built environment and who enjoy SCI-Arc's emphasis on process—the synthesis of thinking, analyzing and making.
In 2000, SCI-Arc moved to the historic Santa Fe Freight Depot building in Downtown Los Angeles, where it plays an important cultural role in the area while engaging at various levels with the local community. The school continues its energetic commitment to experimentation and to examining the social and formal aspects of architecture.
United by their commitment to an alternative to the more rigid, hierarchical structure they had encountered at other institutions, they established SCI-Arc as a mechanism for invention, exploration and criticism. The school grew rapidly and quickly developed an international reputation, ranking among the best schools of Architecture in the country.
SCI-Arc attracts motivated students and faculty from all over the world who are interested in pursuing their own independent ideas about the built environment and who enjoy SCI-Arc's emphasis on process—the synthesis of thinking, analyzing and making.
In 2000, SCI-Arc moved to the historic Santa Fe Freight Depot building in Downtown Los Angeles, where it plays an important cultural role in the area while engaging at various levels with the local community. The school continues its energetic commitment to experimentation and to examining the social and formal aspects of architecture.
About: LACE
LACE (Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions) is a nonprofit contemporary art center under the leadership of Executive Director Carol Stakenas. Located in the heart of Hollywood, LACE curates and produces art and events that inspire the public imagination and engage with timely issues that shape local and global life. It encourages individuals and collectives working across diverse and emergent creative forms to interrogate the boundaries of cultural and artistic practice.
Founded in 1978, LACE has nurtured not only several generations of young and under-recognized artists, but also newly emerging art forms such as installation-based work, performance art and video art and has presented the work of over 5000 artists, including Laurie Anderson, Nancy Buchanan, Chris Burden, Gronk, Ishmael Houston-Jones, Mike Kelley, Martin Kersels, Linda Nishio, Paper Tiger TV, Adrian Piper, Johanna Went, and Bruce and Norman Yonemoto.
Founded in 1978, LACE has nurtured not only several generations of young and under-recognized artists, but also newly emerging art forms such as installation-based work, performance art and video art and has presented the work of over 5000 artists, including Laurie Anderson, Nancy Buchanan, Chris Burden, Gronk, Ishmael Houston-Jones, Mike Kelley, Martin Kersels, Linda Nishio, Paper Tiger TV, Adrian Piper, Johanna Went, and Bruce and Norman Yonemoto.
About: Stephanie Smith
Stephanie Smith teaches studios at SCI-Arc that engage issues of design, fabrication, manufacturing and sustainability. These studios use as inspiration the ad hoc, self-organizing, indigenous and archetypal typologies typically found at the fringes of society and culture.
Smith is a designer, entrepreneur and author. Her company Ecoshack began in 2003 as a design lab in Joshua Tree, CA, and is now an LA-based green design studio and manufacturer. Smith’s designs for Ecoshack include the Nomad, a modern take on the Mongolian yurt, which Dwell Magazine recently called “the country’s best yurt.” Her recent articles include 'The GOOD Guide to R. Buckminster Fuller' (GOOD Magazine, Aug/Sept 2007).
Smith is a designer, entrepreneur and author. Her company Ecoshack began in 2003 as a design lab in Joshua Tree, CA, and is now an LA-based green design studio and manufacturer. Smith’s designs for Ecoshack include the Nomad, a modern take on the Mongolian yurt, which Dwell Magazine recently called “the country’s best yurt.” Her recent articles include 'The GOOD Guide to R. Buckminster Fuller' (GOOD Magazine, Aug/Sept 2007).