STATUS
IN DESIGN
CLIENT
London & Regional Properties
TYPOLOGY
Work, Residential, Retail
SIZE M2/FT2
241,546 / 2,600,000
SHARE
The Arts District in Los Angeles is experiencing a rapid renaissance, drawing creatives to the city from all types of fields, from fine arts to engineering. When hired to design Los Angeles Arts District (LAAD), or 670 Mesquit – a mixed-use development incorporating housing, offices, a hotel, education, and public spaces – BIG asked: how can the Arts District be renewed by embracing rather than replacing the qualities that have spawned this unique urban culture?
Located along the Los Angeles River, 670 Mesquit consists of four connected buildings rising as high as 34 stories. Like a flexible framework, the project operates on two scales: the big bare bones of the buildings and the human-scale completion by its individual inhabitants.
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Downtown Los Angeles today is composed of different areas ranging from a fashion district to Skid Row, while serving as the hub of the city’s Metro rapid transit system. The Arts District sits on the eastern edge of this vibrant neighborhood, with the city community planning boundaries defined as Alameda Street to the west, which blends into Little Tokyo, First Street to the north, the Los Angeles River to the east, and Violet Street to the south.
The Arts District and its immediate surroundings are paved with historic buildings and industrial structures. The warehouses, most of them dating back to the turn of the 20th century, were built cost efficiently and highly functionally with prefabricated concrete or steel elements. Most of them offer high quality, open spaces with ultimate flexibility. The raw and industrial beauty of the warehouses is typical for the neighborhood, and many have been retrofitted into something new.
The warehouses and Los Angeles’s industrial past become inevitably important when defining the future character of the Arts District.
BIG’s research included The Case Study House program, initiated by the editor of Arts and Architecture magazine, John Entenza. The program ran intermittently from 1945 until 1966 and holds a significant role in the emergence of American modernist architecture.
The goal of the program was to enable architects to design and build low-cost modernist houses. It resulted in some of the most successful residential designs in the period, setting the image of California Modern and the tone for BIG’s design for LAAD.
At the new LAAD, the freedom of the warehouse loft meets the individual customization of the stick-built case study house. The large size of the modules allows interior spaces to be subdivided based on program types and tenant needs.
The coexistence of the two scales – the industrial and the human, the warehouse and the case-study house – turns the ancient dilemma between the generic and the specific inside out.
PROJECT AREA
— The site is squeezed between the LA River, the 7th Street Bridge, and local streets within the Arts District.
SEPARATE BUILDINGS
— Two separate masses define the program, with a hotel and residences along the river and offices toward the bridge.
VIEW CORRIDORS
— Continuing the visual corridors of the context breaks up the mass along the river.
ACTIVATING THE RAILYARD & BRIDGE
— An expansive deck over the railyard creates a public park that integrates with the neighborhood, while a plaza facing the 7th Street Bridge provides open space for everyone to share.
PROGRAM & EFFICIENCY
— Each tower is efficiently proportioned.
EASTERN AND WESTERN VIEWS
— Continuous balconies with east- and west-oriented views wrap around the long sides of each tower.
DISPERSED VIEWS
— Playful, omni-directional balconies extend from the short ends, creating a social neighborhood in the sky.
HORIZONTAL SLABS
— We honor the industrial nature of the neighborhood by exposing and celebrating the horizontal concrete slabs.
SLOPING ROOFS
— The roofs consistently 'step' towards the front of the site.
BALCONY NEIGHBORHOOD
— The space between buildings is enhanced and activated with playful balconies that fill the gaps.
Bridging the gap between the Arts District and the Los Angeles River, the proposed park will be built above the existing freight rail line, fulfilling the long-awaited goal for the neighborhood. The park, rooftops, and ground level public spaces, landscaped by Studio-MLA, are designed to host community events such as farmer’s markets, movie nights, and yoga classes.
Reaching 34 stories at the highest point, the stepped complex will include 676,000 sq ft of office space and approximately 895 residential units, including 144 below-market rate units. A 271-room hotel, charter elementary school, retail and restaurant spaces, gym, gallery, and a grocery or farmer’s market will also be incorporated.
“As a gateway to the Arts District and the LA river, LAAD will constitute a major step toward reclaiming and transforming the river bank into a vital new urban landscape that can be enjoyed and appreciated by residents and visitors to this vibrant part of Los Angeles.”
Bjarke Ingels Thomas Christoffersen Daniel Sundlin Beat Schenk Andreas Buettner Aran Coakley Tran Le Hector Romero Jakob Henke Jan Leenknegt Julie Kaufman Melissa Jones Neha Sadruddin Sanam Salek Stephanie Hui Simon Scheller Terrence Chew Tracy Sodder Yi Lun Yang Youngjin Yoon Jialin Yuan Brian Zhang Davide Maggio Denys Kozak Derek Wong Douglass Alligood Gabriella Den Elzen James Caruso Juan David Ramirez Lasse Kristensen Mateusz Wieckowski-Gawron Nicole Passarella Ovidiu Munteanu Phawin Siripong Stephanie Choi Wells Barber Yixin Li Tom Lasbrey Ania Agnieszka Podlaszewska Sylvia Sijia Zhou Michelle Duong Gus Steyer Ahmad Tabbakh San Yoon
COLLABORATORS
Plus Development
Gruen Associates
Studio-MLA
tk1sc
Thornton Tomasetti
Fehr & Peers
Arup & Partners
