LA Koreatown

LA Koreatown

Among the many ethnic enclaves which enrich California,
perhaps the most vitally linked to the existing fabric of the
city is the city-within-a-city known as Koreatown.
It is unique not only for the economic vitality which
pervades its more than X square miles, but for the
incremental manner in which shops..etc have established
roots in neighborhoods which had previously been in
decline or simply incoherent. Yet, in spite of the rapid
upgrading of the community, there have been few if any
institutional developments to complement the burgeoning
urban activity. Korean culture is famously diverse, reflecting
both the historical origins of the nation itself, its spectular
adoption of modern methods and customs, and an
aesthetically limber mind set which seizes upon and exploits
what might seem contradictory, processes its constituent parts,
and establishes an often startling new paradigm.It is time, then,
for Koreatown to seize the moment and create a regional cultural
destination which can serve not only as a centerpiece for the
community, but as a new urban focus for Los Angeles.

w/ Raffael Petrovic
UCLA Winterterm 09

4 (x+y) = world

biot(r)opics

Our primary interest is to blend our building with its surrounding in terms of atmospheres and climates. The aim is to create a transition between different climatic conditions, in which the villa's inhabitants would choose their zones of comfort for their daily activities. To achieve this we analysed tropical vernacular architecture and their “architects” strategies to deal with their habitats extreme climate, such as decreasing humidity, shading, increasing ventilation, etc.. Their two main ways to regulate comfort is blocking, the sun, by constructing extended roofs, and increase ventilation by raising the floor above ground, walls are only necessary for privacy. So our desired differentiation of climatic conditions can be achieved by modulating roofscape and landscape.

w /Niran Büyükköz & Raffael Petrovic

studio zaha hadid