The Backyard

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URBAN STADIUMS + CONTEXTUAL RELATIONSHIPS

TOURISM + CULTURE + ENTERTAIMENT

COMPETITION + LANDSCAPE BASED URBAN PROJECT

INFRASTRUCTURE + TRANSPORTATION BASED PROJECT

CASE STUDIES

WINTER 2013

INSTRUCTOR: ANDREW WILCOX

JESSIE COREA / NAOKI FURUYA / VAHE GHAZAR / FERNANDO ORTIZ

One can see to the right that apparel stores in Los Angles are abundant. With

only 43 of

these 167 retail stores retail stores NORTH of Dodger stadium; one has to wonder what would happen if this expanded in that direction.that direction.

The data to the right shows that

67 out of

the 258 retail locations mapped where located where located NORTH of Dodger Sta-dium.

Parking venues could be better distributed.

Only 6 of

the 52 parking venues are venues are NORTH of Dodger Sta-dium.

Gas stations are not abun-dant but seem to be

suffcient. 7 of the 22 gas station are are NORTH of Dodger Stadium.

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Retail Sales 2007

Parking Venue

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North Parking Venues Gas Stations Apparel Stores

MAPPING: RETAILThe North and South Dichotomy

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Los Angeles’ BACKYARDBIODIVERSITY

ARTICLE SAYS THAT THERE ARE MANY ISSUES AFFECTING THE WORLDS' BIODIVERSITY WITH HABITAT DESTRUCTION BECAUSE OF RAPID EXPANSION OF URBAN AREAS. ANIMAL ESTATES LONDON HQ WHICH IS URBAN WILDLIFE CLIENT SERVICES TRIES TO PROVIDE SPACES FOR HABITAT CREATION AND GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE. PROJECTS THEY ARE WORKING ON ARE INNOARE INNOVATIVE NEW HOUSING DESIGNS FOR BEES AND A PROTOTYPE FOR AN INSECT HOTEL. IN ORDER TO INCORPORATE EXISTING NATURAL HABITAT, ACTION NEEDS TO BE IMPLEMENTED IN A COHERENT MANNER. IT IS DIFFICULT TO RE-CREATE HABITATS BECAUSE THEY HAVE TO DEAL WITH EXISTING HYDROLOGY, TOPOGRAPHY, SOIL TYPE, AND SO ON. HABITAT RESTORRESTORATION OR CONSTRUCTION COSTS EXTENSIVE AMOUNTS OF MONEY SO MOST DEVELOPER’S CHOICE TO IGNORE PUTTING THEM INTO THERE DEVELOPMENT. THE BEST-CASE SCENARIO FOR BIODIVERSITY FOR A SITE IS THAT MOST NEW DESIGNERS ARE TRYING TO SAVE EXISTING HABITATS ON THE SITE AND CREATING BARRIERS AND


CORRIDORS TO CONNECT THESE HABITATS TO ONE ANOTHER. ALTHOUGH MOST NEW DESIGNERS ARE CONCERNED WITH DEALING WITH BIODIVERSITY AND HABITS THE TRUE OF IT IS MOST DESIGNERS IN THE FIELD TODAY DO NOT CONSIDER BIODIVERSITY AND ISSUE AND CONTINUE TO DESIGN IN THE WAYS THAT THEY ARE TRADITIONALLY USE TO WHERE THE LANDSCAPE REFLECTS HUMAN AESTHETICS AND LANDSCAPE REFLECTS HUMAN AESTHETICS AND NEEDS ONLY. AS A RESULT BY THE TIME THE CHANGE TAKES EFFECT FOR DESIGNERS TO CONSIDER DESIGNING ALL SYSTEMS AND NOT THOSE OF JUST FOR HUMANS, MANY OF THE BIODIVERSITY HOT SPOTS IN THE WORLD WILL ALREADY BE DESTROYED.


Cal Poly Pomona - LA 402L

Jessie Corea - Naoki Furuya - Vahe Ghazar - Fernando Ortiz

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Table of Contents

Introduction

Team photo and statement 4 - 5

Insights 6 - 9

Case Studies 10 - 21

Readings 22 - 27

Mapping 28 - 37

Midterm Process 38 - 43

Field Trips 44 - 51

Work Samples 52 - 57

Inspirations 58 - 61

Back Yard Article 62 - 63

Final 64 - 137





CASE STUDIES

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BIODIVERSITY






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The Ones Behind the Yard

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The Backyard

The backyard is something very familiar to people in Los Angeles as appose to other cities. When visiting other cities, like New York and San Francisco, the backyard is present but is not some-thing many people experience the way Los Angeles does. Not to say that Los Angeles does it better than other cities but with the availability to personify the southern California way of living, which is expressed by David Hockey as “relaxed and sensual”, it only makes sense that this opportunity to work with dodger stadium should be the way to show what Los Angeles’ backyard is all about. We began this task by redefining the urban backyard in 3 different scales; regionally, communally, and locally. Transportation was the first aspect of the site that needed to be adjusted. The simple idea of a backyard filled with cars didn’t make sense so getting rid of the parking lots on top of the hill was a must. The creating of 3 separate parking structures that connects to sunset blvd and nearby freeways made this possible. Fans and visitors would then be able to exit off the freeway into their desired park-ing structure which would guide them to Dodger stadium via escalators and a tram. This opened the opportunity to use the hill as prime real estate for the people of Los Angeles and Dodger Fans. The ability to get in and out of the site with minimal traffic opened the gates toward a pedestrian friendly backyard. This pedestrian friendly backyard was the beginning of the creation of the local, communal and regional backyard. Housing was the first implementation we made on the site, which later directed how the regional backyard came into place. The local and communal space gives residents a space to enjoy the ball game either on their roof top, apartment, community garden or Dodger Hill. Dodger Hill was created to give a more intimate ball game feel to the residents and dodger fans by bringing them almost into the game. Residents could now grill, chill and play in their backyards while watching a baseball game at various distances. The regional backyard of the site was where the opportunity to create this connection between Downtown Los Angeles and Elysian park came into play. This created a corridor which serves the fan, visitors, and local residents. This corridor will be filled with retail in the outer ring of the stadium and will serve the more environmental aspect of the site the closer it gets to Elysian park. It will be a place where people find their own way of relaxing, which is what we see the backyards being a vessel for. Dodger Stadium will no longer be just a ball park; it will no longer be marooned. It will provide residents the characteristics present in a backyard, while keeping in mind that it is in an urban setting. Dodger Stadium will No longer be a place that, just as a backyard, is used only for a fraction of the day or year. It will change the way the backyard is seen at an urban setting; it will become Los Ange-les’ Backyard.

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INSIGHTS

Out of the skills acquired during the course of developing this project there is one that stands out. This simple, yet difficult, idea of working in a group is what I found most rewarding. Working with individuals with such different backgrounds really makes one questions aspects in a project that were once unthinkable. Working toward the strengths of group members is, again, a simple concept but fol-lowing through is a different story. We managed to bridge these gaps without a problem, which I think speaks to what the team was all about; open minded. Working in conjunction with Andy and the peo-ple of SWA made this collaboration that more interesting. Not only were we involved with the people in academia but people working in a top firm. This brought something to the table that I have never experienced in a school setting and I feel lucky to have been a part of such a unique collaboration.

I worked hard this quarter and that the work was not something I looked forward to not doing. I wanted to work; I wanted to make things better, I wanted to improve everything we were working on. I can’t say I didn’t look forward to finishing the project, because I did, but it was a different kind of finish. I wanted to finish it because I was extremely curious as to what we would come up with. The type of dedication seen throughout the quarter confirmed my interest in the profession and my wants to continue studying Landscape Architecture.

This experience is something I will carry through my career and life in general.

- Fernando Ortiz

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- Fernando Ortiz

INSIGHTS

Over the course of the last ten weeks working with our studio instructor, Andy Wilcox, my class-mates and SWA Laguna Beach team, has been extremely intense and exciting. From the very first charette at the SWA office, the excitement and energy about the studio was very high. Working with the SWA team, Shawn, Drew, Pavel, and Kevin, was very interesting and insightful. They showed us new ways of seeing the landscape that was very beneficial to our projects. Having only once before been introduced and worked on urban planning projects, this quarters project would have been much different then any other project we had worked on in the past. The project was to redesign the parking lots at Dodgers Stadium in Los Angeles, California. 160 acres of prime restate in sunny Los Angeles. As a group we began brainstorming about the idea of Dodgers Stadium being in the backyard of Los Angeles; from this idea was born the concept for our project. Creating a backyard condition so typical in nearly every home in Los Angeles around Dodgers Stadium. Over the next few weeks, working with SWA, Andy Wilcox, and our team we began to build this concept.

Now ten weeks later we are finally finished. Although we could continue working on this project for the next 6 months, alas we are out of time and the quarter is at its end. Looking back, it has been a long and wonderful journey. The charettes with SWA in their studio and ours were very exciting. Over the past few weeks, we learned the value of working, as a team, how important any and all ideas for a project are and how every one of them should be considered. We also learned to think about the larger concept, make big moves and not get hung up on the details. This studio also thought us how to be loose and fluid when designing, to get our ideas down on paper fast and make big connections from our site to the region. We also learned about making connections to the systems that exist and look at our site on the regional scale and make bigger brother connections.

JVahe Ghazar

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INSIGHTS

What I have learned the most in this quarter was graphic quality of diagrams. Quality is greater than quantity, I was inspired those words by professor Andrew Wilcox. SWA which is one of the big-gest landscape firm in California was involved in this quarter so that graphic quality was the must. Each person in our team has different specialty of skill: Vahe is good at section and giving ideas, Jessie is good at rendering perspective, Fernando is good at writing and presentation skill, and I have con-fidence of making diagrams. With SWA, we made professional work, not student work. Challenge we had was to develop “backyard” concept throughout this quarter. The more we tried to develop the ideas, the more our “backyard” looked like urban structure of buildings. During the midterm presen-tation, we mostly talked about urban structure of buildings, not backyard even though we had great backyard ideas that can impress the audience. We only focused on developing backyard ideas for the final presentation and we all liked them.

- Naoki Furuya

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INSIGHTS

Coming into my winter quarter of my senior year at cal poly Pomona I was very excited for the chance to work with SWA on an urban design project with dodger stadium as the main focus. I quickly learned that lot of factors and considerations go into urban design. Some of these include transporta-tion, infrastructure, social implications and ecology. I also learned some important values in terms of ecology not only for wildlife but humans as well, social environment and resource awareness which is where dodger stadium plays it’s role. But really the greatest lesson I learned was that of teamwork and pulling together our resources of skills, culture, and knowledge in a collaborative effort to pull out a project of such a high quality. Each other’s backgrounds, cultures and passions about this project were what helped give form and shape to this project in such a way that diversifies it. This project is a proj-ect of a group of four individuals with their own values and visions on what urban design is. Through the last ten weeks those values and visions have come together to create one vision and a set of values that reinforce our concept of what urban design is. The last ten weeks were the hardest of my life. From the countless all nights, to the brutally honest critiques from the guys at SWA, I cant say I have never had so much fun at school. I would just like to thank SWA and Andy Wilcox for the opportunity. I will carry the lessons learned from this studio for the rest of my professional career in landscape architec-ture.

Jessie Corea

- Naoki Furuya

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CASE STUDIES

WINTER 2013



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CASE STUDIES

WINTER 2013



CASE STUDIES

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It also only takes 55 minutes to get to Fenway Park from the furthest subway stop, which is 21 miles away. That’s not bad considering it takes 47 minutes on a car according to Google Maps.

HOW DO THEY MOVE ?

FENWAY PARK, Boston Red Sox

Other

43%1% 3%13%3%19%2%16%

IS IT ACCESSIBLE ?

The City of Boston makes it very easy for Fenway Park not to worry about getting the people in and out of the ball park. With about 50% of the people in Boston driving a car one can see just how easy it is to get around. Figure 1.1 shows just how big the help is they are getting. With multiple forms of transportation at everyone’s reach it’s no wonder Fenway Park can be located where it is and not have issues with circulation or other traffic related issues seen in other stadiums. Having half of the people attaining the baseball game come in a car takes a huge weight of their shoulders. The people of Boston are able to use various forms of transporta-tion to get to the stadium without having to sacrifice very much of their time. Figure 1.2

MBTA adjusted Route map.

Figure 1.1

TRANSPORTATION BREAKDOWN


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FENWAY PARK, Boston Red Sox

In 1999 Fenway Park was on the verge of being replaced by a new larger stadium across the street. This was supposed to be a new sport complex that would be shared by the New England Patriots and Red Sox. This would have made that entire area around Fenway a go to place even if there wasn’t a game going on. The current Fenway was going to be turned into a park where the locals could swing by and use the open space for leisure. (Figure 2.2)

Fenway Park has one park-ing structure dedicated for ball games. One would think that the structure has enough stalls to accommodate all of its fans, but this is not the case. With this a question arises, how do they accommodate for so many fans? For this answer we will look at its surroundings. One can see on FIgure 2.1 to left that Fenway Park doesn’t have parking struc-tures right next to it. Except for one; they are roughly a block tor further away. What’s interest-ing about this is that the parking structures are not owned by the team. The parking structures within the two mile radius serve as parking for games but more often they serve as parking to what is going on outside the ball

PARKING

Figure 2.2 HOK Sport Proposed PLan.

Im there, now what?

Main Entrance

New Green Monster

View from the Street

Third desk grandstand

Proposed ballpark

Existing park

Proposed ballpark

Bleachers

LuxuryBoxes

Old “Green Monster” Old FenwayParts of field will be open as public park

NEW FENWAY

Figure 1.1

Figure 2.1

Parking Structure

Parking Structure

Parking Structure

Parking Structure

Parking Structure

Parking Structure

Parking Structure


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CASE STUDIES

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READINGS

BIODIVERSITY





BIODIVERSITY

LANDSCAPE URBANISM

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Traditional System

Landscape Urbanism Charles WaldheimTraditional Systems vs. New Systems

Systems are composed of various components; these components are what make up the system. Without one of the components it does not perform or function in the desired shape or form. Landscape urbanism is not an exception to this idea of systems. Just like an iphone, a landscape does not work at its optimal state without the correct components. Landscape urbanism is attempting to bring together the components without an overpower over one another. Sometimes the role of smaller components is ignored, which then affects the larger system. The architecture of an urban space, is an essential component to the system functioning an optimal level but it doesn’t mean there isn’t a superior way to go about structuring an urban setting.

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New System Landscape Urbanism

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BIODIVERSITY





BIODIVERSITY





BIODIVERSITY





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BIODIVERSITY





BIODIVERSITY





BIODIVERSITY





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CASE STUDIES

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MAPPING

Parking Fee

One Admission

One Beer The Short StopVS.

One Dodger Game

Dodger Stadium: BLUEThe Short Stop: GREEN

$0

Distance from

Parking to Entrance

$0

$10

$11

$8

$2

150ft

3100ft

RETAIL

ENTERTAINMENT

ENTERTAINMENT

PUBLIC SERVICES

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only 43 of



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Retail Sales 2007

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Parking Fee

One Admission


One Dodger Game


$0

Distance from

Parking to Entrance

$0

$10

$11

$8

$2

150ft

3100ft

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Parking Fee

One Admission


One Dodger Game


$0

Distance from

Parking to Entrance

$0

$10

$11

$8

$2

150ft

3100ft

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CASE STUDIES

WINTER 2013



BIODIVERSITY






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Retail Sales 2007

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43 124

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MIDTERMBELONGING

HERITAGE

CULTURE

BONDS

HOME

PLACE

SELF

RESPECT

FAMILY

FRIENDS IDENTITY

THIS ORY

R TOPPO TUNI Y

PURPOSE

PROTECTION

COMFORT

CCONNE TION

WORTH

STABILITY

FRIENDSHIP

HOPE

INTERACTION

CHANGE

GROWTH

RELATIONSHIPSPRIDE

RELAXATION

COMFORT

EXCITEMENT

SECURITY

ENTERTAINMENT

FAMILIARITYLOCALITY

REFUGE

DIVERSITY

COMMUNITYHEALTH

HAPPINESS

PROXIMITY

EVERYDAY

CONDITION

PERSPECTIVE

VISION

PERSPECTIVE

SECTIONS

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PERSPECTIVE

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BELONGING

HERITAGE

CULTURE

BONDS

HOME

PLACE

SELF

RESPECT

FAMILY

FRIENDS IDENTITY

THIS ORY

R TOPPO TUNI Y

PURPOSE

PROTECTION

COMFORT

CCONNE TION

WORTH

STABILITY

FRIENDSHIP

HOPE

INTERACTION

CHANGE

GROWTH

RELATIONSHIPSPRIDE

RELAXATION

COMFORT

EXCITEMENT

SECURITY

ENTERTAINMENT

FAMILIARITYLOCALITY

REFUGE

DIVERSITY

COMMUNITYHEALTH

HAPPINESS

PROXIMITY

EVERYDAY

CONDITION

VISION

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PERSPECTIVE

43

SECTIONS

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CASE STUDIES

WINTER 2013



BIODIVERSITY






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Retail Sales 2007

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SF TRIP

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SF MOMAWhile walking around the MOMA a painting caught my attention; which prompted me to read the literature of the piece carefully. The painting (landscape), which is not shown due to photographical restrictions, “requires careful examination to determine where one material ends and the other begings” DeFeo. Haven just been on the rooftop garden; it prompted a question of whether materials in a plaza need to have a distinct beginning and end. The idea of the plaza, and beyond, was no longer hindered by soft edges or beginnings and ends. Plazas in the Dodger Stadium area could work without distinct beginnings and ends; Just like the Oil with tape on canvas by DeFeo worked.

URBAN GATHERING

SYSTEM TYPES

SCALE TYPES

SF TRIP

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INVESTIGATION DAY URBAN GATHERING TYPES

MINT PLAZAMint plaza is an interesting urban plaza type that was created by CMG landscape architects. The 290’-long portion of Jessie Street is located between Fifth and Mint Street. One of the more interesting aspects to this project is the simple design that maximizes use of the site. The site is framed by three pieces of architecture and open to wide variety of uses. The site was a street but now it is turned into an urban gathering area, which is fascinating because of transformation and mixed-use aspects of it. The other interesting aspect is the use of materials and how this plaza is built to last with the use of wood, aggregate stone pavers and steel.

MATERIAL: AGGREGATE STONE

UNION SQUARE PLAZAUnion square is an interesting urban plaza type because of its location within the city. It is one city block in size and surrounded by many high-end retail stores and hotels. What makes it interesting is how these retail stores activate the site and the cafes found on each corner of the square. The cafes act as anchors that invite people into the space. The large central gathering space in the middle also provides a space for large gathering crowds.

SPACE ACTIVATION DIAGRAM

SECTION DIAGRAM

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SF MOMAWhile walking around the MOMA a painting caught my attention; which prompted me to read the literature of the piece carefully. The painting (landscape), which is not shown due to photographical restrictions, “requires careful examination to determine where one material ends and the other begings” DeFeo. Haven just been on the rooftop garden; it prompted a question of whether materials in a plaza need to have a distinct beginning and end. The idea of the plaza, and beyond, was no longer hindered by soft edges or beginnings and ends. Plazas in the Dodger Stadium area could work without distinct beginnings and ends; Just like the Oil with tape on canvas by DeFeo worked.

CITY HALL CIVIC PLAZASan Francisco City Hall is locate along major street called Van Ness Ave which is also Highway 101. San Francisco City Hall is surrounded by governmental and cultural buildings such as supreme court, Phillip Burton federal building, civic center, Asian art museum, and public library. It seems like a symbol of San Francisco. Civic center plaza is located in front of city hall, exercise such as jogging and tai chi, and large and small scale events take place. In September of last year, Dew Tour which was a skateboarding, bicycle and freestyle motocross event took place and streets were closed down. San Francisco Recreation and Park department worked hard to strategically activate Civic Center Plaza so that it can be a fun, clean and safe public space for children and families living in the Market neighborhoods. The plaza provides long corridor connecting to UN Plaza. There are a lot of pollarded sycamore trees on a lawn panel with an octagon path.

CIRCULATION DIAGRAM

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INVESTIGATION DAY 2 SYSTEM TYPES GREEN ROOFTOP AT THE ACADEMY OF SCIENCESThe green roof is a 2-acre project with attributes of domes emerging from the roof in a way that looks like rolling hills. The interesting feature is the use of plant material, which opens up opportunities for wildlife. There are also the qualities of problematic issues from wind erosion to the establishment period and the fact that in 40 years they are going to have to tear it apart and start over. As an experiment for the future of urban ecology this is a great example of how the systems come and don’t come together.

SUTRA BATHSSutra baths is a very interesting site because it was originally built as the world’s largest indoor swimming pool. It is located along the edge of the water in San Francisco overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The large swimming pool and cliff house was destroyed during the earthquake and fires that took place in the early 20th century. Today only the ruins of the Sutra Baths remain. The site is run by the national parks services and recently a fresh water odder as taken up residence in the ruins.

WILDLIFE HABITAT

EVERYTHING AND NOTHING

ROOF GARDEN SKETCH

VISTAS DIAGRAM

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DE YOUNGThe way the De Young’s upper level relates to the context of the where it is located could generate parallels that engage the on seer. It’s relation to the roof top of the academy of science (dodger stadium) and the miniature skyline in the background (Los Angeles Skyline) poses a question of whether it even relates.

The image shows connections that serve as a metaphor for what the area around Dodger stadium could and will become; a play with views and perception to bring the distant into a backyard.

GOLDEN GATE PARKGolden Gate Park is large urban park consisting of 1,017 acres of public ground in San Francisco. It is rectangle shape like Central Park but 20 % larger than Central Park. It is over 3 miles long from east to west and half mile from north to south. There are many major features in Golden Gate Park including California Academy of Science, de Young Memorial Museum, Japanese tea garden, San Francisco Botanical Garden, Bison Paddock, and so on. More than 13 million people visit its park every year. Connection from surroundings is that those people go to Golden Gate Park to experience great characteristics of its park, and there are so much events and activities going on along street called John F Kennedy Dr within its park.

CIRCULATION DIAGRAM

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TONY’S PIZZA PARKLETTony’s Pizza Parklet that was designed by Rebar Art and Design Studios in San Francisco. Essentially the space is a few parking spots taken over by these modular stages that create a public space to be used by the restaurants for café style seating along the street. What’s interesting about this site is how they use the parking spots to create temporary space to widen the sidewalk and create space for cafes without destroying or changing anything. They just bring in the prefabricated and install it within hours. It’s a great solution to a urban problem with great results.

INVESTIGATION DAY 3 SITE SCALES TYPES PALACE OF THE FINE ARTS What was interesting about this project was the use of scale and proportion within context to the site and the user. The palace sits next to the lagoon, which makes for a scenic site. The most notable aspect from this site is the use of sculpture on the columns, which expresses a sense of art and elegance. The use of classic roman architecture gives this site identity and one cant stop but to be amazed by the spectacle.

DETAIL

HUMAN SCALE DIAGRAM

DIAGRAMIC SECTION

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COIT TOWER/TELEGRAPH HILLCoit Tower is 210 foot high tower on Telegraph Hill in Pioneer Park, San Francisco. Because of heavy traffic in the area, the best way to get up to Coit Tower is to walk through the energetic streets of North Beach to Filbert Street. The hill is one of the steepest short distance in San Francisco, but the street has steps to make the trek a little bit easier. For a break, pause halfway up and turn to the west to get a glimpse of the great view. The San Francisco bus system offers a convenient trip going to Coit Tower. Coit Tower is isolated from surroundings unlike City Hall and Golden Gate Park. There are about 20 parking spots so that people are force to walk up there or take a bus to get up there.

CIRCULATION DIAGRAM

Golden Gate Bridge Vista PlazaThe scale at which the Golden Gate Bridge juxtaposes the integrated Los Angeles Skyline in the background shows just how powerful a structure and or idea can do to the immediate scale at which a person experiences a space. It was at this time in the trip that I realized just what an impact a project like the one we are working on could have on the representation of Los Angeles.

Golden Gate SF

LADodger

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STUDIO WORK SAMPLES

WORK SAMPLES

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The process was extremely important to the ideas that came with our project. There wasn't something we fol-lowed through with that we at least didn't mention to each other. The collaborative effort was there whether we agreed or not.

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INSPIRATION

LANDSCAPE URBANISM

DAVID HOCKNEY

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Landscape urbanism is not anything new. It almost is just a reemergence of the idea that the landscape is the most im-portant aspect of the urban fab-ric. “In conceptualizing a more organic, fluid ecology…life on the planet is deeply bound into dynamic relationships”. The idea that everything has to be and will be intertwined in noth-ing new. It looks like the idea of

people living in areas that are not connected is finally being accepted as unacceptable. The idea that the city is not defined by the buildings but rather the spaces between the buildings was coined by Charles but in my eyes it roots back to Olmst-ed. The use of the landscape in the urban setting was brought forth then and was then refined, or is in the process of being

refined, by the term landscape urbanism. It’s mentioned in the reader that “landscape is not only a formal model for urban-ism today, but perhaps more im-portantly, a model for process”. This process is what I think is the refinement of Olmsted’s ideas of landscape in the urban setting.

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The backyard is something very familiar to people in Los Angeles as appose to other cities. When visiting other cities, like New York and San Francisco, the backyard is present but is not something many people have or experience in the way Los Angeles does. Not to say that in Los Angeles does it better than other cities but with the availabil-ity to personify the southern California way of living, which is expressed by David Hockey as “relaxed and sensual”, it only makes sense that this opportunity to work with dodger stadium should be the way to show what Los Angeles’ backyard is all about. Through the understanding that backyards are underutilized we began to look at different ways this idea of a backyard could be implemented in such a large site. Being aware that children spend about 40 minutes a week in the backyard and adults spend only 15 minutes in the backyard was something we found useful. If the backyard is not being utilized then we as landscape Architects must do something to how the backyard is experienced. With such a unique resource being underutilized we saw an opportunity to re-conceptualize the backyard. We began by looking at what Dodger Stadium was and what it signified to us. Dodger stadium went hand in hand with this idea that Los Angeles was “relaxed and sensual”; sensual obviously being less transcendent into what is experienced in a baseball game. With this idea that when anyone goes to a baseball game they should feel relaxed we began to see just how obvious this connection between the backyard and a baseball game would be. The idea that one should relax in both environments was something we decided to combine. At a baseball game one relaxes in the stands while eating or social-izing, while in the backyard all of this is present except for a live baseball game. Chilling, Grilling and Playing were our main focuses in developing our design. We wanted to create these environments at 3 different scales. Instead of the backyard experi-ence being just local, we decided to make it communal as well. The only way to show what Los Angeles’ backyard looks like to the world we had to work in these 3 different scales. We wanted to create a site that would embody the way people all over the world see Los Angeles. At a local/personal scale we decided to work with the existing topography and building types. We arranged the grid in our system with the intention that it would serve a simple way for people get to around without losing their sense of direction. Building types and topography will create a comfortable backyard for the individual because after all, comfort is something a backyard should evoke. We embedded the buildings into the to-pography with a grid system, which we call “Gridtopgraphy”. This enabled easy access to a more natural environment that would put some of the building rooftops level with the site topography and level with Elysian Park. The idea is to create a space that connects to the surroundings while maintaining a feasible level of privacy. We were aware that the level of privacy was not going to be that of typical backyard, which has a fence on all sides, but this is one the reasons many people don’t use their backyards. This opportunity to place the back yard in an urban style setting could be the solution to making a city more defined by the spaces between the buildings. Dodger stadium welcomes roughly 45,000 people during game time. Which means circulation must be addressed to better get people in and out of Dodger Stadium. With these amounts of people able to come onto the site it only makes sense to create a type social environment on non game days but the site is marooned when there isn’t a game. An issue with having this many people on the site was that the amount open space in the currently parking lots. The site is mainly automobile driven.

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With a site that’s automobile driven, it only makes sense that there would not be very much opportunity for the ecological aspect of the site to be exalted. The hydrological and ecological opportunities of the site should be taken advantage of. Connecting the site to its context while making it pedestrian friendly is important when creating a unique backyard experience. Transportation is the dominant issue with the site. We didn’t like how the majority of the site was dedicated to parking due to the prime real estate it was on. Getting the parking centralized or offsite was a priority. We decided was most appropriate was to place 3 parking structures on the outer hill ring of the site. This would not block any of the views from the existing parking lots. Each one of the parking struc-tures would house roughly 6,000 automobiles, which in total would be enough to accommodate fans on game days. Another issue that needed to be addressed was the lack of connectability to the surrounding streets and freeways. What we did to address this was connect the parking structure directly to the roads in the perimeter of the site. One of the main features to our site design is the ease in which fans can access these parking structures. There are 2 parking structures that connect directly to freeways. People coming to a Dodger game will now only have to look for the parking structure exit when on the 5 and 110 freeways. Once exiting the parking structures, people will ride the escalators up to the rooftop of the parking struc-ture, which will have a tram waiting to transport them to the desired area of the Dodger Stadium. Along with this area serving automobiles, it will also serve the gold line and busses. The gold line will connect to the parking structure next to the 110 freeway, which will give the people access to the tram that serves as transportation to the desired stadium location. We decide to recreate the backyard at 3 different scales. For example; at the local/personal scale there would have to be an apartment or house, at a communal scale a community would have to be pres-ent, and at a regional scale there would have to be a city. The only thing existing would be the regional context so the communal and local/personal would have to be built. This is along with the prime real es-tate is the reason for the housing implementation on the site. What we did was provide low, medium and high income housing. Because of the prime real estate opportunity, low income housing would have to be minimal, while high and medium income housing would make the majority of the housing. Each one of the housing units will have a personal space, either on their balconies or on the roof top of their buildings. This would create the local/personal backyard for them to chill, grill and play. The only difference to the typical backyard here is the fact that they will not have the lonely, marooned feel to their backyards. Some of the housing further away from the stadium will be on hills that connect directly to Elysian Park. These hills will give each resident a unique view of the ball game while making that con-nection to the ecological opportunities in Elysian Park. Wildlife will be something that a person can experi-ence in their personal backyard if they choose in this setting. When one leaves the apartment and goes to the ground floor, they will be greeted by a communal backyard. This communal backyard is more a space for the community to use to, chill, grill and play. In some of these communal setting there will an option to grab a spot on Dodger Hill. Dodger hill is a space we created in the stadium that gives residents access to watch the game on a set area on the hill. Fans (regional) will be able to watch the game from here too but will have to pay a fee, whereas some local residents will not. Arrangements to watch the game in Dodger hill will have to be made by the residents prior to the game. The communal area will also serve as a buffer to the regional aspect of the design. The regional aspect of the design will have a main corridor that will run through Dodger Stadium into Elysian Park. It will serve as a main corridor, main entrance and shopping center for the site. The area outside of the Dodger Stadium will be retail driven while the areas closer to Elysian Park will serve a more ecological and hydrological area. This connection between downtown and Elysian park will give people the option to get to one another without having to go around Dodger Stadium. Dodger Stadium will no longer be just a ball park; it will no longer be marooned on game days. It will provide local residents the characteristics present in a backyard, while keeping in mind that it is in an urban setting. It will bring that sense of relaxation when he or she chooses to use their backyard. No longer will Dodger Stadium be a place that, just as backyard, is not used only for a fraction of the day or year. Dodger Stadium will change the way the backyard is seen at an urban setting; it will become Los Angeles’ Backyard.

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FINAL

CONDITION

VISION

SOLUTIONS

WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE

LANDSCAPE URBANISM

HOW IT WORKS

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Landscape can reform a city but only with the help of other disciplines/professions. Landscape architecture can be a catalyst to the reform needed in the urban setting and beyond. It isn’t a question of whether it can reform but rather a question of how and with what it will reform the city. Taken even further is the question of whether landscape is the way to reform the city. This brings up this notion of collaborations with other professions. There are reforms that engineers and architects will have to make to create this opportunity for the landscape to become the driving force in a better working and sustainable city. When, and only when, other professions know and see the impact the landscape can and does have on the city, will the landscape define the urban setting.

Thank you Andrew WIlcox and SWA.

-Team Backyard

Documents

The Backyard