The Los Angeles Design Festival (LADF) was initiated as a non-profit organization in 2010 as a way to celebrate the city's rich design culture, diversity and talent. In 2017, as a boutique architecture/planning firm in Los Angeles, we installed a large-scale installation as part of their week-long programming to be centered around Downtown LA's growing arts + design scene. One of two venues located in Downtown LA's Fashion District was City Market South, a recently-developed creative and mixed-use complex located in LA's original City Market. Over half a century ago, the City Market was once a burgeoning produce market and has shifted focus over the years into a wholesale garment merchandiser before recently being converted by developers. City Market South and the surrounding neighborhood is currently evolving quite rapidly, and our installation titled [in]tension an exploration of the temporal social threads within the changing community.
We wanted to build something large, bold and unusual but most importantly we wanted our installation to connect with the site, culturally and historically, that would engage and introduce the community to the new development, as well as create a backdrop for LADF's programming of events. We activated the newly transformed courtyard of City Market South by interpolating (18) 8x8 steel frames woven with mason string in intricate patterns throughout. The palette of materials was inspired by the site's history and spirit. Its bright colors of green, orange, yellow & pink are often found in the neighborhood just walking around in the Fashion District. Masons-string also serves as guidelines during construction - abstract lines made physical for brief moments. As this site and city continue to change, [in]tension has intertwined the past with the present, and is a brief, temporary homage to all those that shaped this site and community.
Credits:
- Assembledge+
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