Densely built urban neighborhoods ­ such as the Yucca Corridor in Hollywood ­ often leave little room for residents to meet, shop, communicate, perform and get to know each other.

A team from Woodbury University’s Center for Community Research and Design (CCRD) aims to change that though a project to find public spaces in the margins. Marginal spaces, according to CCRD director Jeanine Centuori, can be anything from gaps between two apartment buildings to parking lots to medians to the obvious areas of the sidewalks. Some of these spaces may be hidden within a property, such as a light well within an apartment building or a tucked away piece of land that is too small for legal building. Centuori advocates turning these underutilized and often decrepit spaces into informal gathering areas for a few neighbors or places to hold civic meetings. The areas also can be used for vending booths that encourage interaction among neighbors or for displays of local art or community notices.

The Yucca Corridor of Hollywood will serve as a test case for the study and proposal of new architectural interventions and a publication will be produced and distributed to inspire neighborhood development projects. The CCRD team will seek out and catalog marginal spaces, then develop programs and uses for these sample sites. Neighborhood meetings also will be held to gather community input.

"We want to reexamine the nature and meaning of public life for urban dwellers," Centuori says. "Retrofitting materials through processes such as laminating, coating, draping and masking can transform existing margins. That which is familiar can be rendered extraordinary via these slight alterations."

In addition to Centuori, the speculative design project team includes artist Russell Rock of UrbanRock Design in Los Angeles and artist and book designer Kim Shkapich. The project and book are funded by the National Endowment for the Arts, Graham Foundation and AIA California Council.

 
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