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Los Angeles
Lehrer Architects
Photography © Ronald Moore
+ Associates/Orrin Moore
An inner-city structure builds community
and rebuilds lives
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"Often
these centers are just a roof. They don't have
the emotional power of architecture, but this
one really does."
—Rand Elliott, FAIA
Architect
Lehrer Architects www.lehrerarchitects.com
Client
SRO Housing Corporation
Key
players
Reiss, Brown, Ekmekji (structural); Ideas
for the Built Environment (mechanical); Agoura
Electric Company (electrical); Mia Lehrer + Associates
(landscape); Robert F. Vairo Construction (general
contractor)
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Program:
Located in Los Angeles's Skid Row, this community center aimed
to use architecture as a tool for civic and social betterment.
The client firmly believes that everyone, no matter what their
circumstances, is entitled to a safe, clean, well-designed
space. An earlier collaboration between the architect and
client resulted in a successful homeless drop-in center and
park. However, with nearly 1,400 homeless people visiting
daily, the need for an interior community space quickly became
evident.
Solution: Regarded
as a "living room" for Skid Row, the project serves as a safe
harbor, aiding the recovery of addicts and providing for the
homeless community at large. The building is sited at the
edge of the park, welcoming the neighborhood inside with its
prominent staircase, and presenting an air of civic grandeur
with its 40-foot-high colonnade. The interior spaces are flooded
with light. The building's meeting room, office space, and
rooftop garden accommodate weekly meetings of seniors, 12-step
recovery programs, art workshops, chess clubs, poetry readings,
and biweekly health examinations. Using color and light, civic
style, and humane scale, the architect and client prove that
architecture can empower and build community where there was
none.
For more images please see the November
2004 issue or Architectural Record.
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Record in print, or get Architectural
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