AIA|LA Moves Forward on Mobile Center for Architecture and Design

Announces Winner of Student Competition For Project Design

Los Angeles, CA – May 9, 2018—The American Institute of Architects Los Angeles Chapter is delighted to announce the winner of its competition to design the organization’s Mobile Center for Architecture and Design. Entry was open to students at architecture schools throughout the region and selected by the AIA|LA Board of Directors.

The winning scheme, designed by Woodbury University student Stephanie Green, enables the AIA|LA to host a variety of activities within the confines of a structure loaded onto an eighteen-wheel truck with a width as narrow as nine feet.

Titled The Capsule, the concept “allows for the Mobile Center to be bigger than ‘just a container’ on the back of an eighteen-wheeler,” observes AIA|LA Past President Douglas Teiger, AIA, who oversaw the competition. “The ability to expand the display area in such a small space provides for larger exhibits and uses as the Mobile Center moves from location to location.”

The Capsule proposes this realization of exhibition, classroom, and meeting spaces through three curvilinear horizontal capsules that telescope from street to sidewalk. The smallest capsule is a pop-out balcony connecting the Mobile Center with citizenry who move through the region’s neighborhoods with AIA|LA activities.

“Getting involved with the community not only brings connections together, but it also creates long lasting bonds,” noted Green in the presentation for The Capsule. “With the open glass front, the Capsule expands into the surrounding area for both indoor and outdoor activities.” This transparency mirrors the intent of the Center itself.

“Individually, architects are trained to approach the design process by considering surrounding conditions and community,” noted AIA|LA President Tania Van Herle, AIA. “The Mobile Center is a means for the profession, as a whole, to engage with residents throughout the region. It adheres to the authentic composition of its own city—a multi-faceted, multi-cultural, multi-racial, multi-economy metropolis—to better serve inhabitants.”

Programming at the Mobile Center will fall under three general tenets.

One, for students ranging from elementary through high school level, architects visiting the capsule can provide an in-person introduction to the fascinating world of architecture, and the AIA|LA can support next generation architects—particularly in underserved neighborhoods.

Two, the deepening of appreciation for architecture that exists in neighborhoods throughout the city.

Three, a floating gathering place focused on design.

“The Mobile Center is a place that can stimulate discussion about urban design and the architecture that makes Los Angeles a great place to be,” said AIA|LA Executive Director Carlo Caccavale, Hon. AIA|LA, who envisioned the initiative. “Food trucks delivering the culinary experience are ubiquitous throughout Los Angeles. This truck is dedicated to food for thought.”

The Center’s capacity to offer programming throughout the Los Angeles metropolis fulfills a fourth organizational goal: to increase diverse and inclusivity in the profession, so that design practitioners better reflect the racial, cultural and economic make-up of the city the Center serves.

Using Green’s conceptual drawings for The Capsule, the AIA|LA will move forward with steps to actualize the endeavor, reserving the right to re-address the design of the Center as it develops.

To Support or Become Engaged in Plans for the Mobile Center for Architecture and Design, contact AIA|LA Executive Director Carlo Caccavale, Hon. AIA|LA at: carlo@aialosangeles.org

Press Inquiries: Tibby Rothman, Hon. AIA|LA at: tibby@aialosangeles.org