This project is to design an art center in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles. Boyle Height is special, as the neighborhood has long been known as a bustling, somewhat insular, Latino enclave in Eastside Los Angeles. The arrival of the city’s light rail system changed the whole neighborhood and made Boyle Heights more accessible to outsiders, and since then, a wave of gentrification has swept the area. Whether it is a good thing is hard to judge, but the specialty of this issue makes our site become more sensitive to design.

Through the site visit and interviews of local residents, I can feel strongly about their intentions to try to maintain their community and resistance to new constructions. What they need is PROTECTION. This community is full of creation and passion. Murals can be seen everywhere around the corner. Even metal barriers around a parking lot can be used by vendors to display their wares. Their talent needs to more attention. Taking those considerations, the core idea of this design responds with a designed roof structure which allows a variety of activities to happen harmoniously underneath it.