The Chicano Moratorium and the Making of Latino Urbanism

2020-11-18T15:01:00-05:00

In 1970, Los Angeles was a sort of modern utopia-in-progress. At the same time—and for the first time, really—Mexican Americans were becoming an economic, cultural and political force. East Los Angeles became the center of the Chicano Movement, Whittier Boulevard its bustling “Main Street.”

Los Angeles urban planner, artist, community activist, and educator, James Rojas pens a brief history of "Latino Urbanism" tracing through his own life, the community, and the physical space of East Los Angeles. Mr. Rojas coined the word Latino Urbanism and a strong advocate of its meaning, using community gatherings and discussions via his artfully created wood blocks as buildings enabling non architects create imaginary city blocks, civic centers and neighborhoods under his story telling guidance..

"In the late 1960’s, Frank Villalobos, Raul Escobedo, David Angelo, and Manual Orozco, a team of young architects, urban planners, and landscape designers, formed a community design center called Barrio Planners. This politically active group focused their practice on building a Chicano utopia, designing El Mercado as a community event space based on the design of a market in Guadalajara, Mexico. El Mercado was financed through a community collective and was originally designed as a tw...

A Brief History Of Boyle Heights, In 6 Landmarks

2019-11-11T17:52:38-05:00

"a 'melting pot' area and is literally honeycombed with diverse and subversive racial elements. It is seriously doubted whether is a single block in the area which does not contain detrimental racial elements, and there are very few districts are not hopelessly heterogeneous in type of improvement and quality of maintenance."

"By the early 20th century, Boyle Heights had become a multi-ethnic enclave. World events had led to an influx of immigrants from Mexico, Russia and other parts of the United States. But the neighborhood's development wasn't simply due to population growth. Racist and xenophobic practices dictated life in Los Angeles, everything from where you could live to what jobs you were likely to get to where you could be buried. For people of color and recent immigrants, this meant that not every neighborhood was hospitable or even open to them."
By Liz OHANESIAN

Archinect - News

The Chicano Moratorium and the Making of Latino Urbanism

A Brief History Of Boyle Heights, In 6 Landmarks