Gehry Partners and the Children's Institute, non-profit organization that provides social services for children and families living in poverty, have broken ground on a new $20 million, 20,000-square-foot community resource complex in Los Angeles's Watts neighborhood.
The building is made up of a series of low-slung, discrete rooms that surround a a pair of double-height interstitial spaces overlooked by a mezzanine. The complex will bring facilities for therapeutic programs, counseling, parenting workshops and other community facilities to the neighborhood. The complex will also house the Watts Gang Task Force, a group that "has brokered peace in the community for nearly 15 years, along with the LAPD Community Safety Partnership," while also offering "a nationally-recognized model for relationship-based policing," according to a press release for the project.
In a Youtube video promoting the center, Frank Gehry says, "I think a building that's optimistic, that is outgoing and friendly to the community has a different message," and describes the project as "a flower in a garden that's gonna have many flowers."
In an additional press statement, Gehry added, "It is our intent that the building will be comforting and welcoming. I hope this building will serve and inspire children and families for generations to come.”
The building is scheduled for completion in late 2021.
Agreed. I've always thought that the best Gehry buildings were the early ones with the tightest budgets. This one's modest budget seems, ironically, to be a real asset for the design.
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That looks really nice - a literal 'return to form' for Gehry.
I look forward to the progress on this one; it should be great for the community!
Agreed. I've always thought that the best Gehry buildings were the early ones with the tightest budgets. This one's modest budget seems, ironically, to be a real asset for the design.
agree accept the awning thing over the entrance looks like a tilted brim of a hat like the building is white guy trying to be hood.
Count me in for a fifth agree. Looks even picturesque in the best sense. Maybe the awning is a nod to his usual dystopian compositions, a calling card that says, he's still keep'n it real.
Really nice design
You comments are amazing
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