Recenly erected traffic signal in front of historically significant Neutra VDL House in Silver Lake, Los Angeles. No notification was ever sent to institutions, individuals and organizations in charge of the house which is open to public. — Orhan Ayyuce
As architects we struggle to add public value in architecture so that our profession survives and makes us worthwhile, the people who are in charge of infrastructure, as in this case, the traffic engineers, don't see any value in something like the historic home of the modern architecture master Richard Neutra. Apparently outside of the property lines, the cultural value of an architectural space might as well be a traffic signal light on the smack dead center...
Please write to LADOT if this bothers you.
12 Comments
That's so audacious that it's the perfect example of LADOT's total detachment from the world outside of traffic engineering. Cars, after all, can't appreciate architecture.
Looks aligned with the upper floor windows mullions after all...
Just kidding. It's atrocious. Maybe made on purpose by some traditional architecture lover working in that department. The Modern Movement still has lots of 'enemies'.
God, I dream, I fantasize, about going to work in the local Streets department and spending my day showing people how the decisions they are about to make about our sidewalks are completely stupid. I dream of tossing this kind of photo, or the ones of poles in the middle of the right of way that are common in my city, in the face of an engineer. The girl in Short Skirt Long Jacket, that's me.
Sorry, no one owns the right of way. Is it poor placement? Yes. But this is knee-jerk NIMBYism at its finest. Make an issue of it here and where does the issue snowball?
Also, this was made public in "Traffic Safety and Operational Improvement Projects for Fiscal Year 2011-2012 in Council District 13." The funding was provided by ARRA and the project was complete on 09/03/2011.
Omigod, an actual story on it:
http://www.theeastsiderla.com/2011/08/silver-lake-prepares-to-stop/
The signal and pedestrian crossing, located between Earl Street and Armstrong Avenue, is expected to be operating by the end of the month, said Christopher Rider, a spokesman for the city’s Department of Transportation. Rusty Millar with the Silver Lake Neighborhood Council said the idea of installing a pedestrian crossing light came up during the planning for the Silver Lake Meadow. Since street parking is not allowed on the west side of Silver Lake Boulevard next to the meadow, there has been an increase of people darting from the east side of the curving street, where parking it permitted, to get to the meadow and the walking path surrounding the Silver Lake reservoirs. A section of the wall separating the walking path from Silver Lake Boulevard has been removed as part of the creation of a mid-block cross walk.
Maybe if everyone would strop visiting the house in droves, they wouldn't have had to install a crosswalk.... the delicious irony.
If you are acknowledging it is a poor placement, then we are in agreement. You are making an argument for NIMBY ism for a wrong case. This is also one of the few projects of its genre which is open to public and it is technically a state property belonging to CSU. It is the least resistant sector they erected this against, the public, not the private property ownership of SFD. Unfortunately the public interest in culture and preservation of significant works of art is violated here. City planning and urban design is not all about technical data there are cultural components to them. This is point of this post. And, it is based on personal on site observation.
This is a typical response from Neutra haters on the Eastsiders website...
"...Also, the comment by Nuetra about the post obstructing the view of the VDL house is a selfish sob. Who cares about that house? "
Modern architecture is still fighting 100 year old Victorian prejudices and modern aesthetics take a back seat to expediency thoughtlessness and of course, property values.
There is an uncompromising hatred of anything progressive modernist in this country , they are everywhere and they are called Republicans.
eric chavkin
Is that a light at a pedestrian crosswalk? I don't see an intersection or stripping. If there is no interesection in front of the house and it is in fact only a pedestrian crosswalk, it seems like it would be pretty easy and inexpensive to move. My guess is that this is a misunderstanding; DOTs are not big into their modern architecture and probably didn't even realize the significance of the building. If the major stakeholders at the house approach the DOT with their concern, I have a feeling it could be remedied.
Won and done.
From previous information gathered, the reason the crosswalk exists is more or less a parking issue as the park opposite to that, Silverlake Meadow, is surrounded by a low concrete wall and this is one of few entrances to the park and there's only curbside parking on one side of the row.
The reason why the crosswalk ended up where it did was because that spot is almost exactly 150 feet from start of each curve on this road. Given this road is 35 mph and a friction coefficient of 0.8, stopping distance would roughly be 52 feet. Considering line of sight doesn't start until around 100 ft from the crosswalk location, it would be unwise to rely on lines just alone.
The placement and the use of a stock street light is pretty awful.
My disagreement was with Orhan reaction:
Recenly erected traffic signal in front of historically significant Neutra VDL House in Silver Lake, Los Angeles. No notification was ever sent to institutions, individuals and organizations in charge of the house which is open to public.
The government is not necessarily obligated to give an owner or an organization any forewarning about right-of-way changes unless they cause significant burden (block access, damage to property) to the owner.
But this was discussed, made public and was reported on. Typically historic preservation societies generally employ or have competent volunteers who should be spending a significant amount of time monitoring these things.
What a shame. That thing isn't going anywhere unless it becomes political. Cost alone of relocating it would be nearly $50,000 +. The addition of a nice, wide mid-block crossing could help with connectivity and ped safety since it's open to the public.
my ma taught me look both ways before you cross.....only idots will step out into LA Traffic.
who needs a fricking cross walk.... I say wrap it with some aggessive aluminum eating pressure treated wood.... and see how long it is before it becomes a hazard and needs to be removed.
hummmm I guess that is a "John Brown" statement. Most likely will be gone before long.
Hope they don't hang me from a tree.
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