The initial inspiration for the program was
sparked from the Downtown Art Walk and
became housed amid the Downtown Los Angeles’
Arts District in the basement, ground,
and second floor of the SB Lofts Building, located
on the corner of 6th and Spring. Where
there are many different lifestyles already
present in such a diverse neighborhood, the
focus of my work was to find a specific way
to engage with all ages and groups to allow
them an area for interacting on a common
ground, hence the name of the project
“Common Ground”. Common Ground would
allow individuals to use public performance
as a means of extending and overlapping
into the surrounding public zones. The facility
unites with the downtown environment by
sliding open their doors to disengage the barrier
between interior and exterior space, and
also between different local cultures. The
main performance area transforms into an
open air theatre to incorporate the surrounding
environment and converting into an informal
meeting space between performances
for general and personal use.

The program enhances the engagement
with the neighboring buildings and activities
through the forms within the site, highlighting
the need for interaction between each discipline.
Just as arts can inform one another
for better knowledge and understanding, this
neutral space is specifically designed for the
spreading of knowledge and human interaction
as the forms physically slide into and
away from one another. The formal movement
of the space creates an impact on
each of the surrounding areas, which begins
to encourage further spatial and programmatic
interaction. The diversity of the city led
me to a strong conceptual and formal design
solution to help unify residents, passersby,
and workers through functional design allowing
direct interaction of the space.