COMMUNITYscape
“Images of landscape are evident in a remarkable range of our creations: literature, poetry, paintings, ceramics, tapestries and weaving, myths, gardens, cultural activities, films, television documentaries, travel material, maps, advertising. We laud our virtues and achievements through iconic landscape imagery, often forgetting that equally the ordinary everyday landscape reflects deeply who we are and is a storehouse of private and collective memories.”- Ken Taylor
In preparation for site analysis of Slauson and Wall, students research and examine the history of land use, environmental damages, planning and real estate policies, transportation and infrastructure, and changing demographics of the site and surrounding neighborhood. Students become experts on the land – as early as before the Spanish settlers colonized Los Angeles to how the city has recently acquired the Slauson & Wall Project site/land from a private owner, and all transformations within this long period of time. Students discover how and why this part of L.A. became what it is today and why the Slauson & Wall Project is so necessary and vital to the community.
These are the overall areas of in-depth study of this land:
Demographics - the characteristic human populations in Los Angeles which contribute to its cultural experiences.
Cultivation - how the plants we use in the landscape reflect our attitudes towards the land and what it provides.
Agriculture to Urban - the exploitation of resources, land grabs and the construction of the Los Angeles Aqueduct led to major rural and urban developments - exponential growth in populations and the expansion of the city.
Infrastructure - public transportation systems providing Los Angeles residents with socioeconomic mobility, expanding beyond downtown, linking communities and suburbs.
Land Grabs - both historic and current acquisitions shaping neighborhoods of investment and disinvestment, resulting in place-based inequities.
Authority - the wielding of planning power to either maintain or dismantle inequitable structures for either private interests or the public good.
Zoning - double standard enforcement of code land use, lacking accountability and marginalizing neighborhoods.
Contamination - lack of environmental policy enforcement resulting in poor health outcomes for certain communities.
