Building with Landscape
UCLA - Architecture and Urban Design - Design Studio 412 - M.Arch 1st year - Winter 2026
The 412 Building Design Studio focuses on the relation of structure to architectural design, examining techniques of structural form-finding and expression. The studio oscillates between notions of structure as a response to the exter-nal forces that act on a building (gravity first among these), and spatial order. That is, we will think of structure do-ing two kinds of work. First, it responds to the conditions of physics by managing a set of vertical, lateral, and tor-sional forces. Second, structure organizes matter and space through its spacing, repetition, sizing, and, at times, through discrete and idiosyncratic gestures. Mediating between these two roles, the aesthetic expression of structure is the point where the presence of mostly invisible forces begins to merge with the design of architecture’s visible presence. In particular, this occurs through ornament and its longstanding role as the locus where the physically per-formative parts of architecture start to communicate with an audience through an expanded register of optical and spatial effects.
Students design a house for plants: an arboretum with a specific intent to conserve and, as such, educate the public on conservation on a real site in Los Angeles to produce a new building typology which appropriates the program for a dense urban condition with tectonic aspects supporting a fully planted out urban conservationist landscape. Our building proposal will serve as the enclosure to preserve and grow plants that would not otherwise be able to survive in the prevailing climactic conditions of Los Angeles. In addition to plant growth, the building will house the ancil-lary functions of research, and public engagement. Not only does structure regulate the basic properties of a building like span, height, and volume, but it is highly correlated to the kinds of decisions that will need to be made as the building attempts to serve various audiences: structures can be cellular or open, light or heavy, dense or aerated, and can move between these conditions. The ambition is to produce a more synthetic relationship between environmen-tal and structural agendas; however, structure governs here.
This blended nature of the program will require projects to simultaneously attend to the demands of plant growth (with great specificity for the requirements of plant species) alongside the requirement for human habitation. In both function and expression, then the building will level the proverbial playing field between the space of plants and the place of humans. The physical and spatial properties of structure are an ideal frame within which to consider this flattening of hierarchy between our building’s human and non-human constituencies. Program is a supporting char-acter, a productive contaminant to structural order which defines a simple boundary or limit of a system. Program has the capacity to mediate as specific elements may be assigned to either the ground or fly as elements related to overhead structure in order to meet the restrictive constraints of the building footprint and envelope.
Students work by Anna Merlin, Lucille He, Jessica Gonzales-Hernandez, Pearl Chou, Roselyn Tovar, Maggie Shun Ying Zhuang, Yunhao Chen, Caroline Abel, Yunxiu Katelynn Li - UCLA - Architecture and Urban Design - M.Arch 1st year - Fall 2024
Building with Landscape
UCLA - Architecture and Urban Design - Design Studio 413 - M.Arch 2nd year - Fall 2025
Los Angeles grapples continually with the environmental challenges intrinsic to its geographical location. These challenges encompass geological instability, a highly diverse topography, recurrent wildfires, extreme temperatures and a persistent scarcity of water resources. The city confronts an unrelenting demand to sustain its ever-expanding metropolitan existence, particularly as the compounding effects of climate change exacerbate its immediate environmental milieu. Accommodating the diverse communal habits of urban living necessitates extensive infrastructural undertakings and innovative solutions. In an epoch characterized by a shift toward more subtle and concealed infrastructures, Los Angeles continues to rely on extensive physical infrastructures to secure its natural resources, a prerequisite vital for its survival as a metropolis.
Amidst the backdrop of adverse climate change, characterized by arid conditions, reduced precipitation, and frequent droughts, the foremost concern in Los Angeles pertains to the procurement of natural water sources for the city. Historically, the supplying of water to this arid locale has been a monumental endeavor. An intricate network of infrastructure facilitates the delivery of water into the city, primarily sourced from the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range via surface aqueducts and tunnels. Within the metropolitan boundaries, this water undergoes management via an expansive framework of dams, reservoirs, channels, and pumping stations, culminating in its delivery to individual faucets.
The development of essential civic infrastructures has traditionally served as a marker of a civilization's advancement, aiding in the organization and facilitation of evolving communal needs and desires. Present-day urban centers rely on public/private institutions to oversee and maintain these infrastructures, serving as intermediaries between resource cultivation, distribution, and public consumption. In a field invested in the cultural impact of architectural interventions, the conspicuous absence of influence and participation in envisioning the integration of civic infrastructures, which fundamentally impact the equitable and just distribution of resources to the public, warrants profound consideration. It is against this contextual backdrop that the studio puts forth the prompt to examine the agency of architecture in engaging with and speculating on its relationship to larger systems.
Students work by Ehan Boll, Benjamin Castle, Konrad Collins, Emma Fuller-Monk, Ava Gellegani, Taha Jamshidi, Evan Oestreich, Sydney Patterson, Cheng Wang, Schelle Yu, ShiRui Zhu - UCLA - Architecture and Urban Design - M.Arch 1st year - Fall 2024
Simulation - Architecture Mediation V + VI
UCLA - Architecture and Urban Design - M.Arch 1st year - Spring 2025
Students work by Sydney Patterson, Remi Messier - UCLA - Architecture and Urban Design - M.Arch 1st year - Fall 2024
Housing Los Angeles - Reframing the Dream
UCLA - Architecture and Urban Design - Design Studio 401 - M.Arch 1st year - Spring 2025
For decades, the single-family home has been synonymous with the California dream: architectural innovation, cultural aspiration, and economic opportunity. However, soaring housing costs and limited supply exclude most Angelenos from this dream. This Los Angeles Paradox gave rise back in 1945 to the case study houses project where architects were tasked with designing single houses for mass production by rethinking architectural form, structure, and materials. This project failed and left Angelenos today, 80 years later, with a new focus: shifting from the dominance of single-family homes to a more diverse housing landscape that addresses affordability, density, and community needs. With this studio we explore the history of experiments in densification through thorough studies of housing typologies that are endemic to Los Angeles: bungalow courts, dingbats, Townhouses, Duplex/Fourplex, Tract Homes/Cottages, and courtyard apartments.
The American Dream of homeownership, once a cornerstone of economic opportunity and stable communities, now stands fractured. The housing market collapse and economic shifts exposed the inherent limitations of this dream, revealing the many who were excluded. Los Angeles exemplifies this struggle. Soaring home prices shut out most residents, while exorbitant rents far exceed recommended income to rent ratios. This has fueled gentrification and displacement, eroding not just the economic prospects of Angelenos but also the city's vibrant social and cultural fabric.
Recognizing this, city and state officials are pushing for change. New policies aim to increase affordability and curb urban sprawl's negative environmental impact. Recent legislation even allows for building up to four units on single-family zoned lots. However, these efforts face economic headwinds. Even single-family homes now exceed $800,000 on average, with low-income options barely better at $500,000 per unit. The high cost of land, especially in urban centers, is a major factor. To address affordability, this shift from the single-family "house" to broader "housing" solutions sees density as a key strategy for creating a more accessible Los Angeles.
This studio dives deep into the challenges of Los Angeles housing. We move beyond traditional design, exploring how architecture can create new ways of living in the city. Examining social, cultural, and economic factors shaping housing, we'll study existing models and spatial arrangements to develop innovative designs that address affordability, community, and a sense of place. Inspired by Robin Evans' "Figures, Doors, and Passages," we'll delve into seemingly ordinary aspects of housing, exploring the balance between private and public space, individual versus collective living, and the transition between indoors and outdoors. Through this exploration, we'll analyze existing housing models and their spatial arrangements, learning from the past while pushing boundaries towards innovative and fresh solutions
Students work by Dena Assad, Yu-Yi Chuang, Sixie Hu, Harry Huh, Hunter Liao, Julia Muschler, Jaya Xue, Fernando Zavala Luque, Harry O’Connor - UCLA - Architecture and Urban Design - M.Arch 1st year - Fall 2024
Bodies, Cuts, Isometrics - Architecture Mediation IV
UCLA - Architecture and Urban Design - M.Arch 1st year - Winter 2025
In this module, students will investigate the spatial and material qualities of everyday domestic objects by arranging them digitally into a composed still life. These objects, while simple in nature, act as analogs for architectural ele-ments, offering a means to explore relationships between form, materiality, and space. They may be internally ho-mogenous or have varied sections which suppress internal characteristics to the exterior. Through a three-dimen-sional sectional cut rendered in isometric projection, students will uncover both the internal and external characteris-tics of the objects as simultaneous representations of interior and exterior.
The focus of this exercise is the combined use of line and fill as the central tools of representation. Line will deline-ate objects, define spatial boundaries, and articulate edges, while fill will emphasize areas of mass, depth, and con-trast, as well as cast shadows. Shadows, as a form of fill, play a vital role in defining spatial relationships and en-hancing the depth of the image. A well-placed shadow can reinforce the hierarchy of objects, ground elements within the composition, and reveal the interplay between solid and void.
Students must develop a strategic approach to using line and fill, considering variations in line weight, density, and continuity alongside fill opacity, texture, and tone. Heavy lines might articulate sectional cuts and primary edges, while lighter lines or dashes suggest secondary or hidden details. Fill should define the volumes and surfaces of objects, providing clarity and emphasis. Cast shadows, represented through fill techniques, should be used to rein-force spatial logic, enhance the legibility of overlaps, and create subtle transitions between elements.
The spatial, two-axis cut operates as a tool of analysis and representation, dissecting the still life to expose its inter-nal structures and spatial relationships. By carefully choreographing the scene and redistributing objects around a static cut, and leveraging the interplay of line and fill, students will develop a drawing that communicates the com-positional and material logic of their work.
Students work by Anel Alpysbayeva, Pearson Haidar Brown, Ava Gellegani, Hardy Wang, Mengyan Wang, Yihan Wang, Yige Cai, Harry Huh - UCLA - Architecture and Urban Design - M.Arch 1st year - Fall 2024