Los Angeles Museum of Street Art
Spring 2017
The Los Angeles Museum of Street Art was the final project of the Building Science Program at USC. This project had many differences from the previous projects done, as a very strict program was given in an extremely limited space due to floor area ratio and building height limitations governed by code requirements in the lot location that was given. This particular project's program was derived from a steel design competition for student architects, however, the site for the project was given to our class by our professor.
The structure that was to be designed had a square footage requirement of 78,750 sq. ft., as each space was broken down by square footage and other auxiliary requirements given in the competition's program. The most significant aspects of the program were two 28,000 sq.ft galleries with a minimum clear height of 25ft which also had to be column free in the main gallery floor area.
The lot size assigned to our class was only 42,500 sq.ft, located near the University of Southern California and the site also had a height limit of 65 feet, which was derived from code analysis for the lot area, based on the lot's location and construction type. Thus, based on the constraints of the lot area, the program, and the height limit of the structure, this project was very difficult to find a cohesive architectural design solution for.
Architectural Plans and Inspiration
The Architectural planning portion for the Los Angeles Museum of Street Art required a great deal of reconsideration and reworking due to the lot restrictions combined with necessary elements of the program. The project was simply given as "a museum" and the students needed to select which type of museum to create given the context of the site. The site given was located in Downtown Los Angeles, proximate to historical old school signage such as a large neon and metal sign for a car dealership (which was located next door to our site) as well as in an area known for graffiti and street performances, so our group decided to pay homage to Los Angeles's street art scene and create the museum at hand.
The street art theme was definitely an inspiration for the materials used in construction and the layout of the spaces, which allow for maximum visibility of the art throughout the spaces and allow for the museum to interact with street artists on the exterior as well. The choice of a brick facade on the first level was intended to draw in local street artists to add graffiti and murals of their choice at any time, thus creating a bond between a museum of street art and the art seen on the streets of Los Angeles. The large gallery spaces located on the second floor have stamped concrete walls with exposed steel trusses to create an industrial and urban feel which lends itself to the concepts of street art as a whole.
Finally, the large storefront windows in these spaces allow for weathering and bleaching of the rotating art exhibits that will be in this structure, bringing in the corrosive effects of sunlight to create indoor spaces that replicate the affects of outdoor weathering. Similar to this is the effect that the central processional ramp has, as the sunlight brought in from the top floor windows decreases along the height of the ramp, which allows for an uplifting procession toward the upstairs galleries as well as more space to exhibit art.
1st Floor Plan
2nd Floor Plan
3rd Floor Plan
4th Floor Plan
Roof Plan
Structural Design and Details
The Los Angeles Museum of Street Art was designed structurally using a variety of steel structural components in order to create a stable, yet structurally innovative structure that would meet the demands of the completion as well as code requirements. In order to create our structure, a mixed steel and reinforced concrete structure was used due to weight demands as well as parking demands. The below ground structure for parking was created with reinforced concrete beams and columns in order to support the weight of cars and the weight of the above ground structure. The top portion of the structure was created using reinforced concrete walls and steel trusses with reinforced concrete floor slabs.
Due to the large clear height of the gallery spaces and the no column requirement, standard W-shaped beams would not work to support these large areas based on calculated dead load and code obtained live load design requirements. Instead, I decided to design trusses in order to span the space, and have a relatively low member height to maintain the 25' minimum clear height requirement. The truss ended up measuring 72 feet long and had a depth of 4 feet, utilizing wide flange beams for vertical and horizontal elements and reinforced steel plates as diagonal elements, using gusset plates to connect the diagonal elements between the vertical and horizontal. This proved capable of supporting the structure and completing the program requirements associated with these spaces.
Another interesting and innovative element of structural design that was created in our architecture was the processional walkway located in the center of the gallery spaces as a method of flow throughout the art exhibits. This structure was hung using cables and had additional supports anchored into the reinforced concrete walls of the structure to maintain structural integrity in the case of a seismic event. This structure was also uniquely designed using hollow HSS elements as methods of beam support and as the substructure to the walkway, which was a diamond cut steel panel. The combination of the walkway with large scale steel trusses allowed our project to become innovative in steel design, which was a requirement of the project as a whole.
Walkway Design
Truss Design
Renders and Project Portfolio
The renders for this project were not as extensive as many other projects due to the position of the structure on the site as well as the lack of interior design of the structure due to program requirements and deliverables. However, the renderings for the Los Angeles Museum of Street Art showcase the structure and the large open spaces that the structure creates, along with the materials used to lend to its architectural purpose.
The three-dimensional rendered section shown here showcases the entirety of the galleries and the way in which light permeates the structure, creating an uplifting effect as one walks up the walkway toward the light, serving as a method to transcend toward both art and architecture enlightenment. From this view, one can also see that although the structure has three actual floor levels, each 25 foot clear space exhibit gallery alternates about the central walkway with height and the spaces that do not require a maximum or minimum height fill in the void, causing all of the program requirements to fit in a small space while still maintaining a unique architecture.
For much more information on the project, including site and code analysis, as well as design development, please see the portfolio download link below.
