Architecture of the Los Angeles Environment and the Users: The Effect on Life Experiences
Wesley Luna
University of Southern California
(562) 422-7374
wv_luna@yahoo.com
Abstract
The built environment is something we interact with and use in our daily lives. We use
and move between these created and organized spaces, and do not give it a second thought.
Even though it is not obvious, the built environment plays a big part in our life experiences.
Each built structure and its organization within the fabric of a city has a purpose in how it can
help benefit its users and the surrounding environment. The interactions and connections that
are being established between the spaces and their users’ result in a unique life experience that
affects us subconsciously. Focusing on the city of Los Angeles, this paper explores the
connections between the four different ecologies: Surfurbia, the Foothills, the Plains of Id and
Autopia and their relationship with the people interacting with the spaces created, resulting in
a connection and influence on the users. The idea on how the built environment is organized
and created through urban design can greatly affect the way we experience life as a whole.
Wesley Luna, a fourth year architecture student in a five year program at the University
of Southern California aspires to become an architect in the state of California and is curently
one of the co-founders and creative director of his own clothing line called “Collective
Hardlines” based in Long Beach, California.
Keywords-Urban Design, Urban, Design, Los Angeles, Ecologies, Built Environment
Introduction
Architecture is everywhere and is used by everyone. The built environment is something
we interact with and use in our daily lives. We use and move between these created and
organized spaces and do not give them a second thought. Even though it is not obvious, the
built environment plays a big part in our daily life experiences. The places we inhabit can affect
our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that in turn can reflect in our actions throughout the day.
Each built structure and its organization within the great urban fabric of a city has a purpose in
how it can help benefit its users and the surrounding atmosphere. The city of Los Angeles is a
great example of the interactions of different types of built environments that make up a large
city. The ecologies that are established in this city can be organized into four different
categories according to Reyner Banham: Surfurbia, the Foothills, the Plains of ld, and Autopia
[1:19,77,143,195]. The interactions and connections that are being established between the
environmental spaces and its users’ result in unique life experiences that affect us in a
subconscious level.
What is Urban Design?
The definition of urban design is very broad and is open to different interpretations to
different people. Urban design is considered its own discipline, but to many other fields it is
considered merely an interface between other related fields. Urban design blends architecture,
landscape architecture, and city planning together to create urban areas that are functional and
attractive [2:105]. Urban design is about making connections between people and places,
movement of urban form, nature, and the built urban environment. According to Ayssar Arida,
the most popular definition of urban design is “the interface between urban planning and
architecture [2:105]. In the discipline of architecture, urban design involves space and the
realization through the physicality of architectural buildings in towns and cities “[2:106]. Urban
design is about making connections between people and places, movement of urban form,
nature, and the built urban environment.
The Four Ecologies of Los Angeles
Reyner Banham, the author of “Los Angeles: The Architecture of Four Ecologies” studied
the built environment of the seventy square mile city of 1971 Los Angeles by looking at it with
fresh eyes and taking into consideration manifestations of popular taste and industrial
ingenuity along with the traditional modes of residential and commercial buildings. Through his
observations, Banham offered four “ecologies” (the scientific study of the relations that living
organisms have with respect to each other and their natural environment), as a way of
describing Los Angeles [1:3].
Ecology 1: Surfurbia - The Beaches
The beaches are a unique characteristic about Los Angeles that makes it a standout
when compared to other cities around the world. This ecology of sand, spans continuously for
about seventy miles from Malibu to Balboa, making Los Angeles, the city-on-the-shore as seen
in Figure 1 [1: 19]. According to Banham, there is a sense in which the beach is the only place in
Los Angeles where men are equal and on common ground [1:21]. The experiences in this
environment are so natural, that the characteristics of the spaces such as the smell and
temperature have a close are experienced almost everywhere near the beach.
Figure 1 The beach community of Santa Monica.
Ecology 2: The Foothills
The foothills, based on Banham’s observations, are where social status in Los Angeles
associates with height. This location is where a person finances and the natural topography
interact to create some of the most beautiful homes in the world- “the higher the location the
higher the income” as shown in Figure 2. The neighborhoods of the foothills are Silverlake, Los
Feliz, Hollywood, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Bel Air, Brentwood, and Pacific Palisades
where the foothills bend into the Pacific Ocean [1:79]. The foothill ecology is really all about
narrow and tortuous residential roads serving precipitous house plots that often back up
directly on unimproved wilderness, an air of deeply buried privacy [1:81].
Figure 2 A view from the Burbank Foothills.
Ecology 3: The Plains of Id
The majority of Los Angeles is “an endless plain endlessly grid with endless streets, peppered
endlessly with ticky-tacky houses clustered in indistinguishable neighborhoods, and slashed
across by endless freeways that have destroyed any community spirit that may have once
existed “[1:143]. This flatland of the urban environment is the canvas that creates one of the
world’s great urban vistas extending twenty miles from the foothills of the mountains to San
Pedro [1:151]. The structures built in this environment vary in size due to their purpose and
function, resulting in strong relationship with the buildings and the spaces they create as seen
in Figure 3.
Figure 3 The famous Los Angeles Skyline is part of the Plain of Id.
Ecology 4: Autopia
Autopia is an interpretation of the freeways of Los Angeles. This ecology is considered
the true urban monument in the city, making the experience of mobility a central characteristic
of the city as shown in Figure 4. The system is totally a single logical place, a coherent state of
mind, and a complete way of life [1:195]. The freeway is a complete way of life with Angelenos
who spend a large amount of their lives driving on the freeways. The private car and the public
freeways relationship together, provide an ideal form of urban transportation that is a door-todoor movement through the very large area of the urban environment [1:187]
.
Figure 4 The one busiest interchanges in Los Angeles is I-105 / I-110 Interchange
The Four Ecologies and their Relationship with Architecture
The four ecologies’ relationship with architecture is very strong in that the architecture
established in these ecologies creates and dictates the atmosphere of the environment. An
example would be the beach houses that can be found in the Surfurbia ecology, which has
architectural elements with strong connections to the surrounding environment of the sand
and waves on the beach. In the Foothills, the main objective of the architecture is the creation
of connections to other ecologies such as the Plains of Id and the famous Los Angeles skyline,
by creating views that only money can buy. In the main and most prominent ecology of the
plain, the architecture reflects the function of the structures which range from residential
housing to multi-storied business high rises. Lastly, the ecology that overlaps and connects the
others is the Autopia. It has a very clear architectural objective to make mobility through the
urban fabric of the city easier for its users in theory but in actuality, every Angelino has a car
creating major traffic problems. The relationships between the ecologies and their architecture
are strong in that it reflects the nature and needs of its users.
The Four Ecologies and their Effect and Relationship with the Users
Each of these four ecologies relationship with its users is dictated by the organization of
the overall urban fabric of the city. Every one of these ecologies has a certain characteristic that
subliminally influence the user through things such as distance between structures to basic
things such as color and the size of the spaces being inhabited. In Surfurbia the relationship
with its users is a natural connection through the interaction with the ocean and sand through
our scenes. The Foothills is also a natural connection but is enhanced through the use of
architecture by setting views establishing visual connections. The Plains of Id interaction with its
users is through the organization of buildings and spaces that people interact with in their daily
lives. The Autopia relationship with its users is great- it connects all the other ecologies
together through the use of a car which is an essential part of the culture of Los Angeles.
Although these factors are not noticed all the time, it truly affects the experiences in the spaces
created
Conclusion
The built environment in the city of Los Angeles, California is comprised of four distinct
ecologies: Surfurbia, the Foothills, the Plain of Id, and Autopia. Each of these different urban
designs’ plays major roles in the identity of the city. We use and move between these created
and organized spaces, but we usually do not pay any attention to it. Even though it is not
evident, the built environment plays a major part in our life experiences. Each built structure
and its organization within the fabric of a city have a purpose in how it can benefit its users and
the surrounding atmosphere. The interactions and connections that are being established
between the spaces and their inhabitants’ result in unique life experiences. Every one of these
ecologies has a certain characteristic that subliminally influences their users, such as spacing
between structures to basic characteristics like the color and the size of the spaces being
inhabited.
Bibliography
[1] Banham, “Los Angeles: The Architecture of Four Ecologies”. Berkeley and Los Angeles,
California. University of California Press, Ltd. 1971.
[2] Barnett, “An Introduction to Urban Design, Harper & Row”, New York, 1982.