Reimagining Housing
At cityLAB, we leverage innovative design research to advance spatial justice, with a particular focus on exploring novel accommodation models that make housing more accessible and affordable.
We conduct dedicated research to identify the main barriers to affordable and adaptable housing options.
We produce informative handbooks that guide people through the process of taking action.
We create prototypes and pilot demos that showcase transformative design solutions.
We also co-author new housing legislation that opens up possibilities for architects, planners, and communities.
We are proud to have co-authored and passed AB2299, which allows for ADUs, and AB2295, which enables Education Workforce Housing. These legislative achievements demonstrate our proficiency in bridging research with impacts.
Framing the Commons
At the heart of our efforts lies the pursuit of equitable public spaces that foster community and social inclusivity.
Our approach acknowledges the significance of everyday environments, leveraging design to facilitate civic connections and expand the public realm.
Our participatory design toolkit provides micro-urban intervention strategies to mobilize everyday resources and citizen power to create playful, engaging, and replicable public spaces that appeal to all age groups.
We collaborate with local organizations to host events and exhibitions throughout Los Angeles and beyond, bridging university research with the larger urban community.
Marking Narratives
As part of the thriving academic community at UCLA, cityLAB engages in a variety of educational endeavors, exemplified by the active involvement in collaborative curricular development for the Urban Humanities Initiative (UHI) launched by the Mellon Foundation.
UHI’s imaginative, cross-disciplinary humanistic framework combines place-based research with experiential learning methods, taught through innovative formats such as workshops, advanced research seminars, capstone studios, fieldwork, and alumni salons.
At the core of cityLAB's ethos is the belief that each project is a valuable opportunity to mentor and train the next generation of scholars and practitioners in addressing contemporary urban issues and conducting cutting-edge research that makes a difference in our most vulnerable communities.
Radical Pedagogies
In our pursuit of community inclusion, we promote new methods of documentation to restore neglected narratives and re-ascribe agency through public art and design interventions.
We aim to raise the awareness, understanding, and appreciation of the Indigenous immigrant communities of our region.
Our work in the Westlake/Pico Union neighborhood is a collaborative, multigenerational, and multilingual public history initiative that celebrates and builds a holistic narrative of the neighborhood’s historical memory, cultural experiences, and enduring traditions.
We will undertake similar public history endeavors across Southern California’s Indigenous immigrant neighborhoods.