What is happening at cityLAB?
JOIN TATIANA BILBAO AND CITYLAB FOR A LECTURE ON APRIL 22
We are thrilled to invite you to an unforgettable evening celebrating architecture, creativity, and community! Join us on April 22, 2024, at 5:30 pm in Peloff Hall Decafe. UCLA cityLAB and AUD present Tatiana Bilbao of Tatiana Bilbao ESTUDIO, who will speak about "Architecture is a Collective Act."
Following the lecture, join us at 7:00 pm in Perloff Hall Courtyard for the cityLAB Block Party! Immerse yourself in interactive exhibitions showcasing cityLAB's ongoing projects, while enjoying tacos, refreshing drinks, music, and limited-edition swag.
Don't miss this chance to be inspired by Tatiana Bilbao’s sensitive design approaches to a collective environment and to experience firsthand the vibrant energy and radical methodology of cityLAB.
CITYLAB IS HIRING
We are seeking new collaborators for paid positions in Summer 2024 and the 2024-25 Academic Year. Graduate students will be automatically considered for all Research & Fellowship positions. Undergraduates will be considered only for the Undergraduate Fellowship. This application is for continuing and incoming UCLA AUD students only.
Apply at this link by April 30th, 2024.
BRUINHUB IN LA TIMES
BruinHub was featured in the Los Angeles Times!
cityLAB's commitment to supporting UCLA students facing long commutes is making headlines, and we are proud of the positive impact of BruinHubs as part of a broader strategy to address housing insecurity.
Check out the article to learn how BruinHubs provide resting spaces—including napping pods, study spaces, and snacks—for extreme commuters to recharge during long days on campus.
WELCOMING RYAN CONROY
Ryan Conroy returns to cityLAB as our first Director of Architecture, nearly a decade after inaugurating the undergraduate fellow program.
Ryan is a practicing architect, recognized for originating innovative models of multifamily housing and climate-adaptive sustainable design, always with an eye to each project’s larger urban context. He has held research positions at UC Berkeley and the Los Angeles Department of Planning, and continues an ongoing collaboration with Kevin Daly Architects. Ryan is also a Board Member of the LA Forum for Architecture and Urban Design, where he curates public conversation around Los Angeles’s built environment.
Welcome back, Ryan!
UHI VISITS TIJUANA
The Urban Humanities 2024 cohort and staff had an incredible weekend exploring Tijuana, Mexico!
They visited sites of public art in the city and learned from artists, architects, planners, social service providers, and activists whose respective practices reflect multiple forms of cultural production, political intervention, and systems of care.
The team crossed the San Ysidro Border by foot and visited Centro 32, Playas de Tijuana, Friendship Park, and Dianka's Memorial. On day 2 they took a historic tour of downtown Tijuana and participated in a symposium, “Between the Lines: Practices of Public Art and Engagement in Tijuana and Los Angeles,” hosted at Observatorio Cine.
ROBERT CLARKE’S NEW INSTALLATION AT PICA
Our new Activist in Residence, Robert Clarke, recently showcased an installation at the Portland Institute for Contemporary Art for their new exhibition, Policing Justice.
Policing Justice examines policing practices in Portland, Oregon, and their relationship to longer local and national histories of oppression through the lens of artists who call Portland their home and those who have witnessed and documented police brutality across the globe. This exhibition will be on display until May 19th. Find out more here!
Congratulations, Robert!
MARCH 7, 3PM | “ARCHITECTURE’S PROMISE: DESIGNING EQUITABLE FUTURES” BY DANA CUFF
We are delighted to invite you to join us for the 135th Faculty Research Lecture on “Architecture’s Promise: Designing Equitable Futures” to be given by our director, Dana Cuff, which she will discuss the challenges surrounding architecture’s ability to design more equitable futures. Lecture to include time for Q&A and be followed by a reception on the Schoenberg Patio. Light refreshments will be served.
Thursday, March 7, 2024
3:00pm -5:30 pm. PT
Venue
Schoenberg Hall, UCLA
UNVEILING OUR NEW PUBLICATION, PLACE TO BE
We are excited to unveil our newest publication, Place to Be. This research project and publication offers guidance for public health providers, planners, designers, and policy makers seeking new, open-access ways to understand and serve the needs of unhoused Angelenos. With an interdisciplinary team of researchers from public health, architecture, and urban planning, as well as an intimate group of providers and unhoused constituents from a non-traditional health program, we undertook analysis of wellbeing metrics, key informant interviews, and participatory design research. In each we sought to better define wellbeing – a sometimes vague term in health – particularly in consideration of how understandings of wellbeing differ for unhoused people. You can find Place to Be on our projects and publications pages!
A IS FOR ARCHITECTURE PODCAST: DANA CUFF SPEAKS ABOUT HER RECENT BOOK
Join Prof. Dana Cuff as she shares insights on her recent book Architectures of Spatial Justice in the latest episode of “A is for Architecture,” now accessible on Spotify, iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, and Amazon Music. Discover the synergy of design and spatial justice in this engaging episode.
JANUARY 24, 4 PM | UCLA ACTIVIST-IN-RESIDENCE WELCOME RECEPTION
With a shared commitment to “turn the university inside out” and invite artists, community organizers, and movement leaders to undertake power-shifting scholarship and pedagogy focused on social change, the UCLA Luskin Institute on Inequality and Democracy, the UCLA Asian American Studies Center, cityLAB-UCLA, and the UCLA Center for the Study of Women|Barbra Streisand Center are pleased to announce Robert A. Clarke, Ron Collins II, Lisa "Tiny" Gray-Garcia, Shengxiao "Sole" Yu, and Narges Zagub as the 2024 UCLA Activists-in-Residence.
Learn more about each of the UCLA Activists-in-Residence here and please join us in warmly welcoming our activists to the UCLA community at this year's welcome reception.
Venue
UCLA’s Perloff Hall
CITYLAB GETS NEW DIGS
Collaborating with our talented graphic designers, Ming and Mark, we gave the cityLAB’s office at UCLA a much-needed renovation. We are working on strengthening how we approach our work and our ongoing research and are very excited to show you how that relates to our new image.
Visit us at Perloff Hall to learn more!
10X | TEN ACROSS SUMMIT
We were grateful to be invited to the Housing for All panel at the TENX event in downtown Los Angeles to exchange perspectives with talented colleagues about the challenges that we are seeing in the ongoing housing crisis. It was a critical exercise to share information, experiences and to inspire decision-making towards a sustainable future for affordable housing.
The TENX region contains the three most populous states, many of the largest and most rapidly growing metro areas, international ports, extremes in weather and water-related challenges, and diverse populations. This prompts us to explore new and creative alternatives for resilient and people-centered growth.
SUPPORT OUR ONGOING PROJECT: PATHWAYS TO AUTONOMY!
As 2023 comes to a close, we hope you'll consider including cityLAB in your year-end giving. This year, your small donation will have a big impact: making it possible for us to build and install site-specific furniture to enhance sidewalks for youth in Los Angeles. With your support, we can transform these designs into reality. And we can invite people of all ages, along with planners, designers, and policymakers, to see and experience cityLAB's bright ideas for better sidewalks.
As a friend of cityLAB, we will continue to acknowledge your gift in publications, events, and other project materials.
MICRO-URBANISM DEBUTED AT 2023 SHANGHAI URBAN SPACE ART SEASON
Our interactive installation, "Micro-Urbanism Toolkit: Reclaiming the Commons through Play," debuted at the 2023 Shanghai Urban Space Art Season (SUSAS). The theme of the 2023 SUSAS is METro-BIOSIS, a combination of metabiosis and metropolis, emphasizing the harmonious coexistence of humans and nature in urban development. The concept of "Micro-Urbanism" was developed by our team of researchers and designers after years of community-based research and design practices and as a continuation of a series of participatory design events held by a UHI Capstone. The idea behind this concept is to explore how small interventions in the city—however informal, temporary, or minor in scale—can promote community engagement, shared interests, and civic improvement. By building a public sphere that advances spatial justice and contributes to long-term change, small endeavors can have significant impacts.
JUNE 1, 6 PM | BOOK LAUNCH: ARCHITECTURES OF SPATIAL JUSTICE
Join cityLAB and AUD to celebrate our very own Dana Cuff and her latest book, Architectures of Spatial Justice -- a field-defining work that demonstrates how architects are breaking with professional conventions to advance spatial justice and design more equitable buildings and cities. The interactive celebration will be held in Perloff Hall on Thurs, Jun 1, at 6:00 pm. Please join us to celebrate this huge moment!
Venue
UCLA’s Perloff Hall
CITYLAB’S BRUINHUB FEATURED FOR MELBOURNE 2023 DESIGN WEEK
cityLAB was featured in Productive Disruptions for Melbourne Design Week. This exhibition presents the work of more than 20 creative practitioners from around the world that are working in ways to expand the apprehension and influence of their disciplines. Disruptive approaches are often stigmatized as troublesome or uncooperative, yet these non-traditional methods can be highly productive. They require an openness and re-working of expectations and ultimately they shift a status quo. Productive Disruptions is curated by Danielle Peck, Industry Fellow, Monash University, School of Art, Design & Architecture and is part of Melbourne Design Week 2023, an initiative of the Victorian Government in collaboration with the NGV.
Archive
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Former cityLAB fellow, Per-Johan Dahl, on BIHOME
The global pandemic has put into question how urban planning and ADUs can provide a greater resilience to future outbreaks, writes Dr. Per Johan Dahl.
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cityLAB joins California 100 to envision our future
What is the future of housing in California? In partnership with the Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies and the Terner Center for Housing Innovation, cityLAB is continuing to expand our vision of innovative, sustainable, and equitable housing solutions statewide. Housing and Community Development is one of 13 research categories funded by the new California 100 Initiative, which seeks to produce a transformative guiding vision for our state’s next century. We are excited to bring design research and community engaged planning to this landmark project, which will be publicly available by year’s end.
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cityLAB is back IRL!
After more than a year and a half apart, the cityLAB team is back in person. We’re welcoming new faces and new initiatives this summer but most importantly our continued efforts in reimagining urban space is stronger than ever!
Follow along with us as we continue to share the brilliant work happening at cityLAB, The Urban Humanities Initiative, and coLAB.
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Reflections in Lafayette Park
With our community partners at HOLA and the Los Angeles Public Library, coLAB is embarking on a multi-year partnership to “reinvigorate a neglected garden in the middle of our city.” Reflections in Lafayette Park, which was awarded a prestigious NEH Planning Grant, will return the space behind the historic Felipe De Neve Branch Library in Lafayette Park to active community use through interdisciplinary humanities programming. Events and installations will be enacted through our research and collaborations with community artists and curators.