The WHY Ideas Workshop is examining the intersection of physical, social, and regulatory space to consider new ways of alleviating pressure on Los Angeles’ housing affordability.  How can the city tackle the issues of shrinking resources and high cost of living to meet the needs of its diverse population?

Using Wilshire Boulevard along the Metro purple line as a case study site, WHY proposes a new model of affordable housing as a piece of urban infrastructure. This new landscape inhabits the grey zone between regulation and disorder, and challenges our expectations of ownership, how projects are funded, and how they are built. Drawing inspiration from the sharing economy and changing public transportation expectations, this approach to infrastructure has the potential to accommodate a new mini-city that sustains itself through community and shared resources. WHY demonstrates the proposed infrastructure in a playful way, reflecting on the seemingly endless roadways and hodgepodge architectural expressions that shape the perception of Los Angeles.