Metabolic Studio Public Salon:
Flora Gil Krisiloff, Mary Marx, Libby Boyce
Friday, May 7, 2010 @ Noon
Free Admission

Project 50 and Growing:

Housing the Most Vulnerable Chronically Homeless Persons in Skid Row

Los Angeles has long been known for its large number of homeless persons living on Skid Row. Within this group, the County of Los Angeles identified the most vulnerable, chronically homeless individuals, both veteran and non-veteran. In order to best address this problem, PROJECT 50 was created. Traditionally, services are available for the homeless from an assortment of agencies on or servicing the Skid Row area. Each, however, with their own intake forms and procedures often times further disenfranchising the homeless.

The purpose of Project 50 was to identify, then rapidly place into permanent supportive housing, the 50 most vulnerable of the chronically homeless people who have been sleeping on the streets of Skid Row the longest. These are the people practically everyone said were “service resistant” and would never get off the streets. An extensive collaboration, including the County and City of Los Angeles, Common Ground of New York, Los Angeles County Sheriff, Los Angeles Police Dept., Probation, Public Counsel, Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles, Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, Skid Row Housing Trust, non profits and the VA was formed.

Under the direction and with the spearheading of Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, 24 agencies/ organizations/ offices joined together to demonstrate that vulnerable chronically homeless persons are willing to and can rapidly move from the “Streets to Home.” An extensive multi-agency collaboration, utilizing a housing first approach coupled with an Integrated Supportive Services Team was implemented. The project’s initial phase included the creation of a registry according to mortality risk and length of homelessness. The innovative Vulnerability Index Survey tool developed by Common Ground was administered. Frequent characteristics of the vulnerable chronically homeless clients of Project 50 included higher utilization of emergency rooms and hospitals, as well as multiple arrests leading to incarceration in the LA County jails. Nine out of the 50 clients were identified as Veterans.

Project 50 Background, Outcomes, Implications and References HERE
Further information about the salon presenters HERE

 



 

Metabolic Studio Public Salon:
Jeanine Centuori, Paulette Singley & Woodbury University Students
Friday, April 30, 2010 @ Noon
Free Admission

Guerilla Urbanism

Woodbury University architecture students present their “Guerilla Actions” from this spring’s studio “Guerilla Urbanism.”

The phrase “guerilla urbanism” carries with it certain inherent contradictions regarding the ability to produce a guerilla act—improvisational and unsanctioned by its very nature—as urban design—a protracted and planned process requiring the consent of myriad stakeholders. These two unnatural partners nonetheless offer a useful pairing, expanding upon and mitigating each others strengths and weaknesses--immediacy as opposed to long-term planning, action versus contemplation, individual agency in opposition to compromising with public agencies. Both forms of public intervention, though nearly adversarial in their processes, proffer an idealistic promise to positively transform public space. To what extent can we take lessons from guerilla activities in the formation of an urban design proposal? In our era of sustainable consciousness and the danger of green washing undermining this utopian agenda, examining the potential of activating our engagement with the environment emerges as a key factor in transforming the planet.

Jeanine Centuori is a Professor and Director of the Center for Community Research and Design in the School of Architecture at Woodbury University. A current outreach project examines alternative ADA solutions for educational facilities. This work is funded by the National Endowment for the Arts. Past projects have received national awards including a PA Award and a Best of Category for Environments from ID Magazine. Jeanine is also principal of UrbanRock Design (located at the Brewery Arts Complex), a practice involving public art, environments, and housing projects. The practice has completed public art projects in museums, public facilities, and parks around the country. They recently received a CA AIA Award for “Conditional Reflections,” a public art project in Denver, CO.

Paulette Singley is a Professor in the School of Architecture at Woodbury University in Los Angeles, California. She co-edited Eating Architecture and Architecture: In Fashion and has been published in Log, ANY, Assemblage and several critical architectural anthologies. She received a Ph.D in architectural history and theory from Princeton University, an M.A. in the history of architecture and urbanism from Cornell University, and a B.Arch from the University of Southern California.

Woodbury University Students: Vanessa Banos, Monica Bello, Stephanie Byrd, Brando Cohen, Oscar Corletto, Wilson Diaz, Hiep Do, Cody Glen, Edgar Gonzalez, Liliana Gonzalez, Alma Jauregui, Pablo Martinez, Kevin Montgomery, Fidelina Ramirez, Andriena Raventos, Danielle Reimer, Giovanni Salas, Mayra Sanchez, Sara Shakib, Jason Tosatto

 



 

Metabolic Studio Public Salon:
David Wilson
Friday, April 23, 2010 @ Noon
Free Admission


Nikolai Federov, Konstantine Tsiolkovsky and Dogs in Space - The Roots of the Soviet Space Effort

A telling of the tale of the deep origins of the Russian/Soviet Space Program through motion picture and images including the rarely seen notebooks of Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky.

David Wilson is the founding director of the Museum of Jurassic Technology. He received his MFA from California Institute of the Arts in 1974 and opened The Museum of Jurassic Technology in 1988 at its current Culver City, California location. Since its inception, the Museum has expanded both in terms of its public offerings, through exhibitions and associated programs, as well as in its public recognition and reputation. The MJT has exhibited internationally and Mr. Wilson has lectured throughout North America and Europe. In addition, Mr. Wilson has produced seven independent films, most recently under the auspices of MJT in conjunction with Kabinet, an arts based cultural institution located in St. Petersburg, Russia . The latest of their collaborative efforts is entitled Bol’shoe Sovietskoe Zatmenie - The Great Soviet Eclipse. Over the past decade, the Museum and Mr. Wilson have been honored through numerous grants and awards. In 2001 the MacArthur Foundation granted him a Fellowship in recognition of his accomplishments at The Museum of Jurassic Technology.

Image: Gregor Garzenko with Belka and Strelka, August, 1960
Image Courtesy: Museum of Jurassic Technology

Further Information: www.mjt.org

 



 

Metabolic Studio Public Salon:
Sue Bell Yank
Friday, April 16, 2010 @ Noon
Free Admission

Tracing the Development of the Social through Joseph Beuys

Joseph Beuys was a well-known albeit controversial historical figure who was able to encapsulate his paradigm-shifting work in a few useful phrases - most notably, the phrase “social sculpture,” which illustrates Beuys’ idea that activities which structure and shape society are a form of art no longer confined to a material object or artifact. From this radical notion (and buttressed by decades of expanded, non-object based conceptual practice) arose a variety of practices engaged in social and spatial issues through participatory, research-based, and collaborative processes. Using Beuys as a jumping-off point, this salon will survey the notion of "social practice" or "participatory artwork" from its historical roots to its diverse contemporary forms.
Sue Bell Yank is the Assistant Director of Academic Programs at the Hammer Museum, and was intimately involved in the formation and conceptualization of the Watts House Project. She writes frequently about social practice on her blog and has published in the Journal of Aesthetics and Protest and Mammut Magazine. Yank graduated from the USC Masters of Public Art Studies program in 2008.
Image: Joseph Beuys, Joseph Beuys's Action Piece, 26-6 February 1972; presented as part of seven exhibitions held at the Tate Gallery 24 Feburary - 23 March 1972 © Tate Archive Photographic Collection

Further information: www.suebellyank.com

 



 

Metabolic Studio Public Salon:
Greg Horos & Melissa Rosen
Friday, April 9, 2010, Noon
Free Admission


The Aesthetics of Sustainable Retail

(Or: How to Fit a Full Service Organic Deli, a Wine and Beer Shop and a Natural Grocery in Under 500 Square Feet of Retail Space)

How do small retailers address the desires of the individual and the needs of the community through limited means? What resources can budding entrepreneurs use to take their sustainable vision into brick and mortar reality? How can a full service organic deli, a wine and beer shop and a natural grocery fit in less than 500 square feet of retail space?

Greg Horos and Melissa Rosen, the founders and co-owners of eco-convenience store Locali, will address these questions while exploring the crucial role of small business in the "greening" of Los Angeles.

Located in the Franklin Village section of Hollywood, Locali offers natural and organic alternatives to conventional convenience store fare in addition to a full service deli. Coming upon its first anniversary, Locali has experienced a multitude of triumphs and tribulations doing business in Los Angeles. With the goals of providing loving customer service, mouthwatering healthy food, and education about the power of the citizen’s purchase dollar, Locali buys organic and from its neighbors.

Greg Horos and Melissa Rosen, are a husband and wife team equally passionate about food, wellness and sustainability issues. Greg Horos' background includes careers in business development and marketing along with years in radio as a creative services director and on-air personality. Melissa Rosen is a writer, restaurateur and health counselor with a nutrition consulting practice, Libra Nutrition & Wellness. Together, they came up with the idea for a convenience store experience that fits 21st century concerns. They opened Locali with the desire to make healthy and planet friendly purchases easily accessible to their community. Their hope is to encourage other small businesses and entrepreneurs to put social responsibility and environmental stewardship above the bottom line.

Further Information: Locali

Image: Locali, courtesy Melissa Rosen