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ADOBE LA

CASA REFUGIO POSADA

 

Divine Interventions on the LA Borders or the Architecture of Miracles.

Casa Refugio Posada, a "spatial story" turned reality, is one of the many stories that gives testimony to the everyday diverse cultural expressions which construct the panoply of contemporary Latino social geographies. The link between religious belief and current social uses uses of space is an example that gives evidence that LA is a city of simultaneous multi-temporal heterogeneity and socio-spatial hybridities (understanding hybridities as the permeable spaces between the two conceptual polarities: tradition and modernity).

The design basis for "Casa Refugio Posada", a homeless youth shelter, are the dynamics of the extended family-neighborhood, the use of communal space, and cultural beliefs; which resultin a structure, a home, for nomadic traditional use. The project challenges pre-conceived ideas of the "institutional homeless shelter" and focuses on a more personal use of space and on relationships of trust and compassion (e.g. neighbors communal use of space-lavaderos/washbasins, tenderos/clotheslines, the gate along the internal property line and workspace.)


Photo: Courtesy ADOBE LA

MISSION STATEMENT

Since its founding in 1992 as an activist collaboration of architects, artists and designers, ADOBE LA takes the cultural landscape of Los Angeles, particularly that of the Latin American community as the point of departure for projects that address the values of Los Angeles' evolving multicultural population. The mission of ADOBE LA is: to create and produce public art/architecture, create a discourse that responds to the social and cultural needs of the Latino communities in Los Angeles, to document that landscape through diverse media (film, photography, artwork), to critically analyze issues of representation, vernacular architecture and popular culture through exhibitions, writing, teaching, publications and to work collaboratively with members of the academic and artistic community of Los Angeles.

ADOBE LA's goal is to affirm the presence and representation of Latino/culture(s) in Los Angeles, expand the notion of architecture as a cultural practice and to increase the participation of community members of Los Angeles.