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Hawthorne Bridge reconnecting to the community
URBAN FARMING COMMUNITY
Hawthorne Bridge is a community-centered project that addresses the major issues in Hawthorne City’s neighborhood, with the goal of repurposing abandoned Hawthorne Mall in a neighborhood-friendly way that will be used as an urban farming place. By reducing the urban wasteland, erasing negative impacts from the abandoned property, and reconnecting it to the community, Hawthorne Bridge helps Hawthorne City locals back to prosperity and activity.
DESIGN STORY
Abandoned buildings and lots are a subcategory of the larger problem of physical disorder in a community. Those buildings and lots create sufficient harm to the community, such as attracting criminal activity, reducing neighborhood property values, negative impacts on the environment and public health, and becoming homeless encampments.
SITE
- HAWTHORNE SHOPPING CENTER
- It opened in 1977
- It went into decline in the 1990s due in part to the economic decline of the area after the cutbacks in aerospace jobs.
- It was heavily looted during the 1992 Los Angeles Riot.
- The mall’s number of occupied stores declined from 130 in the 1980s to around 70 in 1998 and closed in 1999.
- Recent redevelopment plan: on Nov. 29, 2016, the Hawthorne City Hall commission announced plans to demolish the Hawthorne Plaza and rebuild something similar to the Farmers Market in Los Angeles.
TARGET AREA
- THE BROADWAY
- The Broadway Mall in Howthorne Shopping Center
- Parking on the east.
- Approximately 280ft x 200ft x 76ft
- Three levels
URBAN FARMING BENEFITS THE HAWTHORNE COMMUNITY
- Unlink criminal rate
- Raising neighborhood value
- Solving food desert
- Creating edible landscapes
- Educating community
- Economy increased
MATERIAL STRATEGY
This project aims to create a sustainable design that welcomes the community back to the historic building. The add-on colors and materials deliver a humble and calm mood and embrace the renaissance. Compared to the old cracked concrete, a warm and bright theme makes the space alive to reconnect the community. The material used follows to be familiar to the neighborhood and suitable for the environment so that reusable and recyclable local materials will be considered.
- Humble
- Calm
- Reusable
ENTERING BETWEEN THE PARKING STRUCTURES
Existing structure
After cutout
Staircase installed
RENOVATION
-PARKING STRUCTURE
In order to allow people to have better accessibility to this place, cutting out the parking structure opens a walkway for pedestrians.
WALKING ON THE BRIDGE
RENOVATION
-EXTERIOR
Before
After
RENOVATION
-INTERIOR
FARMERS' MARKET
FARM-TO-TABLE RESTAURANT
PLANTS AND OUTDOOR PARK
PHYSICAL MODEL
1' = 1/4" SCALE
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