A I J A M A R I E O Z O L S G I B S O N
art + design studio​
Los Angeles Architecture Project
Currently, I am working on a series of digital photographs and large scale watercolors of buildings around Los Angeles. In a city that is constantly shifting to accommodate different cultures, its changing population, entrepreneurship, and innovation, it pleases me to come across buildings which have remained despite progress, or alongside change.
Sometimes these buildings are left untouched because they are in a financially unimportant area, or serve a suitable need without much intervention. Other times they remain because they are well-maintained, of considerable importance, or have been given additions which benefit the public's needs, such as the first strip mall, a gorgeous 1920's brick building complete with fountains, or large houses of worship and vaudevillian theatres for once-busy neighborhoods. Often the ones that interest me most are those that are painted over, or pasted with contemporary signage, or still stand like beacons watching over lesser-used boulevards.
I hope to show the beauty of these architectural designs in their current status. But rather than being nostalgic, I'd like to give them the respect they deserve for enduring despite what we have or haven't done to them for so many years.
This is a fluid project; it will adjust as I work on it. Please follow my progress on this page.
Thank you!
Aija
September 2014
I am excited to annouce that I have added interviews to this project. Rather than being historical and factual, I am interested in expolring the emotional connection (or often lack there-of) that the residents of Los Angeles have with historic architecture. These interviews will help me to connect with my viewer more deeply. I'd like to use the interviews for research, but will keep open the possibility of using text and sound for the exhibition.
Aija
November 2014
Reading (Apologies in advance for the abbreviated nature of this list; these are notes.)
1. Los Angeles: An Architectural Guide. D. Gebhard, R. Winter
2. There Lived the Californians. Lewis
3. Architecture + Design LA. Webb, Michael
4. Courtyard Housing in Los Angeles. Polyzoides, Sherwood, Tice
5. Los Angeles at 25mph. Diskin & Giovanni
6. Classic Homes of Los Angeles. Woods, Levick
7. Los Angeles; The Architecture of Four Ecologies. Banham, Reyner