Johnston Marklee's UCLA Margo Leavin Graduate Art Studios completes
Los Angeles architecture firm Johnston Marklee completes the UCLA Margo Leavin Graduate Art Studios in Culver City, a constellation of artist studios that makes for a vibrant creative neighbourhood for the campus
On an industrial back street in the construction heavy Hayden Tract area in Culver City, California, behind the PLATFORM lifestyle shops and next door to Jordan Kahn’s Destroyer Café, UCLA is making life better for its art students. The recently completed UCLA Margo Leavin Graduate Art Studios is a massive concrete and wooden warehouse campus that enhaces the progressive artistic renaissance of the area.
Led by partners Sharon Johnston, FAIA, and Mark Lee, of Johnston Marklee, the building can be entered through a communal courtyard area with several Acacia trees. Immediately, the principal design concept of the project becomes apparent. The acclaimed firm won the project in 2011, and the scheme, including restoring an existing warehouse with new programs and labs, was originally funded by Eli Broad as a feasibility study. Then, in 2015, UCLA alumni and lead donor, Margo Leavin, came forward to help them see the project to fruition.
Designed for LEED Gold certification, the project was created following sustainable strategies, including the specialist renovation of the existing cast-in-place concrete walls and soaring open wood bowstring truss roof structure, along with a new horizontal steel truss system required for seismic retrofit and new PVC roofing membrane.
‘I think the big idea was that the warehouse became a neighbourhood of studios, so all of the artist studios are in that space,' said Johnston. ‘They range from 40 to 42 students every year and the word “neighbourhood” is important and you’ll get a sense of how we plan things so it doesn’t have an institutional endless hallway feeling.'
Counter to a typical campus, the building flows through a public gallery space, to a shootroom, an open-air sculpture yard, and a woodshop and ceramics yard, all surrounding the individual studios and artwork. ‘It feels a little like a labyrinth at times, which is what the old building was,' says project manager Lindsay Erickson, ‘and I think its kind of nice because you’re always entering between the old building, the new building, indoors, and outdoors. There are a lot of these moments that overlap in your passage.'
Upstairs is the Artist-in-Residence studio apartment, the most sequestered part of the space, which proved to be a challenge because of its residential element. According to Johnston Marklee managing director Nicholas Hofstede, ‘it’s a 24-hour building, the students almost live here during the semester and then having someone who is also living with them in terms of a student-teacher relationship, there were big discussions about how to do that.'
As well as having a semi-open area, where potential collectors could have their eyes on the graduates, it was important to protect the student’s privacy. ‘It was an important driver,' says Hofstede. ‘Even having the public gallery – we debated because the intention wasn’t to make it one step into the commercial gallery world, it was more like helping students learn how to hang their shows and think about curatorial practice. I think with the faculty and students we try to think of the whole ark of the time that they’re here learning and they wanted a lot of freedom, but not to be over-exposed so that was the balance and that’s how the planning took shape.'
After a few workshops with the students to gain feedback, Johnston and the team were ready to execute, and while there were different genres in place from painting to sculpture, the architects didn’t want them to be segregated. The users should be able to freely move between different mediums; and their design allowed it. ‘I was just talking to that student and he said, yeah, it’s a really great feeling, on the one hand free, but also really connected to each other,’ recalls Johnston. ‘And I think that’s the legacy of the program: that it’s like a community.'
INFORMATION
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox
Carole Dixon is a prolific lifestyle writer-editor currently based in Los Angeles. As a Wallpaper* contributor since 2004, she covers travel, architecture, art, fashion, food, design, beauty, and culture for the magazine and online, and was formerly the LA City editor for the Wallpaper* City Guides to Los Angeles.
-
Utilitarian men’s fashion that will elevate your everyday
From Prada to Margaret Howell, utilitarian and workwear-inspired men’s fashion gets an upgrade for S/S 2024
By Jack Moss Published
-
Gerhard Richter unveils new sculpture at Serpentine South
Gerhard Richter revisits themes of pattern and repetition in ‘Strip-Tower’ at London’s Serpentine South
By Hannah Silver Published
-
Vipp’s Scandinavian guesthouse offers a sleek setting amid a wild landscape
Vipp Cold Hawaii is a Scandinavian guesthouse designed by architecture studio Hahn Lavsen in Denmark’s Thy National Park
By Sofia de la Cruz Published
-
Shigeru Ban’s mini Paper Log House welcomed at The Glass House
'Shigeru Ban: The Paper Log House' is shown at The Glass House in New Canaan, USA as the house museum of American architect Philip Johnson plays host to the Japanese architect’s model temporary home concept
By Adrian Madlener Published
-
Ray Phoenix to rise in Arizona
Ray Phoenix housing project launches, designed by Johnston Marklee, who worked with Lamar Johnson Collaborative, for property experts Ray and Vela
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
A low-energy farmhouse provides a rural escape in North Carolina
This low-energy farmhouse is a net zero architectural re-set for a Californian client, an East Coast relocation for a more engaged and low-key lifestyle
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
A Petra Island house rises from Frank Lloyd Wright's original drawings
Based on Frank Lloyd Wright drawings, the cantilevering Petra Island Massaro House, located in New York’s Hudson Valley, is now open to visitors
By Craig Kellogg Published
-
An Upper West Side apartment by General Assembly nods to its history
An Upper West Side apartment in New York, born out of the reimagining of two neighbouring units, is refreshed by General Assembly for a young family
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
New York's Leica store echoes the brand's blend of heritage and innovation
Leica store throws open its doors in New York's Meatpacking District, courtesy of Brooklyn based Format Architecture Office
By Adrian Madlener Published
-
Hudson Valley Residence is a low-lying retreat that seamlessly blends into the horizon
Designed by HGX Design, Hudson Valley Residence is a scenic home offering unobstructed views across the Catskill Mountains in Upstate New York
By Tianna Williams Published
-
Boise Passive House’s bold gestures support an environmentally friendly design
Boise Passive House by Haas Architecture combines sleek, contemporary design and environmental efficiency
By Ellie Stathaki Published