Location: Los Angles, California
Architects: COOP HIMMELB(L)AU
Central Los Angeles Area Visual and Performing Arts
High School #9, LAUSD’s new flagship high school project with emphasis in the Visual and Performing Arts, is in direct vicinity of the downtown Los Angeles cultural corridor with Disney Concert Hall, the Museum of Contemporary Art and the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels.
The design concept was to employ architectural signs to communicate the Los Angeles community’s commitment to art. The point of departure for the urban arrangement of the buildings was the central and visually exposed location of the site, divided from Grand Avenue only by the 101 Freeway—one of the most heavily traveled roads to pass through the downtown area of Los Angeles. Through the four classroom buildings, the master plan sets out an orthogonal arrangement that obtains additional spatial tension through the three special buildings for the library, lobby, and theater tower.
The Visual Arts Building situated visibly along Grand Avenue is clad elegantly in dark grey powder coated aluminum panels and accentuated through a façade of irregular round windows.
