People move to Los Angeles chasing sunlight, reinvention, or the feeling of “finally arriving.” But what many find instead is a housing crisis layered with gig work and startup fantasies. Renting a place to live is hard. Renting a place to work—a studio, office, or shop—is even harder. Doing both affordably is nearly impossible. For creative individuals, launching a business alone can be daunting, and investing in costly equipment like kitchen gear, printmaking presses, or woodworking tools is often out of reach.
This proposal introduces a gentle-density housing model rooted in live/work art-craftship, collective stewardship, and long-term affordability. Each cluster of 4–5 units is organized around a shared artistic practice—our test case focuses on printmaking—that shapes the design of a communal workspace, including a fabrication area and mezzanine zones for digital or quiet work. Future clusters could support other practices like a test kitchen, woodshop, textile studio, ceramics lab, or film editing suite.
Housing is designed for a wide range of tenants: individuals, families, and single parents. A mix of 1-, 2-, and 3-bedroom units offers flexibility, all with generous access to outdoor space. Shared gardens with moveable planters allow the ground level to adapt for daily use, events, or vehicle access. A gallery or café, depending on the cluster, activates the street-facing gatehouse and provides a public platform to showcase onsite work.
The project is enabled by SB 1123’s ministerial approval of small-scale subdivisions and structured through a Community Land Trust (CLT). City-contributed land stays in trust, while an affiliated nonprofit owns and maintains the buildings, paying ground lease rent to the CLT. Resident rent supports both operations and a collective equity pool, through which tenants accrue stake in the land’s appreciation.
A rotating residency program brings in visiting artists, while long-term tenants provide continuity and community stewardship. As the CLT’s value grows, it can acquire additional sites—offering a replicable model for community-based housing and creative infrastructure.
Design Team: Owen Nichols, Clara Syme, Gus Crain, Nicole Biewenga
