The Los Angeles Times featured Woodbury School of Architecture faculty member Barbara Bestor’s work in an article about her communal, architectural high density living work in Echo Park.
In the LA Times article, reporter Lisa Boone writes, “Blackbirds, named for the image of a community of birds resting around a pool of water, is the latest urban infill development built under the city’s Small Lot Subdivision Ordinance, which was designed to allow developers to build several detached homes on a single parcel of land. In this case, 18 homes have replaced five dilapidated single-family homes. Residents will own their house and the land and will have no homeowners association fees. Trash disposal, mailboxes and gardens will be communal.“
Barbara Bestor designed the single-family homes with a community engagement vision in mind. The architect states that, “Everyone faces their neighbors. When you come in, you see each other. You can have more day-to-day interactions with your neighbors.” Adding to the sense of interconnection, Bestor placed all of the kitchens along the perimeter of the courtyard where people enter and exit as a way to “set up a community.”
Barbara Bestor runs her own architecture firm that she founded in 1995. Bestor Architecture is a Los Angeles based modern architecture firm. The office is collaborative and produces design that navigates between popular culture, art, and architecture. The office’s manifesto, which is embedded in the work, is: “Everyone should experience strange beauty every day.” For more information about Barbra Bestor and recent projects, visit her website here.