INGLEWOOD URBANSTAGE was a month-long public art pavilion, construction performance and panel series sited at the civic plaza of Inglewood City hall. The plaza, designed by Charles Luckman in the 1970s, is one of LA’s many neglected public spaces. URBANSTAGE sought to re-activate the plaza.

Composed of wooden modules, URBANSTAGE was reconstructed once every week, for four weeks, to create four distinct iterations of transformative architecture. URBANSTAGE was activated weekly by curated civic conversations and workshops focused on urban issues in Inglewood and Los Angeles: transportation and the impact of automobiles, art cities and gentrification, urban development and shared futures based on food, culture, and diversity.

Each week-long cycle featured a different spatial configuration, intended to generate different discussions and modes of social interaction. The four cycles were the Amphitheater, Transverse, Labyrinthian and Longtable. These forms, each installed for one week, explored how the architecture of shared space can impact our urban conversations. Performers then shifted the same modules to create the other renditions of the outdoor wooden sculpture.

PROJECT TEAM:
Fabrication: Joshua Stricklin / Stricklin Designs
Project Manager: Daniel Guzman
Project Assistant: Ekkrit Suwanwong
Construction Performers: Devan Harlan Simunovich, Daniel Guzman, Ekkrit Suwanwong
Videographer: Jesse Russell Brooks

Thanks to Helen Lessick, Sabrina Barnes and Christopher Jackson of the City of Inglewood.

For full descriptions of panel discussions and workshops:
https://www.cw-zw.com/urbanstage-cycles/