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Manifesto: 10 Big Ideas for DTLA

Bureau Spectacular discovers and reveals the core essence of DTLA.

This “manifesto” defines— and redefines— key aspects of DTLA’s unique urban landscape. These themes describe what makes our city special and show a new way of seeing the future of Downtown.

“Looking deeper to find the unseen possibilities, undetected eccentricities, and undiscovered gems, these ideas generate a new, optimistic understanding of DTLA.”

- Jimenez Lai, Bureau Spectacular

Zooming Between Myths

A DTLA Manifesto

00	Introduction: Zooming Between Myths
01	Cities within the City
02	Buildings Within Buildings
03	2.5-D City
04	DTLA, the Ultimate "Secret Menu"
05	City of Multiple Speeds
06	City of Screens
07	Flying Fleet of Social Zones
08	The Citizen's Congregation
09	Abundance of Rooms
10	Epilogue: An Infinite Zoom

“A Hidden Urban Analysis”

This creative manifesto reveals multiple layers of DTLA. With a poetic blend of artwork and ideas, explore new ways to reimagine urban landscapes.

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Introduction: Zooming Between Myths

In this speculative re-reading of DTLA, we zoom between the myths and present a series of visions to highlight and reveal architectural and urbanistic undercurrents of DTLA through the format of diagrams and drawings.

Cities within the City

Downtown Los Angeles is a city that contains multiple cities. In this study, we looked at a few ways to create urban boundaries.

Buildings Within Buildings

In Downtown Los Angeles, there are many large interior spaces subdivided into smaller properties. At times, these properties within properties read almost like buildings within buildings.

The 2.5-D quality of DTLA deceptively lifts the pedestrian off the ground. Above, below, and between the pancakes of infrastructure, there are secret pockets to be studied amongst the many layers.

DTLA, the Ultimate "Secret Menu"

DTLA is full of hidden gems and unseen surprises. There is a high density of discrete subcultures between the alleys, courtyards, and rooftops, bubbling from gaps between high-rises.

City of Multiple Speeds

While the rest of Los Angeles drives, Downtown Los Angeles takes on a more complex set of transportation modes. Cars, buses, subways, bicycles, scooters, joggers, and pedestrians are just some of how multiple speeds harmoniously coexist within DTLA.

City of Screens

From the historical to the contemporary, the city has continually evolved strategies to articulate through our buildings. Advertisements, murals, projections, virtual reality, and augmented reality via a mobile device are some of the ways our city has become interactive with us.

Flying Fleet of Social Zones

There are rooftop bars, restaurants, helipads, and other public or semi-public places atop Downtown Los Angeles. These spaces are like a fleet of floating social zones flying over the cityscape

The Citizen's Congregation

During times of social unrest, the 1st and Spring crossing becomes a political space that allows City Hall and LAPD to hear the people’s voices. Not unlike Rome's forums, this corner assumes the role of infrastructure for a civic congregation.

Abundance of Rooms

The magic of DTLA, over the past 20 years, has been a miracle where the impossible is imaginable. In this segment, we present a series of speculative visions of unlikely potentials in the city.

Epilogue: An Infinite Zoom

In this final epilogue, we tell a story about Downtown Los Angeles inside of One Wilshire. One Wilshire—a building inside of a skyline, a skyline inside a model.