12.20.2019
LA TIMES NAMES STAR
AS ONE OF THE TOP POP
CULTURE MOMENTS OF
LAST 2 DECADES
Imagine taking an old warehouse and transforming it into supportive housing for the formerly homeless. Imagine that the design features a terrace with a community garden, a running track and vistas of downtown Los Angeles. Now imagine an award-winning, architectural design of staggered geometric volumes (think “Space Invaders”) — all for the very reasonable price tag of $19 million.
There’s no need to imagine it. It’s been done.
Michael Maltzan’s Star Apartments, opened in 2014 for the Skid Row Housing Trust, is proof that smart solutions to the region’s housing crisis sit, quite literally, under our nose. And that they can feature great design and innovative construction techniques to boot.
Maltzan and his team took a defunct downtown Los Angeles commercial space and rather than razing it, used it as a foundation on which to stack arrangements of prefabricated units. These made for a more efficient use of material, as well as construction process. The result: High design for the low-income. Density that is also humane. And more than 100 units of housing that dozens of Angelenos now get to call home.
— Carolina A. Miranda
