What insanity ! With all the issues that face the world and this city this is what we are worried about? Get a life, get some education,get a real job and then you too can afford to move to a gated community!
I read your comments about gated communities and it left me confused. Park La Brea is an apartment complex. Why were they targeted? And why do you decline to indentify yourselves, if you believe that you are right? Is there something you are ashamed of?
As architects and designers you should not focus you attention on making a random, anonymous statement against gated communities with these installations. You should educate your clients and convince them of this social issue while steering them towards a better design alternative. I'd bet the shirt on my back that these "anonymous" architects/designers are up to their neck in private, elite, residential design. Otherwise you would have no problem communicating openly with the public on issues such as these.
I can appreciate the sentiment. A friend once commented that living in Park La Brea was like living in Poland.
However, before they put up our gate, parking was problemmatic .. .with people visiting LACMA taking up our parking spaces. . .instead of paying for parking at the museum.
fyi. . .your viewing spot is not outside Park La Brea. The Palazzo at Park La Brea is under separate ownership.
I think all of your projects are pretty cool. I wasn't sure about it at first, because I didn't really understand the difference between gated communities and enclosed private property. But I looked through your site and you guys make some really good points, and it's good that you do it without being randomly destructive.
The streets and parks you believe are removed from public access are private property, and hence can be so removed. Just like your yard and your house. Maybe we should all take a walk through your house sometime if you think public access is so great. If you don't like walled communities, then don't live in one. Let others have the CHOICE as to where they will live.
The alleged 'streets, parks, sidewalks, etc.' encompassed by a gated community are PRIVATE PROPERTY! They aren't removed from the public realm any more than is the ground under the foundation of a home or apartment complex. There is no logical difference between a home, an apartment complex, and a gated community - all are private property segregated from public/other property by either walls or fences as desired by the owners and inhabitants.
Trying to usurp or rail against the right to do as one wishes with private property is akin to assailing free speech or any of the other cornerstones of our way of life (i.e., stupid - if you don't like freedom go live somewhere else where property laws are routinely ignored by the government).
To those who dislike what Heavytrash is attempting here, please take a few deep breaths, and ask yourself this: "Why are these people doing this?"--- Honestly ask yourself this.
If you have the brain power to make it this far, then why not go a step further: Look at the Heavytrash website.
If you have the capacity for reasoning to get to this point, then you might as well keep going with this, Read their material, take a look at their Bibliography its a list of their sources it will tell you what they researched before performing this act, and it might give you an idea why some say gated communities are not all peaches and cream.
If you really want to prove that you have the capibility for abstract thought, then why not follow this all the way and read some of Heavytrash's sources. You just might change your mind on this subject.... But then again you would probably call it "Flip-floping" on the issue.
To those of you who think that heavytrash members are ashamed of their actions, I will ask you a simplistic question: "Why did the lone ranger wear a mask?" Or, for that matter, anyone who did a subversive act. Think about it, what do engineers, city planers and architects have to lose by doing something like this?
Honestly people, I'm dissapointed at some of the comments left here, If you disagree with someone, it dosn't mean you call them names, or use poor simplistic examples that don't fit the situation. My faith in the human's ability to reason is faltering. Makes me wonder if we really are doomed as a species.
Don't let me down people. I don't care if you disagree with Heavytrash, I care if you don't use your heads.
Well done! Here in South Florida, gated "communities" are propagating like a virus. I dislike all of them and particularly abhor the ones that have zero lot lines, cookie cutter houses and no class whatsoever and require a visitor to present a form af identification, which is duly noted down as is the license tag number of the entering vehicle.
That's pretty funny, but couldn't you like decorate them better, or maybe you could leave a register. But really, aside from being comical.. do you think this might encourage negative-voyuerism, you know, like giving wierdo's an invitation and excuse to peep on people? I would have a problem with it if you put one of these behind my house, and on the other side of my not-so-private-as-these fence line.. I mean how would you like it if somebody did this to your neighborhood? Regardless of whether you had a ritzy address or not, and why don't you target the builder's house, not the schmuck who wanted a bigger house?
<<"Gates and barricades that separate people from one another also reduce people's potential to understand one another and commit to any common or collective purpose.">>
A'hem...Maybe they do not want to understand the people they are keeping out. Considering 'who' they are keeping out, I would not want to 'understand' them either.
Also, your comparison about the Berlin Wall is backwards. The Westerners are the ones inside the gated communities and the people being gated out, are the East Berliners. In this case, the 'westerners' have no desire to look over the wall that they built to preserve life and the sanctity of theirs homes and families from thugs, rapists, thieves, murderers, and uncivilized cretins.
You guys are out of your minds. What possibly gives you the right to conduct these acts of urban terrorism on neighborhoods that just want to feel safe by living in a gated community? What's next for Heavytrash? Torching SUV dealerships in the name of your cause ala ELF 2003? Find something useful to do with your time and money. Save the environment or feed the homeless or throw yourselves off a bridge. Anyone of those would do the public a lot more good than platforms that look into peoples yards.
You people are complete MORONS! What a waste of resources. Why don't you come up with an issue that is really important and quit wasting time on issues no one but your extremist group cares about!
Living in a gated community is a choice many people are very happy to make. It does reduce the crime rate. In some neighborhoods it also reduces the number of dangerous wild animals roaming private streets.
For example, in Simi Valley there were a number of reported attacks on children by coyotes last year (fortunately the children survived). A few years ago there was a mountain lion that attacked some bikers in the Los Angeles hills (one was killed).
Also, many of the communites that you are so against physically OWN the streets that are within those gates. Making those streets private property. The Homeowners pay for all street repairs, sewage problems, rain damage, lighting, landscaping, private security, water, etc. that happens within those gates. All of these things the city and state pay for in all the NON-gated communities. In other words, they are paying MORE for the services they have, since they are paying both with their taxes for the entire city AND paying with their homeowners dues for their private community.
It really is too bad that some people are so jealous of others that they feel they must make an issue out of haves and have nots.
Boring. And too simple-minded. "Here's a platform to look over a wall". Come on- I expect more of art and social commentary and you all should expect more of your own minds.
Snip - "The four walls of your house are a gated community you morons!"
Obviously an abused child wrote this...
Your home is an element of the community; you are part of the glue that binds that community… Wake up and smell the Starbucks cubby, you belong to the “whole” that is LA!
~~~~~~~~
I think what you are doing is great! We aren't in the middle ages where a moat and castle provide protection for the Earl and his serfs...
The fact that someone can restrict access to what I pay taxes on pisses me off; the streets, parks and other green areas are public not private lands.
Further still the mere thought of having some elitist jackass telling me what color I can paint my house or which landscape architect I have to use is worse (home owners ass-ociations & CC&R rules) <-- this sort of keeps me out of the “Muffy and Biff” zone anyway I guess
~~~~~~~~
"WE" are a community "WE" need to join forces to make all of this work.
There is an old saying that goes "a house divided falls"
This goes for everything at a granular level on up!
I'd love to know where the members of Heavy Trash live. Do they live where I live? Do they travel one block from their home to see gang tags and wish they could put a wall up around their street where they live because yet another stolen car was left in front of their neighbor's home or because their neighbors house was broken into? I think it's natural for people to want to try and "buy" safety and/or exclusivity. If I had the money to move, I would. Maybe not to a gated community but I know what it's like to want to be safer. I think it's a luxury afforded only to those living outside of a situation to point to that situation and make grand totally useless gestures.
cool idea, but I think the person who said they need to look like watch towers is right... not many people get the idea of the Berlin Wall viewing towers. Oh, and the gated community could put a sharp shooter in the Tower to make them safer, and your towers won't get torn down. Why is everybody anonymous, isn't that kinda like putting up a gate?
Yeah, maybe, if you are a collectivist. I think I've identified the debate. It is the communists vs. the anti-communists, redux.
When are all of you going to learn to stick to your side of the echo chamber?
P.S. Someone is going to get hurt on the tower and sue. Maybe the Wendy's finger lady is already on the case. Whee. Thanks for opening this amazing and insightful dialog, Heavytrash...really.
As a project manager for a Contracting company, I see more and more gated communities being built. City planners in our area are all for it due to the fees and upgrades the developer must pay to the City and/or County and into the school system. Not all gated communities are for well to do "rich" people which is the misconception here. In this area, gated communities are now called "low income housing".
The stand you have about gated communities is confusing to me as I do not understand how you are saying that these are taking away public access to parks and sidewalks? First of all, the City or County where the gated community is to be built, must approve all design and intent from a developer. Perhaps you should take your fight there. Second of all, the developer is the owner of the property - it is not property that you call "public" land and public parks. Parks or "greenbelts" within a development are for the use of the homeowners and is one of the reasons they pay HOA dues every month!
If you don't like gated communities, then maybe your first action should be to curb the infiltration of people coming into this country who are taking away homes from people who live here legally and pay into the system and who still cannot afford to purchase a normal home. There is no reason attacking the people who live in these communities - most of the time this is what the people can afford to purchase for a home.
Whenever a new development is built, there are meetings to approve the development and get input on the general plan. Contact your local city department for more info. You state that you are a group of Architects and city workers, so shouldn't you already know the drill? Just some food for thought.
Thank goodness for all the designers and architects! I really have been tiring of the government thinking for me. I can't believe they haven't given artists a turn yet!
I for one welcome our new design overlords!
Right or Left, you're flattening my life.
Pathetic, but nonetheless, I support your freedom to be as much of a thoughtless douchebag as you may think all of the families living in gated communities are.
I think the Orange Towers (if you can call them that) are just another PR stunt to gain some 15 minutes of fame. It's ridiculous. If people that can afford a gate or wall around their homes want one, then let them build whatever they want. Maybe they don't want to visit on their porches with idiots like HEAVY TRASH. After reading your Facts and Myths section, I had to laugh. That was the biggest crock of Sh*t I've ever seen. Weak arguments and a weak organization in my mind. Why don't you spend your time helping the homeless in Los Angeles? Help the less fortunate or those that are affected by Domestic Violence or Drug abusers. WAKE UP AMERICA!!!! JEEEEZ!!! This is definitely proof that Natural Selection is a crock!
I’m enraged at this senseless protest for two reasons. For the many of you who don’t live in Los Angeles, what the site owner neglected to show you was the giant Pan Pacific Regional Park and community center across the street from one of his “viewing” platforms, which was erroneously placed at a location not named in his protest. Isn’t that enough “green”?
Secondly, we need more walls and more separation between the decent citizens of this world and the unwashed masses. I am all for gated communities, and hope to one day live in a place free of trash, homeless people, graffiti, noise and crime. I don’t see our civic leaders stepping up, and it is only through private efforts that city dwellers can achieve a sense of serenity in an otherwise chaotic world.
My locked and gated community (my home)prevents things such as dangerous people from hurting my family. My family is #1 priority and just as I would not send my child out on a bike without a helmet or go to sleep without my doors and windows being secure, I would put a locked gate around an gaurded private community also. My house is not a PUBLIC park, and if i pay my money for PRIVATE PROPERTY it is my right to choose what I want to do with it and who i want to allow access to it. If I wanted the community at large to have all access I would have moved to a communist country. Perhaps that is what you are confusing with your rants. Nice idea, bad conception.
Wow. This is incredibly craptacular. What a waste of time and stupidity. Surely you could use your powers of stupidity for something more purposeful. Oh wait...maybe not.
You guys act on topics most are scared to speak of. Very commendable. Your past projects are great. Keep it up. You inspire many to educate. Obviously its an uphill battle. Wish I could help.
What a waste of time and energy - mine. I want the time back that I spent reading to see if these people had any valid points. All I saw was some '60s rhetoric.
To paraphrase a song that I disagreed with in the first place... Whoa, walls, walls. Everywhere a wall. Blockin' out the scen'ry. Breakin' my mind. Do this. Don't do that. Can't you see the walls?
It's just as stupid and communal now as it was then.
I just posted a comment to the Photo Album page. I won't repost it here but in reading the comments above, particularly those objecting and expressing outrage, a thought-a suggestion for refinement- occured to me.
I'd be willing to bet that if you installed some kind of a meter, like those used on pay-toilets, perhaps with a small gate, and a sign along the lines of: "25¢ for 15 mins." that no one would think twice about it and there would be no complaints. Probably the only problem you'd have would be thieves attempting to break the meters and steal your loot.
Further refinement: After writing the above it just occured to me that you might incure some legal liabilities as the local municipality would take a dim view of anyone stepping on their turf. Both problems can be solved by making sure the meters were inoperative. In addition, Out of order signs would be a good idea. But they should not be too conspicuous, at least from a distance.
Interesting. This is what happens when people have too much time on their hands. They make an analysis of what the other guy is doing, cast judgment, and try to raise public awareness. It's just like the whole vegan/vegitarian/meat eater debate.
Who are you to tell me where and how to live. I don't care how you live, it's none of my business, so please do me the same, keep your nose out.
Furthermore if you built one of those annoying orange platforms in front of my community, I would go outside with my hammer, wreking bar, and drill/driver and take it apart and recycle the wood into something useful.
The viewing platforms are a bit silly, and not immidiate in it's protest message. You have to explain their reason for being there before anyone takes them for something more than a utility workers platform.
Miniature mock guard towers to make the gated community seem more like a heavily guarded fortress would have drawn more attention and been more appearent as to the protest reasoning.
As a Landscape Architect who practiced in California for years before relocating to the east coast, I have to say that I think the actions here are misguided. I heard of this in an article that cited "Heavy Trash, a coalition of anonymous architects, designers and urban planners" and the message they were trying to get across. I wonder why these non-descript platforms that offered no educational opportunity for the public are the medium they chose to use. I couldn't imagine a design professional in Southern California thinking that this was the best way to communicate their concern about gated communities. Development in LA, San Diego and Orange Counties is driven by homebuilders. If affecting change was really the goal of this project, I imagine they would have made some effort towards challenging a homebuilder to build an exclusive community without gates. Hell, they're all designers, right. Design a Master Plan for a make-believe community and show people how things can work better than the way they're criticizing. That would be the professional, intellectual, effective way of making changes. Shock value statements are for people who have no other reasonable method of communicating.
Homeless people in the streets, kids going hungry and/or abused on a daily basis, women raped, gangs in the streets, war in the world.
And you are worried about people who are doing nothing more than making their living and choosing to live inside a gated community to feel safer from all the evil deeds in this world?
Find a better outlet for your repressed aggressions. Feed a starving child, or help a homeless family get back on their feet. Watchtowers are just plain silly and misguided.
what a completely stupid and useless protest. I live in a NON gated community outside chicago and have had my car broken into, my mailbox run over, and last year some idiot wannabe gang members spray painted gang symbols on the side of the retirees across the street from me. Im all FOR gates to keep idiotic teens and punk gang jackasses away from the homes that my neighbors and I work VERY hard to be able to afford. Why SHOULDNT we have some sort of seperation/protection from people who dont care about anything and want to destroy what they cant have?
But what's the message? Here is a platform, see how the other people with money live? Is that the message? Or is the message that there should not BE other people with more money, no walls, no gates, free access. What? To say there should be no walls is to deny reality. There is some serious crime out there. Some people use walls and gates to isolate themselves and their families from it. That's their choice. Others, well, not in Kalifornia, but in other states, use existing laws to carry concealed weapons to protect themselves from crime. Do only criminals have rights? It's my right NOT to be a victim. If that means a wall, or a gun, or a cell phone to dial 911, I have a right NOT to be robbed, beaten, or killed.
Now, if your message was to point out the rising crime in American society, that makes walls and gates necessary, well, you blew it. No, I think your message was the usual liberal and misguided notion that the trouble with society is caused by the rich ignoring the poor. Don't like being poor? Get an education, get a job, work hard, and make something of yourself.
People in gated communities always talk about privacy and how it’s a god given right and how they cherish it so much etc.. They don’t really care about the spirit of what the forefathers considered privacy which would be privacy from the government not common citizens. They want there privacy from common citizens so they can act out deviant behaviors (i.e. child/spouse abuse, prescription drug abuse, etc.) kind of like Michael Jackson and his gated community. In a way it’s awesome that they are locked up behind bars where they should be.
Man, that rocks. Great idea and great execution. I will try to hunt them all down this week, I hope they are still up.
Too bad the mentatility of the Gated Community is playing itself out in downtown LA's newest architectural specimens.. Disney Concert hall has a semi-public, gated upper plaza, the Cathedral has a semi-public gated plaza.. why is not one building fully accessible public space anymore? I realize these are private buildings - but they have lost an opportunity to really add public spaces to the downtown landscape. Instead we have a sidewalk, and security guards lording over the new plazas where your right to pass my be revoked at any time.
The art works good job! Arts job is to provoke public debate good, bad, or ugly. Look at all the gated citizens getting all defensive. Don’t worry Mr. or Mrs. gated they wont take down your walls and let criminals (gated lexicon for black people) come and steal your worldly possessions or rape all your white women. They just want to provoke public debate.
I'll be anonymous since the Heavy Trash clan won't go public either. Here's my challenge to the group: since you are builders, build a nice big massive building, say, a hundred thousand square-feet. I'm guessing that a building that size should contain the families of every member of Heavy Trash.
Now, get as many beds, stoves and toilets that you need for that building, but there can be no walls or barriers between families within the building's outer walls. (I'd say no outer walls, either, but I'll allow those to keep out the wind and weather, but they should be made of glass lest, God forbid, someone might think you are creating a PRIVATE community to keep others out.)
Give that a few months, all your families, inter-mixed, living together in perfect harmony. Tell us how it goes, keeping peace, harmony and sanity in your perfect communistic society.
I agree with your efforts to do away with gay communites. Why should they have their own sidewalks and parks? Let's all rise up and express our hatred for gay communities!
OH GEES HEAVYTRASH, HOW FRIGHTFULLY SUBVERSIVE! The problem isn't the gates, it's the sprawl, the cars, the lack of walkable civilised public space, density, public transit, etc. etc. Thousands of acres of single family suburbs, gated or not, is why LA is such a traffic-choked toilet. Who cares about the cheezy McMansion behind the gate? There's one just like it up the street anyway.
Nice work! Anything that is aimed at abusing the elitist public - in a non-permanent and non-destructive way - is worth the effort. Your message is ambiguous, arbitrary and somewhat misguided but it’s funny nonetheless. For your next effort, please work over the nimrods that use cell phones in public places.
The criticism of gated communities is valid and the many of the responses are engaging and thoughtful. Sadly this doesn't make the cut. Heavytrash has created a mild diversion from the daily grind by allowing us to have discourse over the internet while at work and return to our respective homes, both gated and ungated. The group must address a specific audience and be far less passive in any hope of influencing change, otherwise they are simply having fun. Fun is fun and nothing more. The rhetoricity of an orange play structure is confusing and innapropriate for this use. Then again, heavytrash may be more into the process than the results, and that of course is their fun.
Thank you for NOT having an explanation there - art is to be felt, seen and/or heard by its sheer existence. To hand us the message treats us like we're stupid - draw your own conclusions. People are so dam literal.
You guys/gals are amazing - keep it up and I can't wait to see more!
Great job -- I'm an L.A. native (Redondo Beach) and it's really made me sad to see how things have changed for the worse since I was a kid. Thanks for calling attention to the problems gated communities create.
Wow, it's so exciting to see art as a protest! From one artist to another (or several others as it is) I'm so excited that you use your talents to express your views. It should be a real kick in the butt to everyone else to remember to use their talents for expression, for passion, for anything other than being hung in a dentists office. You guys rock the free world. Thanks!
I commend you for your clever and simple statement. The responses on the site are in large part depressing, but on the bright side, it takes a while for people to change their views and a bittersweet morsel like your viewing platforms are very apropos and will get the neurons firing. A lot of these people should read The Geography of Nowhere by Kunstler - he would be very proud of you, I'm sure.
See, what you really need to do is have little watchtower parties--a couple people go around at night with MagLites, or better, bright searchlights, and scan the interiors of the gated communities. Make them feel more like a prison-yard under scrutiny. You don't even need towers for that, simply roaming around the outside gates will do.
The gates are bad, but what is worse are the HOAs (you know, and for those who don't... Homeowners Associations). I want to live somewhere where I can paint my house paisley, if I so desire. Not among a bunch of compliance whores!
I cant believe I stumbled across this web site... I'm in Columbus Indiana, and you people have nothing better to do with your talent than this?
Geez our rich people dont build gates to keep people out they all live on the same main road that cuts through town showing off their houses.
Yes its a smaller town, but if you are an artist you should be acquainted with Columbus Indiana, we are know for our art and architechture.
Anyway, I think you all need to get a life. Dont you have better things to do with your time? Try a real cause, rally the homeless people in a demonstration through the middle of LA, Let the "rich" gated communities see how many there really are, then ask for some financial support to help them. Supposing that the Gated community is really as sheltered as you seem to think, maybe they need a wake up call to help out teh people that need help, not some silly orange art piece that makes no sense unless its explained.
hmm, I was just down there and I missed seeing the orange towers. Guess they weren't obtrusive enough. Anyway, I don't really see the difference between a gated community and, say, a distant suburb. Both want to remove themselves from the fast-moving city, and people have to pay a premium to live there. If they want the additional serenity provided by walls and gates, surely that is their right? I have cruised through Park LaBrea on my bike, and although it looks fairly dull to live there, at least it is quiet. The noise and activity of the city are nice at times, but some people probably just want to remove themselves from it at times.
Hey! Great idea. When I first moved to LA I wanted to bike from Koreatown to the Farmer's Market and had to go a mile out of my way in the blazing August sun to get around stupid Park La Brea.
On the way back, we sneaked through the gate behind a car and as we biked through, I speculated at the top of my lungs about just how feeble you need to be to require such protection from the scary, scary world outside.
You guys rule. If you ever need help of a non-artsy, non-construction type, I'm there.
While I agree with how people "do not want walled fortresses dividing their neighborhoods or blocking off what would otherwise be public streets and sidewalks," we must also think of how crime is the whole reason why gated communities exist and combat that as well. To do otherwise would be like trying to put out a fire in a 2 story house by aiming hoses at the second story and not the first.
I love this idea! I have recently moved away from Los Angeles partly because of the elitism that permeates that city. One example of a neighborhood that succeeds in keeping a nice community feel without need of gates is Hancock Park where I lived for four years. Between gates keeping us from each other and no useful public transportation, I couldn't wait to leave! Now I am living in Europe with incredibly efficient public transportation (much nicer than driving) and nice friendly neighborhoods.
I have an idea! If you really want to have an impact or help to make a change in the world, join me in Iraq for my second tour. I have been there once and could show you around all of their gated commumities. Is all of this energy you are expending really doing anything for the greater good. Who is really harmed by a wall or fence? Is it wrong to want privacy and/or a sense of security? Why do you think we have the military we have? To provide safety and security for you and everyone else that lives behind the walls of the United States. Are our borders really that different from these gates and walls you are protesting against. I guess you are one of those groups that would open our country to anyone for any reason in the name of global equality. Guess what, we are not all equal in the world. There are bad people out there despite what your mom told you. Evil does exist. Get over it with these walls. Do something more constructive with your time!
It would be interesting to see statistics and hard data on delays caused by broken or malfunctioning gates that are keeping out emergency first responders! Do people die or homes burn down because the ambulance and fire truckess are waiting for a slow gate to open? How safe does that make you feel?
Hm. Thoughtful. Of course some of the discussion here is certainly uneducated---but what kind of democracy would we be if required persons to pass an IQ test or display their diplomas prior to posting?
I guess I am biased as and architect and urban designer. I like what you are doing, and I think your methods are very sustainable. I also can appreciate why you would only have 3 projects since 1997--you all have full time jobs I am sure, and anyone who has ever worked in this field knows it is rarely only 40 hours a week, and the pay is lacking.
My spouse, though, makes enough money for us to live in a gated community in the burbs and own two gigantic SUVs. But because of our beliefs about the value of community, we live in a modest townhome adjacent to the train line, and own only one smaller vehicle. You couldn't PAY us to live in a gated community. We don't believe in fostering fear!
Yay for you, Heavytrash; hope to see you expanding your organization nationally.
Backhoes and bulldozers are much more effective. Better still use the backhoes and bulldozers to rip down the gates and open the areas to the homeless and less fashionably ghettoized.
It is amazing to me how some of the anonymous posts on your site use personal attacks against you and other bloggers. I learned in my freshman logic class many years ago that using that type of argument automatically makes their opinion a fallacy.
My more important concern is: Are these gated communities to which I can be kept out, serviced by my tax dollar? What I mean is am I paying for municpal services such as road/sidewalk maintenance, and I can't even walk down the road I paid for?
If this is the case, then I think the problem is obvious. But, if the gated communities are truly private, meaning the home owners' association pays for everything, no tax dollars, I cannot truly see a problem with a gated community.
The USA is a gated country. We may see a gigantic viewing stand just south of the border any day. We could mash all the military hardware and build a nice ornate fence all around the country.
You guys are doing a great job, i love how so many visitors bitch about what you do, and yet wont hesitate to hide behind the 'anonymous' tag.
its sad to know that most people cant appreciate the artistic value of something. also, it seems that most people have the concensus that youre not fighting the "real" problem. the fact is, heavytrash is in the US and not in another country, and so theyre fighting a local problem that many other cities within the same nation have.
privatization is bad, and its great that theyre fighting it on a local level so that it will hopefully resonate to a larger level and will notify people to whats around them and where theyre going.
"Anonymous said... You guys are idiots. Don't you have anything better to do? If it took you an hour to put up one staircase, 43 people died of starvation in the U.S. " You are saying that every hour 43 people in the U.S. die of starvation? So 376,680 die in the U.S. of starvation every year?
Who are you to dictate how people choose to live, and attempt to force YOUR values on others? If people want to live in gated communities they should be allowed to without YOUR morals being forced upon them.
Instead of making anonymous, useless expressions of disgust at people who merely want safety and anonymity why don't you do something to ease the burden of the homeless or reduce the urban crime that makes gated communities popular? Remember when your parents could let you play outside all day without checking up on you? Remember when you would go to sleep with the front door open except for a screen? Like it or not, America isn't safe any longer. Whatever your views on the homeless, THEY COMMIT CRIMES and are a public nuisance.
Let's face the facts: L.A. just has some really LOW-LIFE, scummy, gangbanger trass, many of whom live here illegally, so why not put up a gate to keep the scum out of your neighborhood? If I had the money to have a nice house in a nice area I would do the same. There's nothing wrong with gated communities!
Gated communities are there to keep you safe and keep the trash out. They would not exist if there wasn't a need for it. Maybe if INS and the authorities did there job, people would not feel the need to live in such a place.
Thats's a pretty broad assumption about the homeless. I've only seen the guys eat out of trashcans and beg for money. Rarely do I hear about them robbing houses, more so than that, some of them rob people. If I'm not mistaken most home burglers are well off enough that they have houses.
Actually, the Park La Brea platform is in front of the Palazzo, a monstrosity, yes, but not part of Park La Brea at all. Park La Brea is an apartment complex within gates and not nearly as pricey or hoity-toity as the Palazzo crap. Park La Brea may be gated, but at least 40% of it is not, so I think you targeted the wrong place.
247 Comments:
What a view!
How is a gated community different then an apartment complex?
What insanity ! With all the issues that face the world and this city this is what we are worried about? Get a life, get some education,get a real job and then you too can afford to move to a gated community!
A gated community removes streets, sidewalks, and parks from the public realm whereas an apartment complex only encloses private property.
I read your comments about gated communities and it left me confused. Park La Brea is an apartment complex. Why were they targeted? And why do you decline to
indentify yourselves, if you believe that you are right? Is there something you are ashamed of?
As architects and designers you should not focus you attention on making a random, anonymous statement against gated communities with these installations. You should educate your clients and convince them of this social issue while steering them towards a better design alternative. I'd bet the shirt on my back that these "anonymous" architects/designers are up to their neck in private, elite, residential design. Otherwise you would have no problem communicating openly with the public on issues such as these.
The four walls of your house are a gated community you morons!
I can appreciate the sentiment. A friend once commented that living in Park La Brea was like living in Poland.
However, before they put up our gate, parking was problemmatic .. .with people visiting LACMA taking up our parking spaces. . .instead of paying for parking at the museum.
fyi. . .your viewing spot is not outside Park La Brea. The Palazzo at Park La Brea is under separate ownership.
WP
I think all of your projects are pretty cool. I wasn't sure about it at first, because I didn't really understand the difference between gated communities and enclosed private property. But I looked through your site and you guys make some really good points, and it's good that you do it without being randomly destructive.
The streets and parks you believe are removed from public access are private property, and hence can be so removed. Just like your yard and your house. Maybe we should all take a walk through your house sometime if you think public access is so great. If you don't like walled communities, then don't live in one. Let others have the CHOICE as to where they will live.
The alleged 'streets, parks, sidewalks, etc.' encompassed by a gated community are PRIVATE PROPERTY! They aren't removed from the public realm any more than is the ground under the foundation of a home or apartment complex. There is no logical difference between a home, an apartment complex, and a gated community - all are private property segregated from public/other property by either walls or fences as desired by the owners and inhabitants.
Trying to usurp or rail against the right to do as one wishes with private property is akin to assailing free speech or any of the other cornerstones of our way of life (i.e., stupid - if you don't like freedom go live somewhere else where property laws are routinely ignored by the government).
To those who dislike what Heavytrash is attempting here, please take a few deep breaths, and ask yourself this: "Why are these people doing this?"--- Honestly ask yourself this.
If you have the brain power to make it this far, then why not go a step further: Look at the Heavytrash website.
If you have the capacity for reasoning to get to this point, then you might as well keep going with this, Read their material, take a look at their Bibliography its a list of their sources it will tell you what they researched before performing this act, and it might give you an idea why some say gated communities are not all peaches and cream.
If you really want to prove that you have the capibility for abstract thought, then why not follow this all the way and read some of Heavytrash's sources. You just might change your mind on this subject.... But then again you would probably call it "Flip-floping" on the issue.
To those of you who think that heavytrash members are ashamed of their actions, I will ask you a simplistic question: "Why did the lone ranger wear a mask?" Or, for that matter, anyone who did a subversive act. Think about it, what do engineers, city planers and architects have to lose by doing something like this?
Honestly people, I'm dissapointed at some of the comments left here, If you disagree with someone, it dosn't mean you call them names, or use poor simplistic examples that don't fit the situation. My faith in the human's ability to reason is faltering. Makes me wonder if we really are doomed as a species.
Don't let me down people. I don't care if you disagree with Heavytrash, I care if you don't use your heads.
Thank you for trying to make people think. It is a tough job. I appreciate it, and what you are doing.
Well done!
Here in South Florida, gated "communities" are propagating like a virus. I dislike all of them and particularly abhor the ones that have zero lot lines, cookie cutter houses and no class whatsoever and require a visitor to present a form af identification, which is duly noted down as is the license tag number of the entering vehicle.
More power to the members of Heavy Trash!
Landt
What gives you the right to invade others privacy and property?
Very nice work! A nice way to provoke thought without violence or "in your face" protests. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!!
this is truely the dumbest protest ever mounted, YOU PEOPLE ARE THE REASON WHY GATED COMMUNITIES EXIST!
"Good fences make good neighbors."
That's pretty funny, but couldn't you like decorate them better, or
maybe you could leave a register. But really, aside from being comical.. do you think this might encourage negative-voyuerism, you know, like giving wierdo's an invitation and excuse to peep on people? I would have a problem with it if you put one of these behind my house, and on the other side of my not-so-private-as-these fence line.. I mean how would you like it if somebody did this to your neighborhood? Regardless of whether you had a ritzy address or not, and why don't you target the builder's house, not the schmuck who wanted a bigger house?
<<"Gates and barricades that separate people from one another also reduce people's potential to understand one another and commit to any common or collective purpose.">>
A'hem...Maybe they do not want to understand the people they are keeping out. Considering 'who' they are keeping out, I would not want to 'understand' them either.
Also, your comparison about the Berlin Wall is backwards. The Westerners are the ones inside the gated communities and the people being gated out, are the East Berliners. In this case, the 'westerners' have no desire to look over the wall that they built to preserve life and the sanctity of theirs homes and families from thugs, rapists, thieves, murderers, and uncivilized cretins.
Thank you
Whatever side of the fence your on the lines of communication are now open to all. Keep it up for the rest of us!
You guys are out of your minds. What possibly gives you the right to conduct these acts of urban terrorism on neighborhoods that just want to feel safe by living in a gated community? What's next for Heavytrash? Torching SUV dealerships in the name of your cause ala ELF 2003? Find something useful to do with your time and money. Save the environment or feed the homeless or throw yourselves off a bridge. Anyone of those would do the public a lot more good than platforms that look into peoples yards.
You people are complete MORONS! What a waste of resources. Why don't you come up with an issue that is really important and quit wasting time on issues no one but your extremist group cares about!
Living in a gated community is a choice many people are very happy to make. It does reduce the crime rate. In some neighborhoods it also reduces the number of dangerous wild animals roaming private streets.
For example, in Simi Valley there were a number of reported attacks on children by coyotes last year (fortunately the children survived). A few years ago there was a mountain lion that attacked some bikers in the Los Angeles hills (one was killed).
Also, many of the communites that you are so against physically OWN the streets that are within those gates. Making those streets private property. The Homeowners pay for all street repairs, sewage problems, rain damage, lighting, landscaping, private security, water, etc. that happens within those gates. All of these things the city and state pay for in all the NON-gated communities. In other words, they are paying MORE for the services they have, since they are paying both with their taxes for the entire city AND paying with their homeowners dues for their private community.
It really is too bad that some people are so jealous of others that they feel they must make an issue out of haves and have nots.
Boring. And too simple-minded. "Here's a platform to look over a wall". Come on- I expect more of art and social commentary and you all should expect more of your own minds.
love it ... i highly suggest reading margaret atwood's new novel "oryx and crake" ...
Snip - "The four walls of your house are a gated community you morons!"
Obviously an abused child wrote this...
Your home is an element of the community; you are part of the glue that binds that community… Wake up and smell the Starbucks cubby, you belong to the “whole” that is LA!
~~~~~~~~
I think what you are doing is great! We aren't in the middle ages where a moat and castle provide protection for the Earl and his serfs...
The fact that someone can restrict access to what I pay taxes on pisses me off; the streets, parks and other green areas are public not private lands.
Further still the mere thought of having some elitist jackass telling me what color I can paint my house or which landscape architect I have to use is worse (home owners ass-ociations & CC&R rules) <-- this sort of keeps me out of the “Muffy and Biff” zone anyway I guess
~~~~~~~~
"WE" are a community "WE" need to join forces to make all of this work.
There is an old saying that goes "a house divided falls"
This goes for everything at a granular level on up!
Nuff' said
I'd love to know where the members of Heavy Trash live. Do they live where I live? Do they travel one block from their home to see gang tags and wish they could put a wall up around their street where they live because yet another stolen car was left in front of their neighbor's home or because their neighbors house was broken into? I think it's natural for people to want to try and "buy" safety and/or exclusivity. If I had the money to move, I would. Maybe not to a gated community but I know what it's like to want to be safer. I think it's a luxury afforded only to those living outside of a situation to point to that situation and make grand totally useless gestures.
cool idea, but I think the person who said they need to look like watch towers is right... not many people get the idea of the Berlin Wall viewing towers. Oh, and the gated community could put a sharp shooter in the Tower to make them safer, and your towers won't get torn down. Why is everybody anonymous, isn't that kinda like putting up a gate?
Yeah, maybe, if you are a collectivist. I think I've identified the debate. It is the communists vs. the anti-communists, redux.
When are all of you going to learn to stick to your side of the echo chamber?
P.S. Someone is going to get hurt on the tower and sue. Maybe the Wendy's finger lady is already on the case. Whee. Thanks for opening this amazing and insightful dialog, Heavytrash...really.
As a project manager for a Contracting company, I see more and more gated communities being built. City planners in our area are all for it due to the fees and upgrades the developer must pay to the City and/or County and into the school system. Not all gated communities are for well to do "rich" people which is the misconception here. In this area, gated communities are now called "low income housing".
The stand you have about gated communities is confusing to me as I do not understand how you are saying that these are taking away public access to parks and sidewalks? First of all, the City or County where the gated community is to be built, must approve all design and intent from a developer. Perhaps you should take your fight there. Second of all, the developer is the owner of the property - it is not property that you call "public" land and public parks. Parks or "greenbelts" within a development are for the use of the homeowners and is one of the reasons they pay HOA dues every month!
If you don't like gated communities, then maybe your first action should be to curb the infiltration of people coming into this country who are taking away homes from people who live here legally and pay into the system and who still cannot afford to purchase a normal home. There is no reason attacking the people who live in these communities - most of the time this is what the people can afford to purchase for a home.
Whenever a new development is built, there are meetings to approve the development and get input on the general plan. Contact your local city department for more info. You state that you are a group of Architects and city workers, so shouldn't you already know the drill? Just some food for thought.
I think you shouldn't tell others what to think.
Thank goodness for all the designers and architects! I really have been tiring of the government thinking for me. I can't believe they haven't given artists a turn yet!
I for one welcome our new design overlords!
Right or Left, you're flattening my life.
Pathetic, but nonetheless, I support your freedom to be as much of a thoughtless douchebag as you may think all of the families living in gated communities are.
I think the Orange Towers (if you can call them that) are just another PR stunt to gain some 15 minutes of fame. It's ridiculous. If people that can afford a gate or wall around their homes want one, then let them build whatever they want. Maybe they don't want to visit on their porches with idiots like HEAVY TRASH. After reading your Facts and Myths section, I had to laugh. That was the biggest crock of Sh*t I've ever seen. Weak arguments and a weak organization in my mind. Why don't you spend your time helping the homeless in Los Angeles? Help the less fortunate or those that are affected by Domestic Violence or Drug abusers. WAKE UP AMERICA!!!!
JEEEEZ!!! This is definitely proof that Natural Selection is a crock!
You people really need to be shot. People deserve their privacy, and you've decided to attempt to violate it.
That is why I DON'T live in wacky LA. Your organization gives people in that area a bad name (if it was even possible after PETA.)
As stated before, spend your resources more wisely.
I’m enraged at this senseless protest for two reasons. For the many of you who don’t live in Los Angeles, what the site owner neglected to show you was the giant Pan Pacific Regional Park and community center across the street from one of his “viewing” platforms, which was erroneously placed at a location not named in his protest. Isn’t that enough “green”?
Secondly, we need more walls and more separation between the decent citizens of this world and the unwashed masses. I am all for gated communities, and hope to one day live in a place free of trash, homeless people, graffiti, noise and crime. I don’t see our civic leaders stepping up, and it is only through private efforts that city dwellers can achieve a sense of serenity in an otherwise chaotic world.
My locked and gated community (my home)prevents things such as dangerous people from hurting my family. My family is #1 priority and just as I would not send my child out on a bike without a helmet or go to sleep without my doors and windows being secure, I would put a locked gate around an gaurded private community also. My house is not a PUBLIC park, and if i pay my money for PRIVATE PROPERTY it is my right to choose what I want to do with it and who i want to allow access to it. If I wanted the community at large to have all access I would have moved to a communist country. Perhaps that is what you are confusing with your rants. Nice idea, bad conception.
Wow. This is incredibly craptacular. What a waste of time and stupidity. Surely you could use your powers of stupidity for something more purposeful. Oh wait...maybe not.
You guys act on topics most are scared to speak of. Very commendable. Your past projects are great. Keep it up. You inspire many to educate. Obviously its an uphill battle. Wish I could help.
What a waste of time and energy - mine. I want the time back that I spent reading to see if these people had any valid points. All I saw was some '60s rhetoric.
To paraphrase a song that I disagreed with in the first place...
Whoa, walls, walls.
Everywhere a wall.
Blockin' out the scen'ry.
Breakin' my mind.
Do this. Don't do that.
Can't you see the walls?
It's just as stupid and communal now as it was then.
I just posted a comment to the Photo Album page. I won't repost it here but in reading the comments above, particularly those objecting and expressing outrage, a thought-a suggestion for refinement- occured to me.
I'd be willing to bet that if you installed some kind of a meter, like those used on pay-toilets, perhaps with a small gate, and a sign along the lines of: "25¢ for 15 mins." that no one would think twice about it and there would be no complaints. Probably the only problem you'd have would be thieves attempting to break the meters and steal your loot.
Further refinement: After writing the above it just occured to me that you might incure some legal liabilities as the local municipality would take a dim view of anyone stepping on their turf. Both problems can be solved by making sure the meters were inoperative. In addition, Out of order signs would be a good idea. But they should not be too conspicuous, at least from a distance.
-Barry Freed
Interesting. This is what happens when people have too much time on their hands. They make an analysis of what the other guy is doing, cast judgment, and try to raise public awareness. It's just like the whole vegan/vegitarian/meat eater debate.
Who are you to tell me where and how to live. I don't care how you live, it's none of my business, so please do me the same, keep your nose out.
Furthermore if you built one of those annoying orange platforms in front of my community, I would go outside with my hammer, wreking bar, and drill/driver and take it apart and recycle the wood into something useful.
The viewing platforms are a bit silly, and not immidiate in it's protest message. You have to explain their reason for being there before anyone takes them for something more than a utility workers platform.
Miniature mock guard towers to make the gated community seem more like a heavily guarded fortress would have drawn more attention and been more appearent as to the protest reasoning.
There's a HUGE difference between being financially secure and locking yourself out of public view.
WHAT ARE "THESE PEOPLE" AFRAID OF??!!
Good job, keep fighting the good fight.
As a Landscape Architect who practiced in California for years before relocating to the east coast, I have to say that I think the actions here are misguided. I heard of this in an article that cited "Heavy Trash, a coalition of anonymous architects, designers and urban planners" and the message they were trying to get across. I wonder why these non-descript platforms that offered no educational opportunity for the public are the medium they chose to use. I couldn't imagine a design professional in Southern California thinking that this was the best way to communicate their concern about gated communities. Development in LA, San Diego and Orange Counties is driven by homebuilders. If affecting change was really the goal of this project, I imagine they would have made some effort towards challenging a homebuilder to build an exclusive community without gates. Hell, they're all designers, right. Design a Master Plan for a make-believe community and show people how things can work better than the way they're criticizing. That would be the professional, intellectual, effective way of making changes. Shock value statements are for people who have no other reasonable method of communicating.
Homeless people in the streets, kids going hungry and/or abused on a daily basis, women raped, gangs in the streets, war in the world.
And you are worried about people who are doing nothing more than making their living and choosing to live inside a gated community to feel safer from all the evil deeds in this world?
Find a better outlet for your repressed aggressions. Feed a starving child, or help a homeless family get back on their feet. Watchtowers are just plain silly and misguided.
what a completely stupid and useless protest. I live in a NON gated community outside chicago and have had my car broken into, my mailbox run over, and last year some idiot wannabe gang members spray painted gang symbols on the side of the retirees across the street from me. Im all FOR gates to keep idiotic teens and punk gang jackasses away from the homes that my neighbors and I work VERY hard to be able to afford. Why SHOULDNT we have some sort of seperation/protection from people who dont care about anything and want to destroy what they cant have?
But what's the message? Here is a platform, see how the other people with money live? Is that the message? Or is the message that there should not BE other people with more money, no walls, no gates, free access. What? To say there should be no walls is to deny reality. There is some serious crime out there. Some people use walls and gates to isolate themselves and their families from it. That's their choice. Others, well, not in Kalifornia, but in other states, use existing laws to carry concealed weapons to protect themselves from crime. Do only criminals have rights? It's my right NOT to be a victim. If that means a wall, or a gun, or a cell phone to dial 911, I have a right NOT to be robbed, beaten, or killed.
Now, if your message was to point out the rising crime in American society, that makes walls and gates necessary, well, you blew it. No, I think your message was the usual liberal and misguided notion that the trouble with society is caused by the rich ignoring the poor. Don't like being poor? Get an education, get a job, work hard, and make something of yourself.
People in gated communities always talk about privacy and how it’s a god given right and how they cherish it so much etc.. They don’t really care about the spirit of what the forefathers considered privacy which would be privacy from the government not common citizens. They want there privacy from common citizens so they can act out deviant behaviors (i.e. child/spouse abuse, prescription drug abuse, etc.) kind of like Michael Jackson and his gated community. In a way it’s awesome that they are locked up behind bars where they should be.
Man, that rocks. Great idea and great execution. I will try to hunt them all down this week, I hope they are still up.
Too bad the mentatility of the Gated Community is playing itself out in downtown LA's newest architectural specimens.. Disney Concert hall has a semi-public, gated upper plaza, the Cathedral has a semi-public gated plaza.. why is not one building fully accessible public space anymore? I realize these are private buildings - but they have lost an opportunity to really add public spaces to the downtown landscape. Instead we have a sidewalk, and security guards lording over the new plazas where your right to pass my be revoked at any time.
The art works good job! Arts job is to provoke public debate good, bad, or ugly. Look at all the gated citizens getting all defensive. Don’t worry Mr. or Mrs. gated they wont take down your walls and let criminals (gated lexicon for black people) come and steal your worldly possessions or rape all your white women. They just want to provoke public debate.
I'll be anonymous since the Heavy Trash clan won't go public either. Here's my challenge to the group: since you are builders, build a nice big massive building, say, a hundred thousand square-feet. I'm guessing that a building that size should contain the families of every member of Heavy Trash.
Now, get as many beds, stoves and toilets that you need for that building, but there can be no walls or barriers between families within the building's outer walls. (I'd say no outer walls, either, but I'll allow those to keep out the wind and weather, but they should be made of glass lest, God forbid, someone might think you are creating a PRIVATE community to keep others out.)
Give that a few months, all your families, inter-mixed, living together in perfect harmony. Tell us how it goes, keeping peace, harmony and sanity in your perfect communistic society.
I agree with your efforts to do away with gay communites. Why should they have their own sidewalks and parks? Let's all rise up and express our hatred for gay communities!
OH GEES HEAVYTRASH, HOW FRIGHTFULLY SUBVERSIVE! The problem isn't the gates, it's the sprawl, the cars, the lack of walkable civilised public space, density, public transit, etc. etc. Thousands of acres of single family suburbs, gated or not, is why LA is such a traffic-choked toilet.
Who cares about the cheezy McMansion behind the gate? There's one just like it up the street anyway.
Nice work! Anything that is aimed at abusing the elitist public - in a non-permanent and non-destructive way - is worth the effort. Your message is ambiguous, arbitrary and somewhat misguided but it’s funny nonetheless. For your next effort, please work over the nimrods that use cell phones in public places.
The criticism of gated communities is valid and the many of the responses are engaging and thoughtful. Sadly this doesn't make the cut. Heavytrash has created a mild diversion from the daily grind by allowing us to have discourse over the internet while at work and return to our respective homes, both gated and ungated. The group must address a specific audience and be far less passive in any hope of influencing change, otherwise they are simply having fun. Fun is fun and nothing more. The rhetoricity of an orange play structure is confusing and innapropriate for this use. Then again, heavytrash may be more into the process than the results, and that of course is their fun.
What utter CRAP.
Sorry I wasted even a few bits of bandwidth on this silly, stupid and totally useless site.
As several have already pointed out: Get a job, get a life and MAYBE you too could live in the real world (gated or not).
Thank you for NOT having an explanation there - art is to be felt, seen and/or heard by its sheer existence. To hand us the message treats us like we're stupid - draw your own conclusions. People are so dam literal.
You guys/gals are amazing - keep it up and I can't wait to see more!
Great job -- I'm an L.A. native (Redondo Beach) and it's really made me sad to see how things have changed for the worse since I was a kid. Thanks for calling attention to the problems gated communities create.
Wow, it's so exciting to see art as a protest! From one artist to another (or several others as it is) I'm so excited that you use your talents to express your views. It should be a real kick in the butt to everyone else to remember to use their talents for expression, for passion, for anything other than being hung in a dentists office. You guys rock the free world. Thanks!
Hmm, Gates versus Jobs?
Lowly plywood lets apt jabs!
Tongue lolls in cheery cheek.
I commend you for your clever and simple statement. The responses on the site are in large part depressing, but on the bright side, it takes a while for people to change their views and a bittersweet morsel like your viewing platforms are very apropos and will get the neurons firing. A lot of these people should read The Geography of Nowhere by Kunstler - he would be very proud of you, I'm sure.
See, what you really need to do is have little watchtower parties--a couple people go around at night with MagLites, or better, bright searchlights, and scan the interiors of the gated communities. Make them feel more like a prison-yard under scrutiny. You don't even need towers for that, simply roaming around the outside gates will do.
Good work. Even if everyone doesn't get it. Just don't dumb it down for the masses.
The gates are bad, but what is worse are the HOAs (you know, and for those who don't... Homeowners Associations). I want to live somewhere where I can paint my house paisley, if I so desire. Not among a bunch of compliance whores!
This is the dumbest idea I've ever heard. Just another examle of class envy.
I cant believe I stumbled across this web site... I'm in Columbus Indiana, and you people have nothing better to do with your talent than this?
Geez our rich people dont build gates to keep people out they all live on the same main road that cuts through town showing off their houses.
Yes its a smaller town, but if you are an artist you should be acquainted with Columbus Indiana, we are know for our art and architechture.
Anyway, I think you all need to get a life. Dont you have better things to do with your time? Try a real cause, rally the homeless people in a demonstration through the middle of LA, Let the "rich" gated communities see how many there really are, then ask for some financial support to help them. Supposing that the Gated community is really as sheltered as you seem to think, maybe they need a wake up call to help out teh people that need help, not some silly orange art piece that makes no sense unless its explained.
Good luck.
hmm, I was just down there and I missed seeing the orange towers. Guess they weren't obtrusive enough. Anyway, I don't really see the difference between a gated community and, say, a distant suburb. Both want to remove themselves from the fast-moving city, and people have to pay a premium to live there. If they want the additional serenity provided by walls and gates, surely that is their right? I have cruised through Park LaBrea on my bike, and although it looks fairly dull to live there, at least it is quiet. The noise and activity of the city are nice at times, but some people probably just want to remove themselves from it at times.
Hey! Great idea. When I first moved to LA I wanted to bike from Koreatown to the Farmer's Market and had to go a mile out of my way in the blazing August sun to get around stupid Park La Brea.
On the way back, we sneaked through the gate behind a car and as we biked through, I speculated at the top of my lungs about just how feeble you need to be to require such protection from the scary, scary world outside.
You guys rule. If you ever need help of a non-artsy, non-construction type, I'm there.
You guys are idiots. Don't you have anything better to do? If it took you an hour to put up one staircase, 43 people died of starvation in the U.S.
Morons like you are what's wrong with the world... what a waste.
Heavytrash: how 'bout posting your address here so we can all come over and stare in your windows?
While I agree with how people "do not want walled fortresses dividing their neighborhoods or blocking off what would otherwise be public streets and sidewalks," we must also think of how crime is the whole reason why gated communities exist and combat that as well. To do otherwise would be like trying to put out a fire in a 2 story house by aiming hoses at the second story and not the first.
I love this idea! I have recently moved away from Los Angeles partly because of the elitism that permeates that city. One example of a neighborhood that succeeds in keeping a nice community feel without need of gates is Hancock Park where I lived for four years. Between gates keeping us from each other and no useful public transportation, I couldn't wait to leave! Now I am living in Europe with incredibly efficient public transportation (much nicer than driving) and nice friendly neighborhoods.
I have an idea! If you really want to have an impact or help to make a change in the world, join me in Iraq for my second tour. I have been there once and could show you around all of their gated commumities. Is all of this energy you are expending really doing anything for the greater good. Who is really harmed by a wall or fence? Is it wrong to want privacy and/or a sense of security? Why do you think we have the military we have? To provide safety and security for you and everyone else that lives behind the walls of the United States. Are our borders really that different from these gates and walls you are protesting against. I guess you are one of those groups that would open our country to anyone for any reason in the name of global equality. Guess what, we are not all equal in the world. There are bad people out there despite what your mom told you. Evil does exist. Get over it with these walls. Do something more constructive with your time!
How the weather up there?
lol this is a great way to waste your time isn't it?
It would be interesting to see statistics and hard data on delays caused by broken or malfunctioning gates that are keeping out emergency first responders! Do people die or homes burn down because the ambulance and fire truckess are waiting for a slow gate to open? How safe does that make you feel?
Heavy Trash...yep, that's exactly what it looks like to me too. Big, ugly, orange trash.
lol thank you! i needed a good laugh :)
Hm. Thoughtful. Of course some of the discussion here is certainly uneducated---but what kind of democracy would we be if required persons to pass an IQ test or display their diplomas prior to posting?
I guess I am biased as and architect and urban designer. I like what you are doing, and I think your methods are very sustainable. I also can appreciate why you would only have 3 projects since 1997--you all have full time jobs I am sure, and anyone who has ever worked in this field knows it is rarely only 40 hours a week, and the pay is lacking.
My spouse, though, makes enough money for us to live in a gated community in the burbs and own two gigantic SUVs. But because of our beliefs about the value of community, we live in a modest townhome adjacent to the train line, and own only one smaller vehicle. You couldn't PAY us to live in a gated community. We don't believe in fostering fear!
Yay for you, Heavytrash; hope to see you expanding your organization nationally.
Backhoes and bulldozers are much more effective. Better still use the backhoes and bulldozers to rip down the gates and open the areas to the homeless and less fashionably ghettoized.
It is amazing to me how some of the anonymous posts on your site use personal attacks against you and other bloggers. I learned in my freshman logic class many years ago that using that type of argument automatically makes their opinion a fallacy.
My more important concern is: Are these gated communities to which I can be kept out, serviced by my tax dollar? What I mean is am I paying for municpal services such as road/sidewalk maintenance, and I can't even walk down the road I paid for?
If this is the case, then I think the problem is obvious. But, if the gated communities are truly private, meaning the home owners' association pays for everything, no tax dollars, I cannot truly see a problem with a gated community.
The USA is a gated country. We may see a gigantic viewing stand just south of the border any day. We could mash all the military hardware and build a nice ornate fence all around the country.
You guys are doing a great job, i love how so many visitors bitch about what you do, and yet wont hesitate to hide behind the 'anonymous' tag.
its sad to know that most people cant appreciate the artistic value of something. also, it seems that most people have the concensus that youre not fighting the "real" problem. the fact is, heavytrash is in the US and not in another country, and so theyre fighting a local problem that many other cities within the same nation have.
privatization is bad, and its great that theyre fighting it on a local level so that it will hopefully resonate to a larger level and will notify people to whats around them and where theyre going.
"Anonymous said...
You guys are idiots. Don't you have anything better to do? If it took you an hour to put up one staircase, 43 people died of starvation in the U.S.
"
You are saying that every hour 43 people in the U.S. die of starvation? So 376,680 die in the U.S. of starvation every year?
Heart Disease: 696,947
Cancer: 557,271
Starvation: 376,680 <= ??? I don't think so
Stroke: 162,672
Chronic lower respiratory diseases: 124,816
Accidents: 106,742
Diabetes: 73,249
Starvation in the U.S. is extremely rare. Why don't we try feeding Ethiopia instead?
why are you spending your precious time posting statistical trash instead of feeding ethiopians?
if you want to put these guys to shame, try doing just that instead of slandering what they do.
Who are you to dictate how people choose to live, and attempt to force YOUR values on others? If people want to live in gated communities they should be allowed to without YOUR morals being forced upon them.
Typical liberals.
Yes, those damn liberals and their progressive ideals.
Damn them and their push for equality.
Equality is one thing.
Forcing morals upon people because of the way they choose to live is another.
Everyone wants equality, not just idiot liberals. Liberals simply choose to play the self-loathing guilt card on anyone that has more.
Instead of making anonymous, useless expressions of disgust at people who merely want safety and anonymity why don't you do something to ease the burden of the homeless or reduce the urban crime that makes gated communities popular? Remember when your parents could let you play outside all day without checking up on you? Remember when you would go to sleep with the front door open except for a screen? Like it or not, America isn't safe any longer. Whatever your views on the homeless, THEY COMMIT CRIMES and are a public nuisance.
RIGHT! And anyone that doesn't put these things on gaited communities wants no one to be equal.
It's community college liberals forcing ideals, their way, their beliefs and their morals on others.
Liberals have turned into the preachy, overbearing cult they were orginally against when the party formed.
Exactly. It's self-loathing liberalism at it most high.
"Look, those people have things they've worked hard for! Let's guilt them into feeling like they are worthless because we don't like gates!"
"Yeah! Go tell professor Pinko in our soc class, he'll give us all A's!"
Let's face the facts: L.A. just has some really LOW-LIFE, scummy, gangbanger trass, many of whom live here illegally, so why not put up a gate to keep the scum out of your neighborhood? If I had the money to have a nice house in a nice area I would do the same. There's nothing wrong with gated communities!
Gated communities are there to keep you safe and keep the trash out. They would not exist if there wasn't a need for it. Maybe if INS and the authorities did there job, people would not feel the need to live in such a place.
Thats's a pretty broad assumption about the homeless. I've only seen the guys eat out of trashcans and beg for money. Rarely do I hear about them robbing houses, more so than that, some of them rob people. If I'm not mistaken most home burglers are well off enough that they have houses.
This is the beginning of a realization of the barriers of cruelty set forth by those who believe mankind is viewed as a class and not as a people.
Beautiful with my best regards:
Nick
Greencastle, IN
This is stupid. Are you smoking crack to come up with something like this?
Actually, the Park La Brea platform is in front of the Palazzo, a monstrosity, yes, but not part of Park La Brea at all. Park La Brea is an apartment complex within gates and not nearly as pricey or hoity-toity as the Palazzo crap. Park La Brea may be gated, but at least 40% of it is not, so I think you targeted the wrong place.
Keep up the good work, these walled off and guarded areas are popping up all over San Antonio as well.
I think what this boils down to is that t