Thesis Studio: Social Infrastructure in Boyle Heights
The first half of the Thesis Studio was an investigation of the specific pieces of “social infrastructure” in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles. A place with a rich history – at various points the center of Jewish, Japanese, and Chicano life in LA – Boyle Heights is known in the city as a community in the truest sense of the word. The three primary types of infrastructure are Schools, Churches, and Parks & Rec Centers, each of which functions in different ways to connect people. The schools draw students from finite districts, and the kids who live near the boundaries of those districts are the links. Churches draw people based on location and denomination, so links are established based on proximity to other churches. Parks & Rec Centers have overlapping user bases; those who use multiple parks act as the links there.
