WHAT’S YOUR PRIORITY FOR LOS ANGELES?

Gwynne Pugh, FAIA. M.ASCE. LEED AP – Principal, Gwynne Pugh Urban Studio

What I Believe is the Urgent Priority for the City of Los Angeles

There are too many cars on the road!

We need our cars, or so we believe.  An average person takes approximately seven trips a day. The vast majority of them are less than 3 miles in distance. We take them to work, drop our kids off at school, go shopping for food and go to the nearest coffee shop. 

We need to find a way to reduce these trips. Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris, has coined the phrase the ‘15 Minute City.’ Another way of looking at this is to think of complete communities where we live, work, shop and play and that serve all strata of our society. If we can concentrate these activities within walking or cycling distance, or by taking public transport we could avoid a lot of these trips that we generally take by car. That requires density. 

David Dixon of Goody Clancy, Architects, Boston determined that a long city block that has retail on both sides needs about 1600 households for it to survive. This translates to three and four story buildings within about 1/4 of a mile radius of that retail block if it is to be locally serving and pedestrian accessible. We are beginning to densify the city through the auspices of the state government. By these means we can make public transport more efficient and reduce the need for as much space taken up by cars. Generally, cars require about 375 ft.² if drive aisles are included. That is more space than many SROs. 

Additionally, as we walk around the neighborhoods we get to know our neighbors. The benefits of appropriate density are reduction in cars and traffic, a healthier neighborhood, more affordable housing, and a public transport system that could be more efficient and effective.

Gwynne Pugh FAIA. M.ASCE. LEED AP – Principal, Gwynne Pugh Urban Studio

Gwynne Pugh has been practicing architecture, planning, civil, structural and design engineering since 1971. Gwynne Pugh led Pugh + Scarpa Architects for 22 years where he was responsible for the urban design, design review, technical and production management and general project administration of all of the firm’s projects. Most recently Gwynne became a Fellow of the AIA.

Gwynne is past Chair of the Santa Monica Planning Commission, which under his watch has undertaken the Land Use & Circulation Element update in order to generate a new code for the City that will encourage design excellence in future developments and provide public benefit to the community. Additionally, Gwynne has far-reaching experience working with local community groups and public and private agencies, serving as a Peer Review Consultant to the City of Carson, the City of Los Angeles,

and the Getty Conservation Institute. Gwynne is current President of the Planning and Community Development Department of the California League of Cities.

Gwynne is a LEED Accredited Professional, and is considered an expert in sustainable structural design and engineering. Gwynne was on the Green Ribbon Task Force that studied and implemented the West Hollywood Green Building Program, an effort that received the 2008 American Planning Association (APA) Los Angeles “Innovation in Green Technology” award. Recently, Gwynne co-conducted the inaugural course in sustainable redevelopment at the California Redevelopment Institute.

Gwynne earned his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom and a Master of Architecture degree from UCLA.