By Nicholas Jimenez
Margret Crawford Creator of “Everyday Urbanism,” an architecture style, said the exterior of Los Angeles could be more unique.
A professor at Berkeley Crawford, was a guest speaker on Zoom November 18 to discuss her upcoming program “Berkeley Connect.”
During the presentation, Crawford said “Everyday Urbanism” is a live experience.She wrote many articles about Urbanism and has projects in China.
Crawford said, the art of selling in Los Angeles blurs the line between building spaces.Crawford said “The vendors challenge the boundaries between public and private by selling stuff from their front yard or on their cars”
Crawford said different buildings in California looked through the architect’s plans.
She said Los Angeles is known for the architecture throughout the city.Buldings end up having mutiple lives in Los Angeles.
One of the strangest events she witnessed in Los Angeles was an oil change service that became a taco stand after 6 p.m.
Crawford said city planners see a whole set of activities that were problems that need to be taken care of in General Urbanism.
She said she was surprised by the outcome, when she saw people alter the space they were in.
Another example of General Urbanism are day laborers, who are people who regularly look for work.
Crawford said some cities in California tried to control garage sales. Beverly Hills tried but failed.This is because garage sales happen on private land.
Garage sales are examples of pushing boundaries when considering what is private or public land.Home owners can allow people on their front yards and garages.
Crawford said vendor’s respond to people’s needs with food or through selling umbrellas when it rains.
Street vendors are now legal after organizations came together to make them legal.
Crawford said designers should help vendors design their carts.Unfortunately, she said it wouldn’t work because of the price and the cart being heavy.
She said day vendors fought for economic space in Los Angeles to sell stuff from their houses.
Crawford likes how vendors offer new perspectives when thinking about cities and how they show off their exterior designs.
Day vendors sell clothes on chain link fences and present murals that share the stories of multiple lives.
Street Vendors that sell handmade food bring people a nostalgic feeling.
Vendors provide new economic opportunities in existing spaces by turning the building into a coffee shop or into a garage store.
Crawford said her trip to China showed more aspects of urbanism. Vendors make shops or hotels from empty spaces and let college students use them.
She also said that people in China will build their own house in villages they live in. The vendors in China would sell vegetables or food and work throughout the day.
She said everyday Urbanism operates in China and Los Angeles.