MasterPlanning!: An Interview With Sevak Petrosian: part 1
by Tony Chavira
Sevak Petrosian is an amazing architectural and urban designer, who I happen to know through a long-term project that we’re both working on developing in the city of Los Angeles. He’s been held political prisoner in his home country of Iran, where he challenged the growing fascist regime; studied architecture and design in Soviet Armenia; and received amnesty to come to Los Angeles, where he received his masters from the Southern California Institute of Architecture. He has designed projects around the world, from the Cascade Cultural Center in Yerevan and the Museum of Armenian History and Architecture, to projects for Samsung in South Korea, to designing resorts in Germany and Belize, to producing the Star Trek Experience in Las Vegas and Jurassic Park ride at Universal Studios Japan. He works with his own studio, Nextep, and consults with Gary Goddard Entertainment.
We sat in Petrosian’s office on a warm Saturday and talked about what it takes to develop a coherent urban plan that works for both the community and for investors. I began with a pretty simple question.
What does it take to make a community prosper?
Every architect out there is thinking of this, every economist out there is thinking of this, every urban designer out there is thinking about this. First off, you need to think about the dynamics of self-sustaining systems like an upward spiral, like a silo: a spiral that allows access for people to continue to move upward based on a solid foundation. Now we should ask ourselves, “What does it take to develop that foundation for the upward spiral? What are the missing pieces?” Basically, the way that the process of development happens (outside of the theory, I mean the practical way) is this: no design for any space can begin without one of these three stakeholders, 1) the government, 2) for-profit entities, and 3) non-profit entities. In one way or another, they all have the ability to instigate design and follow through with development. They are all able to find money and they are all able to follow through with their visions.
Now, there has been a trend (and it’s become almost like a tradition) that for-profit entities will put up the required amounts of money and immediately negotiations begin with non-profits and governments to get what they want. For-profit entities can pay their way through all of the red tape and put together whatever types of plans they want because ultimately they have the capital to do it. Governments also have a lot of money, but government programs require project proposals (or a developer’s design and project outline) to be completely outlined before the Government gives money. This is a problem, since the for-profit entities have the money to design the space from their point of view only and (since the government always appreciates development) usually the for-profit entity will get exactly what they want paid for. This leaves non-profits and communities whose funds are more scattered to protect themselves from the whims of for-profits. Nothing is truly a partnership.
This goes back to your question about “what makes a community prosper?” Of course, I am an urban designer, so I think that a large portion of that is the community design itself. But in order for a community to thrive, to truly thrive, equal partnerships will have to be developed from the very beginning between two or preferably all three entities. People might think that this is somehow different than the design, but in fact it isn’t. The proper structure of the partnership will help the urban designer ultimately program and master plan the space, and the more voices that are heard during the programming phase (localized politicians, businesses, citizens, and non-profit organizations, for example), the better chance that the space will be both profitable and adapted easily into the community.
So how do we create this dialog between the non-profit, for-profit and the government? I’m currently proposing a plan in Belize for a community that we plan to program like this, and it’s tough. There are a lot of non-profits around the world working slowly and completely autonomous of each other, but they all want to do the same thing. You can’t just throw money at something like this and hope it works out. The only way you’re going to make a community like this work is to help everyone to understand that they’re investing in the future of an area, and as time goes by both the investors and the citizens will grow in economic and community wealth. When I think of the word “prosper,” I think of people in these communities that can now purchase whatever they need to survive on their own. No more need for walking 15 miles toward water, no more need to slowly starve a large family on fifty cents a day. Los Angeles isn’t the only place that’s suffering from a housing crisis, so is the world!
But what does it take? Good research, integrated collaboration, and strong programming and design. We can do both things: make money AND give people cheap, prosperous communities. We need to engage people, no matter where they are on the economic scale.
Petrosian’s right, and the best proof for me is the work that our executive director Jon Webb does with the Foundation for Social Resources and my friend Jennifer Thomas does with the Local Initiatives Support Corporation. By creating for-profit/non-profit/government partnerships, you’re effectively allowing everyone to be an equal stakeholder, not just the for-profit entity that’s only looking out for its own interests. If the government initiates a project and wants it smartly planned and creatively designed, non-profits want affordable housing, streetscaping upgrades, and a local program center, and for-profits want a commercial plaza and 5,000 apartment units, they can have it all. And they won’t even have to negotiate, because that’s what smart programming for urban planning is supposed to do!
Next week I’ll conclude my interview with Sevak Petrosian, when we speak about his own designs and concepts for Experiential Learning Spaces.
www.racaia.com | tony@fourstory.org
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