Rampart Lofts

Los Angeles is a city known for long lines of traffic congestion against a smoggy horizon. Among the world’s densely populated metropolitan cities, Los Angeles has a uniquely underutilized public transit system. The disjointed and cumbersome transit system does not allow people to easily travel across such a large, decentralized city. Instead, most people in L.A. prefer to travel around the city by car - ridesharing or in personal vehicles. Most buildings in L.A., therefore, are experienced through moving vehicle windows. Rampart Loft was designed with this concept in mind.

Fitting for the heavily trafficked city, Rampart Loft is located at a busy intersection. Instead of fading into the concrete jungle background, this building is dynamic; reaching out from its street corner to draw the eyes and invoke a sense of movement using shape and color. Rather than building separate layers vertically, floor by floor - as seen with most apartment buildings - the Rampart Loft space progresses across the horizontal line, creating a seamless curved form from East to West and around the South vertical wall. The lines of the building blend into a bold floorless work of art rather than a traditional wedding cake-like design (basement is split from upper floors). The curved exterior creates a feeling of continuity as each vehicle approaches and passes by. White and steel grey define the building and serve as a backdrop to emphasize the vibrant vertical pops of the city’s iconic sunset colors: red, orange, yellow. The smooth flow of recognizable colors defines the building against - at the same time as blending it into - the urban cityscape.

Around the street level perimeter of the building are varying elevated layers of concrete walls topped with ample landscaping. Unlike most gates which have vertical, jail bar-like lines, Rampart Lofts entrance and parking gates minimizes vertical lines, and are perforated for shadowed transparency. These gradual, unobtrusive boundaries between the public street and residents’ private spaces create a sense of belonging on both sides: residents have privacy and safety while still being able to openly engage and feel a part of their neighborhood, rather than isolated and blocked off from it; And instead of a solid form disrupting the neighborhood, the building harmonizes as a part of the community, for a pleasant experience when community members walk by.