Departamento del Distrito, Light Gauge, image of model, 2024. Courtesy of Departamento del Distrito.
Light Gauge is an architectural installation by the international design and research practice Departamento del Distrito that will function as a zone of performance, encounter, and cooling, mediated by two photovoltaic space frames that levitate above the M&A x Craft Contemporary Courtyard. Informed by adaptable industrial systems and network thinking, this temporary intervention will address questions surrounding energy and infrastructure in Los Angeles, exploring the policies, technologies, and architectures that enable self-determination.
The intervention is organized by two distinct zones: twin photovoltaic space frames positioned above the courtyard and an open, flexible ground plane below. Working with the courtyard’s north-south axis, photovoltaic modules are arranged due-south to provide shade for zones of collective occupation while generating all power required for public programming. At the community scale, Light Gauge is concerned with local strategies of renewable energy production and distribution that aim to increase the accessibility of essential resources. A cooling center serves as the installation’s primary public program. Panels provide shade. Fans generate a subtle breeze. Energy is free.
Departamento del Distrito, Light Gauge, image of model, 2024. Courtesy of Departamento del Distrito.
The M&A x Craft Contemporary Courtyard is a partnership between Materials & Applications and Craft Contemporary. Each summer since 2021, M&A transforms Craft Contemporary’s courtyard into a venue grounded by a public work of experimental architecture. A series of summer events brings architects, artists, and storytellers together into dialogue, with renewed focus on urban environments and community engagement. Light Gauge aims to activate an interest in the overlooked materiality of our energy infrastructure, bringing together expert and non-expert publics in conversation about shared resources in Los Angeles’s design and material culture.
Light Gauge was collectively curated by the 2024 M&A Program Committee, comprising Angeline Woo, Austin Merchant, Aviva Rubin, Hilary Huckins-Weidner, Jila Mendoza, Leana Scott, and Sara Suárez, with support from Isabel Kuh, Kate Yeh Chiu, Michael Lagos, and Lillian Liu.
Departamento del Distrito, Light Gauge, image of model, 2024. Courtesy of Departamento del Distrito.
Light Gauge is generously supported by the California Arts Council, LA County Department of Arts and Culture, and the Rice University Scholarly and Creative Works Subvention Fund, as well as generous partnerships with and critical support from Solarpunks, Nous Engineering, Rohn Towers, and Talley.
Departamento del Distrito is an international design and research practice operating between Mexico City, Mexico and Houston, Texas. Founded in 2017 by Francisco Quiñones and Nathan Friedman, the office specializes in public, residential, and curatorial projects. The work of Departamento del Distrito is guided by the following core principles: binational representation of language, culture, and history specific to Mexico and the United States; an expanded view of architecture that considers the many social, political, and technological relationships between people and things; and the design of futures that are alternative and diverse. A steady engagement with research——be it archival, typological, or material——allows the office to expand upon local sites of interest, linking them to geographies, time periods, and subjects that reach beyond their immediate bounds. Projects by Departamento del Distrito have been exhibited internationally, including shows at the National Building Museum (Washington, D.C.), Het Nieuwe Instituut (Rotterdam), arc en rêve (Bordeaux), Museo Numismático Nacional (Mexico City), Whitehouse (Tokyo), and the Graham Foundation (Chicago). The practice was an official contributor to the 2021 Chicago Architecture Biennial and received the 2022 Architectural League of New York Prize.