The Figure of the Neighbor: Los Angeles Past and Future

The neighbor, as spatial identity and local practice, is investigated in socio-political terms. The architecture of urban neighborhoods in conjunction with their social narratives provides the focus for this study of Los Angeles. Four neighborhoods across the city offer physical evidence of the space between house and city, and the zone between domestic privacy and the public realm. Settings in that zone embody the figure of the neighbor, situating society's most intimate political relations. Multiple aspects of the figure of the neighbor are explored, from physical forms such as porches and courtyards, to social forms of self and other. Historically, the four case neighborhoods range from the early twentieth century to the present. They demonstrate the emergence of locally based civility, such as cooperative community services, as well as political activism with implications for a wider public sphere. The argument is made that the neighborhood is the smallest unit of urban political life and space, thus deserving significant attention. A final case study demonstrates the potential of a community-oriented, experimental architecture.