Los Angeles-based architect Michael Maltzan's Rainbow Apartments on Skid Row get a thumbs up from the NY Times, which likes the Spanish-style courtyard apartment design and the much-needed social and medical services on the first floor. As for the view, it's nice, too, if a bit heady. Don't people just want a Corona and a sunset at the end of the day?
From one upper-level staircase, tenants can gaze upon their own past: the lost souls and makeshift cardboard shelters that litter skid row. Just beyond are the twinkling, crystalline towers of downtown Los Angeles, a juxtaposition that conjures the sly social subtext (walking dead versus corporate suits) of a George A. Romero zombie movie.· Defying the Odds on a Project in Skid Row [NY Times]
· Homeless housing: Creative solutions [LA Times]