St Elmo Village has long been a very special project to us - ever since Aleks joined their board of directors over 15 years ago. This inspiring artist community in mid-city Los Angeles has been a catalyst for positive change in the surrounding communities since 1969, teaching by example creativity, respect, and responsibility for oneself and one’s environment:
“The philosophy of St. Elmo Village is that all people are creative and powerful in their own way. Through sharing the creative process, we encourage self-confidence and self-esteem through the arts. St. Elmo Village has been providing art workshops, festivals and numerous enhancement programs in the surrounding neighborhood and the Los Angeles community at large. The Village emphasizes pride in self as well as in our environment, which instills a desire to build up...”
It was only natural then, that Jackie and Roderick approached us last fall with the desire that St Elmo should should also become an example of sustainability – as they put it: “The Village wants to get off the grid!”
We at AI Architects were thrilled about this possibility to apply the sustainable design experience and connections that we have been building over the past few years.
We developed a master plan for the “Greening of the Village” and assembled a team of experts to help implement it.
We are especially excited that Jeffrey Richardson of Imani Energy and Leigh Jerrard from the Greywater Corps will be working with us to bring solar power and greywater systems to St Elmo.
Both company’s community-oriented approach gelled perfectly with St Elmo’s desire to have the community be part of the “greening”. As much as possible, the installation of the various sustainable measures will be hosted as community events – like Greywater Corps’ popular hands-on workshops and Imani’s Solar parties.
There will also be plenty of opportunity for the community to bring their own creativity to the table: Rainwater harvesting barrels and permeable paving will become canvases for art projects, and gardening days will invite anyone in the community to come out and help to grow the village greener.
In the coming weeks we will talk more about some of the sustainable measures and ideas for The Village – so check back soon for updates!
