Main Architecture and Design Animo School – the Color of Mood

Animo School – the Color of Mood

Architecture firm Brooks + Scarpa has reconstructed a high school in Los Angeles after it was destroyed by a fire, choosing a bright yellow finish for its aluminium facades. In 2014, a fire broke out and destroyed half of the school campus. Brooks + Scarpa therefore redesigned the new public charter high school as an addition to an existing campus from the 1950s, on “an extremely limited budget”.

Located in one of the toughest areas in South Central Los Angeles this new public charter high school for 630 students is visually open but entirely secured. The area was a central trouble spot during the 1965 Watts and the 1992 Rodney King Riots. In the 2010 census, the area of South Los Angeles had a population of about 768,456. 64.0% of the residents were Hispanic or Latino, nearly 31.4% were African American

Fair Housing and school busing has plagued the area since the early 60’s where median family income is less than $35,000/year and 25% of the population lives below the poverty level. Historic South Central is second on the list of Los Angeles city neighborhoods where adults over age 25 did not finish high school – 74.2%.

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