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Commerce, CA
Commerce is home to over 1,800 businesses and a work force of 60,000 that commutes daily through the city’s major freeways. Due to this transportation, Commerce faces enormous health risks from air pollution. Particulate matter in the air stems from transportation and manufacturing, which brings greater risk of cancer and respiratory illness.
Although regional efforts through the South Coast Air Quality Management District are working towards meeting federal standards on air quality, local jurisdictions have the opportunity to aid their mission for the health and safety of their cities. This proposal would be a revamp for the public works and transportation departments in Commerce, which would define what air quality infrastructure looks like.
The building takes the form of a bridge to read like a billboard from the highway. This facade advertises alternative transportation through the city via bike and pedestrian bridges over the highway that do not currently exist. The 100% recyclable aluminum cladding gives the headquarters a machine-like appearance to fulfil its function of cleaning the air in the city. Further, the building both literally and metaphorically bridges the commercial and residential sectors of Commerce.
Administrative offices and research labs make up most of the program, although the public is allowed to pass through and interact with the building at several points. An unconditioned bike path has a small vestibule halfway through its route, allowing one to enter the center atrium and meet a friend for lunch or coffee. Classrooms at the center of the bridge allow for a greater public interaction with the program, where residents can learn about the risks of pollution, strategies that the city is taking to combat it, and ways they can tackle the issue in their own backyard.
In addition to their regular tasks of waste permitting, public works would monitor an array of particulate matter sensors throughout the city, which consist of a data communication module and sensor up above. This data would be managed at the headquarters and visible to the public online, similar to how regional organizations operate that provides a layer of transparency and pressure to the government. Another responsibility of this department would be the development of filtration near communities, either naturally or technologically. Technological solutions could include greater filters for public buildings and houses, which would go above and beyond such efforts from Assembly Bill 617 that exists today. Other solutions could be less costly by simply planting more vegetation near roads that captures most harmful pollution before it enters the communities.
The department of transportation in Commerce would develop greater bike and pedestrian infrastructure supported by the building, providing safe pathways through the city that do not currently exist. Such infrastructure would cultivate a more habitable environment for residents and visitors alike.
While there are many effective measures to monitor pollution within the city, it becomes much more difficult to combat the pollution that passes through the city. Thus, a great investment in science and engineering would need to take place to provide these technological solutions to pollution. Research labs would conduct studies on transforming waste into green energy and managing carbon capturing technology along freeways. These efforts would greatly aid the regional mission of upholding environmental justice principles and demonstrate the city’s commitment to the health and safety of its residents.
Fall 2024
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