Archinect - News

Lloyd Wright's landmark Wayfarers Chapel closes indefinitely due to landslide threat

2024-02-21T12:08:00-05:00

Lloyd Wright’s Wayfarers Chapel closed its doors to the public abruptly last week due to the threat of landslides that have afflicted the Los Angeles area and its site in Rancho Palos Verdes.

In a statement posted to the Chapel’s website, the ministry responsible for its stewardship cited “accelerated land movement” in the area as the reason for its immediate temporary closure.

Rancho Palos Verdes, which is a 12.3-square-mile incorporated city in coastal Los Angeles County, has been particularly impacted by winter storms since early February and is seeking to have a state of emergency declared for recent damage that’s compounded already dangerous landslide conditions.

A local official told the LA Times, “In some areas, [the land] is moving up to 10 feet a year. That’s significant movement, and we’re seeing the damage that’s being sustained throughout the community. We have approximately 400 homes that are threatened by this landslide.”

Completed by the eldest son of Frank Lloyd Wrig...

Disastrous landslide burying dozens in Shenzhen likely caused by piled up soil from construction work

2015-12-21T11:58:00-05:00

Dozens of people are missing after a landslide engulfed 22 buildings at an industrial park in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen. [...] Local media reported that the soil that came loose had been dug up in the past two years in construction work and was piled up nearby. A statement on Weibo from the Shenzhen municipal government said the landslide had also triggered an explosion at a nearby gas station. A landslide in the country's Zhejiang province in November killed at least 25 people.

"Shenzhen's fire brigade said it was working to free other trapped people - state media say 59 remain missing. Two workers' dormitories are among the affected buildings."

It's been a rough few months in the news for China lately:

bracket [goes soft]: GROUNDING: Landslide Mitigation Housing

2012-04-18T13:41:00-04:00

In anticipation of this week's event, Publish Or... bracket [GOES SOFT], we are showcasing a piece from the book each day this week. We hope to see you this Thursday!

GROUNDING: Landslide Mitigation Housing
Jared Winchester / Viktor Ramos

“Landslides and other ‘ground failures’ cost more lives and money each year than all other natural disasters combined, and their incidence appears to be rising. Nevertheless, the government devotes few resources to their study — and the foolhardy continue to build and live in places likely to be consumed one day by avalanches of mud.”
- Brenda Bell, The Atlantic Monthly, (Jan. 1999)

Precarious relationships between human occupation and geophysical metamorphism are a common occurrence along coastal California and Los Angeles County in particular. The architecture of this region is a perpetual game of chance between tranquil domesticity and the danger of its tragic upheaval. To mitigate future catastrophic events, salvage currently unbu...