CPP Architecture Students Preserve Altadena’s Legacy in Mini-Documentaries
Akira Maclin and Trent Jones each drove through the streets of scorched Altadena, with their own separate teams, equipment, and ideas, but with the same plan: memorialize Altadena.
For the final project in architecture class Urbanism and Film (ARC 4190), Professor George Proctor challenged students to create a mini-documentary about urban planning and issues that arise from it. Options included green spaces in big cities and transportation, but two out of six teams chose to cover the damage caused by the Altadena fires, creating “The Altadena You Want” and “From the Ashes.”
As Maclin and her five other team members wandered through the burnt streets, they ran into Sylvia Andrews, an Altadena resident who lost her home to the fire. Andrews provided personal and harrowing tales about the night she escaped the fire in the interview.
“Her story was really unique because they had just rebuilt their house for it to just get burned down again,” Maclin said, “So, I thought that was a unique perspective to everything because she was saying how their house stood up a lot longer than everybody else's and was very vulnerable about how she was feeling about everything.”
It was through these accounts of the fire that they dubbed their project, “From the Ashes.” Editing the video from home, Clarissa Dubbs felt the impact of Andrews’ words and experiences through the screen, noting how Andrews’ story made her visualize how she would handle her belongings when in a fire.
“It really does put into perspective what's important and are these material things really as important to me as my friends and family?” Dubbs said, “And how do you rebuild those memories once they're gone without the physical objects?”
Jones and his team of five recorded an Altadena Heritage Foundation meeting, highlighting the discourse around rebuilding Altadena and personal stories from the residents and board members.
“The people in the audience opened my eyes a bit more because it sounds like they've been going to these kinds of meetings for a very long time, and they're hearing very similar things,” Jones said. “And nothing is changing.”
Capturing the discourse surrounding rebuilding Altadena, Jones and his team decided to name their documentary “The Altadena You Want,” signifying the struggles the residents must face against developers, the city, and most importantly, the loss of their homes.
Both videos were submitted to the Pasadena and Los Angeles American Institute of Architects, and the Pasadena Historic Society.
Professor Proctor, a CPP alumnus with degrees in urban planning and architecture and the recipient of the Henry Adams Medal and Dean’s Award, is a licensed architect. He has contributed to award-winning projects, served on his city’s planning commission and design review board, and helped establish the International Journal of Architectural Computing.
“This class is an opportunity for students to grow to understand storytelling and narrative as a part of our work, and to engage with issues that are relevant and pressing, and to share the stories of what they find with our community,” Proctor said.
Click to watch “The Altadena You Want” and “From the Ashes.”