This unconventional “book” comprises three broadsides packaged in a cardboard box. Eizenberg—of Koning Eizenberg Architecture in Santa Monica—presents topics dear to her heart and her practice. Issues of homelessness, transit, traffic, diversity, income inequality, density, NIMBYism, sprawl, green space, gentrification, etc., are presented through demographic charts and graphics, as well as in essays by noted LA urban commentators Frances Anderton, Dana Cuff, and Alissa Walker. Projects are featured with an evocative introductory phrase, concise texts, and images that include those of people who actually use the spaces. Residential designs (affordable, market-rate, single-family) are explored in Parts One and Two, “Homes for all” and “Signs of life.” Part Three, “Faith in community,” looks at public-oriented projects—library, community center, and temple. Publishers and architects are taking great efforts lately to re-define the architectural monograph. Urban Hallucinations literally breaks out of the box to do so.
ORO Editions; 2017; 96 pages; softcover in a box; $24.95.