Best Practices: A photo essay about Los Angeles and its messy relationship with building materials, signage systems, communication equipment, plant life, and people

Best Practices explores the ways in which the built environment takes shape through ad hoc interventions and incidental ephemera, advocating for a more thorough consideration of the unauthorised remodels, slap-dash handiwork, haphazard paint jobs, and coincidences that generate interest, knowledge, and meaning.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 224 pages
Publication date: 04 January 2022
Publisher: Oro Editions

Best Practices presents a fresh perspective on neighborhoods, housing developments, streetscapes, and storefronts, shifting the focus from their predefined characteristics based on building codes, dimensions, or geographic locations to their intricate assemblages of ad hoc interventions and ephemeral elements. By drawing upon a diverse range of disciplines, including architecture, media theory, cultural anthropology, and urban studies, Best Practices establishes a boundary within the margins between the sanctioned and unsanctioned, the regulated and unregulated, the tasteful and tacky, the novel and the nonsensical. While it does not necessarily oppose these mechanisms, Best Practices emphasizes that interest, knowledge, and meaning are more frequently generated at the intersections of these categories.

This book advocates for a more comprehensive examination of unauthorized remodels, haphazard handiwork, impromptu paint jobs, half-hearted do-it-yourself projects, cracked facades, contradictions, compromises, and coincidences. By embracing these unconventional aspects of the built environment, Best Practices encourages readers to appreciate the rich tapestry of human creativity, improvisation, and resourcefulness that shapes our surroundings. Through vivid photographic documentation and extensive captions and citations, the book defines a territory within the margins, challenging traditional notions of design, architecture, and urban planning.

In conclusion, Best Practices offers a thought-provoking and innovative approach to understanding and appreciating the built environment. By challenging our preconceptions and encouraging us to look beyond the surface, it invites us to discover the hidden stories, complexities, and beauty that lie within the margins of our cities and neighborhoods. Whether you are an architect, urban planner, photographer, or simply someone interested in the ways in which the world around us is shaped, this book will provide you with a new lens through which to view and interpret the built environment.

Weight: 858g
Dimension: 193 x 249 x 20 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781951541118