The Surfridge Center is a transportation hub located near and owned by LAX. It was built on a land that was previously occupied by residents. This ghost city was the city of Surfridge. This new transportation hub is a new focal point for the city of Los Angeles and pays tribute to the previous city that stood in its place. With the old roads of the city of Surfridge still existing, we were able to create a direct Metro Line from LAX to the Surfridge Center. Additionally, the existing streets have been transformed into pedestrian pathways along the building and the beach and also into shuttle services which are specific to the users of the Surfridge Center. By doing so, the Center hopes to alleviate some of the Los Angeles Traffic around the area. The Surfridge Center is not only a nod between forms of transportation, but it’s also an area to rest and relax with its state of the art sleeping pods, restaurants, café, hotel, and resort, but also a place for entertainment with its nightclub and only casino within a 50 mile radius.

Structure, technology, building systems and codes are explored as design-determinants, space makers, and form-givers in this synthesis studio. Building typologies, long span structural systems, environmental systems and electronic media are analyzed as they relate to design development. Through this course we are expected to 1. Synthesize notions of Structure, technology, building systems and codes in the design of a complex building.2. Evaluate part-to-whole relationships at various scales including: building form to expanded context, program component to building, and structural element to assembly.3. Analyze precedent, typology and context, and critically articulate their influence on one’s original design approach.4. Collaborate with other team members to successfully complete a design project.5. Situate a building design within formal, infrastructural, and spatial contexts of a given site.6. Interrelate formal systems, structural systems, spatial arrangements, infrastructural systems and site orders as a coherent whole in the design of a building.