EXTINCT IN THE WIL D
A New Greenhouse
Situated along the Los Angeles River in Frogtown, this project reimagines the greenhouse as both an ecological archive and a community gathering space. A lightweight tensile structure shapes a series of immersive environments dedicated to preserving and educating visitors about extinct and endangered plant species. Particularly the ones often left out of extinction conversations, like native grasses and quietly disappearing ecological systems.
Extinct Today
The project challenges the idea of extinction as something distant or dramatic, turning attention instead to species that vanish gradually from everyday landscapes. Visitors enter into a large open field planted with an extinct grass species — a quiet moment that reframes the scale of environmental loss, and sets up the project's broader aim: making the unnoticed visible, and deepening awareness of humanity's relationship to the natural world.
Beyond its role as a greenhouse, the building works as civic space — for education, gathering, and environmental engagement within Los Angeles. The tensile structure keeps the site open, filtered with light, and fluid to move through, blurring the line between architecture and landscape. Exhibition spaces, planting zones, and communal areas invite visitors to engage with ecology not as spectators, but as participants in stewardship and learning.
By combining research, landscape, and public programming, the project positions architecture as a tool for ecological storytelling — a space where preservation, community, and environmental awareness intersect.
UCLA 2023
Professor: Garrett Ricciardi
Contributors: Hanna Wittmack