Dome Village, Los Angeles, CA
Dome Village was a utopian community founded in 1993 in downtown Los Angeles by Ted Hayes, a prominent activist for civil rights and for the homeless. The commune was created in a neglected parking lot near a freeway (part of its mission was to help fight urban decay), and was intended to provide a transitional community for roughly 30 homeless citizens not yet ready to live in a traditional home environment. Residents paid $70 a month to live in the commune, and in return shared chores, such as community gardening, that were intended to foster self-empowerment and self-reliance. Dome Village was particularly well-known for its architectural creativity; it consisted of a collection of twenty domes designed by architect Craig Chamberlain. The domes were assembled from fiberglass panels, and some served as individual or family homes, while others served as communal spaces such as common rooms, kitchens, bathrooms, and laundry rooms. While communes are obviously known for their highly “communal” nature, the unique structure of the domes also allowed for an important level of privacy among community members. The domes’ prominent location and architecture, coupled with their bright white plexiglass exteriors, were also intended to draw attention to the community, and, by extension, to the issue of homelessness in America. The location of this commune within the heart of a large city is notably different than some of the back-to-the-earth communes we have studied, but its situation made sense due to the fact that it catered to an urban homeless population. Hayes’ goal was to replicate many such communities around the country, as the assembly of the domes was quick, cheap, and space-efficient. This dream was not realized, however. The Dome Village commune collapsed in 2006 when the rent in the area increased by 700% due to the skyrocketing value of properties in downtown Los Angeles. Ted Hayes, however, a vocal Republican, suspected that politics played into the situation. The dismantled domes were sold on Ebay, at roughly $3,000 each, and the proceeds were supposed to go toward the creation of a similar community elsewhere in Los Angeles, which has yet to happen.
Sources:
Associated Press. “Utopian Dome Village in Downtown L.A. Getting Dismantled.” Daily News,
MediaNews Group, 1 Sept. 2006, www.dailynews.com/2006/09/01/utopian-dome-village-in-
downtown-la-getting-dismantled/.
“Dome Village.” Www.tedhayes.us, www.tedhayes.us/domevillage/index.html.
Flanzbaum, Ronda. “About the Domes.” Www.tedhayes.us,
http://www.tedhayes.us/domevillage/About_The_Domes.html.
Lin, Rong-Gong. “A Dream Dies as Dome Village Is Dismantled.” Los Angeles Times, LosAngeles Times,
29 Oct. 2006, http://articles.latimes.com/2006/oct/29/local/me-dome29.
