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BARRIO EMERGENCE

The Dynamic Translatability of Chicano Culture intoContemporary Architecture

Gustavo Leclerc

Abstract

The relevance of contemporary architectural design isintrinsically dependent upon it’s being in-step withthe aesthetic and spatial sensibilities of its time.Within southern California, one of the most dramaticcontemporary influences on aesthetic and spatialsensibilities is that of Latinization, in particular,Mexican/Chicano cultural practices. Responding tothis influence, this paper speculates on theemergence of a Spanglish architectural design frameworkinformed by Chicano cultural practices. Thedevelopment of this framework begins with an analysisof the ‘charged fields’ of dynamic materialism inEast Los Angeles, namely, Baroque Style, DenseSurfaces, and Adulterated Organization. This processutilizes a system of analysis called functionalgrammar which allows for a systematic inquiry intoChicano cultural practices within the paradigm of theinformal spoken conversation. This framework aims to‘stretch’ the relationship between architecture andspecific forms of popular and marginal materialculture by speculating on the behavior informingthem. Then guided by a formulation of this emergentspatial logic, it looks for tangential inroads andalternative patterns to begin to articulate a new‘grammar of translation’ for LA’s Chicanomaterial/visual culture into the realm ofarchitecture.

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Los Angeles ContextLos Angeles is the second largest Mexican city in the Americas,and along with the rest of the southern California region, itis undergoing a rapid process of Latinization due to shifts indemographics. Latinization is defined here as thetransformative process of space1, both social and physical in aspecific urban milieu.2 This trend, while widespread, has one ofits longest histories in East Los Angeles, the location inwhich this analysis is situated. Rem Koolhas expands on thisnotion of cultural and spatial transformation to state that,“Our old ideas about space have exploded. The past three

decades have producedmore changes in morecultures than anyother time in history.Radically acceleratedgrowth has redrawn ourfamiliar maps…bordersare inscribed andpermeated.”3 A

question arises then as to how we can define, measure, andpredict the direction of this ‘spatial turn,4 and in particular,

1 For the purpose of this analysis I am using the encompassing concept of social space developed by Henri Lefebvre in his seminal work, The Production of Space. 2 Leclerc, G, Villa, R., Dear, M., Urban Latino Culture: La Vida Latina in L.A. ThousandOaks: Sage Publications, Inc. 19993 Interview in Wire Magazine, issue, 20034 The Spatial Turn is a theoretical concept of postmodernity and can be indebted to two major works on space, society and culture: Postmodern Geographies: The Reassertion of Space in Critical Social Theory (1989) by Edward Soja and Postmodernism, or, The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism (1991) by Fredric Jameson. Their implications on diverse spatial disciplines, including architecture and

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how it has, and will, manifest in architectural practice. Whilearchitectural design may not be the first creative practice toshow evidence of this transformation, historic trends suggestthat it will eventually become a strong force in defining it.5 Asystem of analysis then is needed to characterize, andspeculate on the nature of these rapidly unfolding aestheticand spatial changes as well as to apply them to architecturaldesign. At this point, a system of analysis would also serve asa system of translation, a speculative transformation ofChicano, southern California, urban, spatial aesthetics intothe realm of architectural design.

On new inroads and the Spanglish frameworkTo effectively articulate a new Spanglish framework to definethese aesthetic and spatial changes, an analysis of thecultural and material spaces of Chicano (East) LA needs toinclude an examinations of the nuances of its spatial logic,intuiting and measuring the hidden aesthetic sensibilities andpractices that mark its landscape. These sensibilities andpractices are collectively referred to here as Spanglish6. Thenotion of Spanglish space and architecture then extends thisidea to describe the infusion of Chicano aesthetic

urbanism, has been significant.5 Ibid., Benjamin.6 Spanglish. 1: a simple “code switching”, moving from one language toanother (You got a nasty mancha on your camiseta); adaptation of an Englishword into a Spanish form (Quiero parquear el coche); translation of anEnglish expression into Spanish using English syntax (Te llamo para atras,for, I’ll call you back); and straight phonetic translation (children’s coldremedy Vick’s VaporRub becomes bibaporu). Definition taken from: Stavans,Ilan. Spanglish; The Making of a New Language. New York: HarperCollins Publishers,2003

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sensibilities7 into urban structures both within East LosAngeles and throughout Los Angeles with a focus on the threedistinct charged fields informing its materiality and spatiallogic. These include Adulterated Organization (meta-level),Dense Surface (ultra-level), and Baroque8 Style (sensorial-level). Special attention is given to the emergent processesthat produce these three fields within East Los Angeles, withthe intent to outline a series of principles that can informnew design tools for experimental and speculative architecture.

The system of analysis used here to speculate on the Spanglishframework draws upon a theory of language called systemicfunctional linguistic theory (or functional grammar),9 which isadapted here to work in an architectural/spatial context. Animportant tenant of this theory is that form and meaning (or in

7 Here aesthetic sensibility refers to the ‘common sense’ ability to appreciate and respond to complex emotional or aesthetic influences. For my particular purpose of analyzing Mexican and Chicano expressive culture in contemporary Los Angeles, I will ‘borrow and translate’ Susan Sontag’s idea of sensibility as related to the notion of Camp, where it relates to the ‘taste of a period’. In Mexican and Chicano culture it is important to understand the argument of sensibility as a mode of experiencing and knowingwithin its temporary framework. Cultural Hybridity is defined by Nestor Garcia Canclini as the cultural processes generated by new mass media technologies, the re-arrangement of the public and private in contemporary society, and the deterritorialization of symbolic goods. These processes generate intense and fluid interactivities between high and low, and the traditional and contemporary cultural forms.8 Baroque. 1: of, relating to, or having the characteristics of a style ofartistic expression prevalent esp. in the 17h century that is markedgenerally by use of complex forms, bold ornamentation, and the juxtapositionof contrasting elements often conveying a sense of drama, movement, andtension 2: characterized by grotesqueness, extravagance, complexity, orflamboyance 3: irregularly shaped (of a pearl). Definition from Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 10th ed. 9 Schleppegrell, Mary J., The Language of Schooling: A Functional Linguistic Perspective. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. 2004

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this case, form and spatial affect) are interwoven. In otherwords, there can be no affect without the structure to createit. This system, adopted to analyze architecture, can provideboth the system of analysis for these Spanglish spaces, and ameasure of the varying degrees that Chicano aesthetic influenceis present within the architectural structures and spaces ofthe city. Unique in systems of language analysis, functionalgrammar posits that all language is realized in a socialcontext, and that the success of any lexical or organizationalchoice relates to its appropriateness for that given context,whether formal or informal, written or spoken. Within thisframework, spoken language is viewed as a distinct mode oflanguage in its utilization of the shared experience ofparticipants (i.e., the manner in which gesture, prosody, andtone reference aspects of a shared environment); socialinteractiveness (i.e., the frequent back and forth exchange,and switching of roles between speaker and listener); and thecomplex “chaining” of specific ideas and linking betweens partsof a larger discourse. East LA, from this perspective, operatesas a type of informal spoken language with its highlyperformative, dramatic, and ever changing temporal nature.Robert Somol echoes this view of analyzing architecture as atype of verbal exchange in his article, “Pass it on…”, where heputs forth the notion that the structure of gossip is the bestformat for guiding speculative architectural design.10

10 Somol, Robert. “Pass it on…”, in Log 3: Observations on Architecture and the Contemporary City, New York, Anyone Corporation, Fall 2004

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Through the application of functional linguistic theory as alens through which to view urban space and architecture it ispossible to move fast through the myriad of spoken words andspaces that make up the city, searching for a newsignification, a distillingframework of meaning from the‘other’ sides of thearchitectural text. Thisanalysis of the city focuses onexplicit characterization ofspace and form, inseparabilityof form and affect, spatial andarchitecturalcharacteristics/elements grouped by function for analysis anddesign, and a focus on context to determine the significance ofarchitectural characteristics and the organization of elements.Bernard Tschumi, in his latest book, Event-Cities 3: Concept vs. Contextvs. Content11, makes a strong argument for looking at the complexrelationship between the specificity of contexts and theproduction of architectural concepts. He advocates the viewthat architecture should be in tune with the characteristics ofcontemporary urban culture, in which conflict, confrontations,and contaminations, and their inherent tensions and differencesmight lead to alternative architectural knowledge and new modesof action.

Functional grammar uses three metafunctions to characterizelanguage aspects. These metafunctions are tenor (describing

11 Tschumi, Bernanrd. Event-Cities 3: Concept vs. Context vs. Content. The MIT Press, 2004

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interpersonal context), mode (describing organization), andfield (describing elements). To apply these concepts toarchitecture, these metafunctions are referred to hererespectively as situatedness, organization, and elements.Situatedness refers to the theatricality of space, and therelationship between architects/designers, space, andaudience/users. Situatedness also relates to the tone of theserelationships and how they are manifest in spatial/aestheticproduction. Organization refers to the nature of theplacement, proximity, and size of various spatial elementswithin a given environment. And finally, Elements refers to thespecific architectural elements of a space, from surface,volume, and boundaries, to openings, passageways, andblockages. While the elements are generic for any builtenvironment or structure, the emphasis of one over another marka Spanglish logic and aesthetic dynamic. Using this framework to characterize the aestheticsensibilities informing Spanglish space, a portrayal immergesof baroque style, dense surfaces, adulteration of space, aswell as everyday interactiveness, non-permanence, moodsjuxtaposing aggression with sedation, and the speed of spatialproduction, experience and use ranging from “fast and furious”to “low and slow12”. These three aspects have come to take ontheir specific nature through a type of emergent behavior. Morespecifically, they have come into being through a specific typeof community organization, where the creation of economic,12 “Low n’ Slow” is a Chicano cultural concept for public display that implies an intense sense of style for posturing on which stillness, firmness, or calculated slowness are the primary mechanisms to grab attention. It refers to an act intended to be seen but also within the framework of social and spatial subtle defiance.

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residential, and event-based systems is not a highlycentralized process brought into being by specific institutionsor governance structures, but instead brought into beingthrough a distributed agency spread out broadly among East LAresidents.

For architectural purposes, these metafunctions can be seen asworking as charged fields, or spatial manifestations of theimagination13 arisen out of collective systems of survivalformed at the local level. In other words, there are specificforces within an urban landscape that are the result ofemergent systems that have come to dominate the look and feelof the landscape. They are “charged” in that they act asmanifesting agents for aesthetic and spatial sensibilities.

Situatedness as Baroque StyleIn East LA one can see afocus on baroque style withinthe charged field ofsituatedness. This isspecifically evident in thefrequent enacting of boldaggression which affects themood of the landscape.Aggressive tactics refer to

attacking or confronting. An effect of aggressive design can be

13 The idea of the charged field relates to the concept of the “field condition” put forth by Stan Allen in his article, “Object to Field”?, whereby “internal regulations of the parts are decisive; [but] overall shapeand extent are highly fluid.”

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manifest as graphic display. For example, in a common posterimage of soccer players stuck onto storefronts, men areportrayed as posing forcefully in graphic black and white. Inseveral instances, this image of aggression is echoed by theplacement of metal bars in front of it, surrounding thebuilding façades. Metal bars in East Los Angeles are aggressivein their repetitive, graphic linearity, as well as baroque intheir elaborate ornateness, gaudy paint, and exuberant design.

Historically Baroque style in the Americas is intimatelyrelated to the concept ofmestizaje. Mestizaje is aglobal phenomenonoriginating at the dawn ofthe modern period and withthe expansion of Iberiancolonialism14. Mestizaje isseen as the global realitythat triggered migrations, forced relocation of peoples,established slavery as the colonial system, and set into motionthe circulation of artistic expressions, ideas, culturalpractices, and products. Mestizaje has its contemporary,globalized, and updated version in transculturation. Theconcept of transculturation seeks to account for thenegotiation and translation of cultural processes that areformed in the context of unequal frameworks for powerrelationships. It links the term acculturation, which implies

14 Gruzinsky, Serge, The Mestizo Mind: The Intellectual Dynamics of Colonization and Globalization. New York: Routledge, 2002

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assimilation, withdeculturation, a conceptthat implies loss.Understanding how theseprocesses oftransculturation15 ofcontemporary Chicanoculture are materialized in

the urban spaces of Los Angeles and how they can be‘translated’ into instrumental principles to develop new formsof architecture is through the Spanglish framework.

Another frequent expression of situated style in East LosAngeles is that of acceleration and deceleration. As can beseen in many graffittied walls in East LA, an effect ofacceleration is the creation of a sped up, hyper visual field.On the other hand, deceleration refers to slowing down. Adesign effect of deceleration is the careful delineation ofform and the slowness of the creative process, as can be seenin the structural and performance elements of the low riders.

Current local characteristic of East Los Angeles, regulated atthe local level, include the existence of simultaneoustemporalities reflected in its social spaces, architecture, and

15 Originally the term transculturation was defined by the Cuban interdisciplinary scholar, Fernando Ortiz (1881-1969) in his influential book, Cuban Counterpoint: Tobacco and Sugar (1940). It describes the phenomenon of merging and converging cultures. In simple terms, it reflects the natural tendency of different cultures or peoples to resolve conflicts over time, rather than exacerbating them. In the modern context, both conflicts and resolutions are amplified by communication and transportation technologies.

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everyday life. These diverse and compressed spatio-temporalities are negotiated on a daily basis at the spatialand social level. This rhythmic embrace results in a highlyproductive tension that is evident in the multiplicity of urbanforms and architectures. Through this process, the builtenvironment and its architectural forms are steadily growing ina manner that reflects an innovative and improvisationalattitude.

Organization as AdulterationThe second spatial,charged field isthat oforganization. Theorganization ofspace within EastLA can becharacterized asthe existence ofextreme

adulteration. Adulteration means to corrupt, debase, or makeimpure by the addition of a foreign or inferior substance orelement. An effect of adulteration is a stretching out, acreation of more out of less. An example of this can be seen atthe East LA art center, Self-Help Graphics and Art, whereadulteration is used in two ways: first, the structure isfunctionally stretched out to include part of the parking lot,which transforms into a metal working space, playground and artviewing forum; secondly, the surface skin of the building has

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been thickened by the application of decorative recycledpottery shards to create a saturated texture. These strategiesadulterate both the space and materials. The adulteration ofmaterials results here in its opposite, a densification ofsurface texture.

A common practice in East LA is also the adulteration ofdomestic spaces.16 Unlike the pristine presentation of homes onthe west side, in East LA it is acceptable to quickly add on aroom if a relative or two comes to stay, a daughter getspregnant, or the work moves to the home and a shop is needed.This creates a haphazard look to the organization of manyhomes, with various sized rooms extending one after the othertowards the back, the sides, or above. The “chaining” of roomsresembles the “chaining” of clauses in sentences, theorganizational structure that most obviously marks thedistinctive quality of informal spoken language.

While these chains of rooms are generally built with four wallsand a roof, functionally speaking, they are joined by theinvisible rooms made up of the yards, specifically the frontyard. This adulterous practice provides an extra room for theresidents of the house for work, play, and the pursuit ofbeauty. The gardens are often given tremendous attention on theEastside, both for growing flowers and food. The front yardsalso frequently become the most social room of the house, whereresidents pass time and neighbors stop by to chat. It is notuncommon to see this practice coupled with a business

16 Ibid., Leclerc et al.

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enterprise, such as selling clothes, domestic items, or food.These products are most often arranged in elaborate displaysfor the best visual effect; fences become dense surfacescovered with carefully aligned rows of blouses, baby clothes,or colorful brooms.Walkways become linedwith tables full oftamales, champurado (ahot drink of chocolateand masa), andcarefully cut fruit.These pseudo rooms arerapidly changeable inboth appearance andfunction, transformingby the day or hour.

Elements as Dense Surface17

In East Los Angeles, the element of surface reigns supreme.From interiors to exteriors, surfaces are continuouslydecorated, coated, narrated, labeled, overlapped, and stuckupon, creating special effects.18 The effects are frequentlytemporary as they change with the fashion, as is the case withlow riders, or with the next turn in the conversation, as is17With the development of new imaging technologies there has been a renewed interest on the concept of Surface in architecture and urbanism, both, as a material condition of space and as an analytical mode of formal speculative design. My interpretation of Surface in relation to the cultural landscape of East Los Angeles relates to Stan Allen’s idea of landscape surfaces and conditions as dynamic ecologies in which the performative characteristics of landscape are direct outcomes of its materiality. 18 Lavin, Sylvia. “The Temporary Contemporary”, in Perspecta 34. 2002: 128-35

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Adulteration Densification

AccelerationDeceleration

Aggression Sedation

AAA Borderfield

Specific Design w ithin a Charged Field: using el Cuarto

m ultiplyrecyclestretch

connectblur

heatgraphic

em bolden

m ultiplyrecyclestretch

connectblur

heatgraphic

em bolden

saturatedetail

intensify

scatterdelineate

restrainsoften

disappear

saturatedetail

intensify

scatterdelineate

restrainsoften

disappear

the case with graffiti. On buildings, walls become densesurfaces thick with texture, color, and bold graphics. Theconcept of density relates to the degree of compactness. Anaffect of densification is the saturation of detail. Thetreatment of surfaces on buildings echoes most closely thecommon practice in East LA of creating the popular low riders.In this context one can see the densification of materialsbrought about through the layering of paint resulting in asaturation of the surface design and color. The language oftranslation occurs here in a most material sense, wheresurfaces include recycled, reborn materials, translated for newuses and effects.

In a similar vein, Robin Evans analyzes the rich portrayal of

interior surfaces in the drawing techniques of houses and villages

of late eighteenth century England in his essay, “The Developed

Surface”19. By flattening the four walls in the drawing, an

opportunity was provided to saturate interior surfaces with

ornament. Later, this addition to the drawings was manifest in the

interior spaces of built structures. Evan states that the

developed surfaces counterbalanced the hierarchy of spaces imposed

by the plan, in that the intended use for each distinct space

began to be signaled by the type of wall décor instead of by the

relative position of each room within a building. This use of

excessive ornamentation in the developed surfaces of the past has

some similarity to the surface treatments of buildings in East LA

19 Evans, Robert, “The Developed Surface”, in Translations from Drawing to Building and Other Essays, London, Architectural Association. 1997

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today. Beyond their joint use of opulent decoration and “wall-to-

wall” patterning to provide the dominant spatial effect, the

surface treatments in both contexts also signal the type of social

interaction appropriate for each space. While in eighteenth

century England the surfaces indicated whether a room was for

leisure, work, or entertaining, for example, in contemporary East

LA, the dense surfaces that combine art with sign, and pictorial

image with text, also give clues for behavior, such as whether

interactions should be commercial, religious, social, domestic, or

allow for some combination.

Within the Spanglish framework, a relationship betweenarchitecture and Chicano cultural production is founded on theprincipals of popular culture development itself, a fast andfluid process of cultural practice where original forms areborn of emergent organic and dynamic systems of borrowing,inventing, integrating, and excluding. Within this framework,there is no preciousness or monumentality attached to culturalform, and anything can be adored, altered, shunned, and reusedat the whim of individual and popular opinion. A goal of thisanalysis then is to provide a window for viewing currentchanges within architecture, as well as to create an entry wayfor Chicano cultural production and aesthetic sensibilities tointeract with architectural design in an equal, highlyinteractive manner with the potential to affect both culturalarenas in fundamental ways.

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As can be seen from the above examples, the pervasive Chicano

sensibility in East LA is extreme adaptability within an

aggressive and rapidly changing environment. It includes a

strategic disinvestment in the notion of permanence; a

perspective that has led to a greater investment in acts and

aesthetic forms which are short lived, spectacular, and

fantastic – low riders, piñatas, and Day of the Dead altars. It

requires an attunement to, and participation in, the rhythms of

improvisation, which has led inhabitants to discard static

beliefs that have become unnecessary cultural and social

baggage. Because of East LA’s state of on-going change, a rigid

belief system or adherence to traditional conventions could

impede a person’s ability to interact fully with the city, and

as such, impede their ability to claim rights to it, an act

necessary for survival. This act of “claiming”, of establishing

a personal niche, routine, or network within the existing ebb

and flow of the city, is a very dynamic process of

appropriation and adaptation, whereby all available resources

are utilized for personal and communal gain.

Like the myriad of systems in East LA, systems that change

their behavior in response to their environment are called

complex adaptive systems (CAS). The adaptive change that occurs

is often relevant to achieving a goal or objective. Adaptive

behavior tends to be associated with individual plants, animal,

human beings, or social groups. However, relatively simple

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systems can also be adaptive. In general terms, adaptive

learning occurs when a pattern of behavior within the system

changes as a result of an interaction with the environment.

Adaptability through retaining information processes, and

restructuring patterns is not passive. On the contrary it is

proactive and dynamic, and always charged with the potential

for transformation in a fundamental/structural level.

Emergent Behavior in East Los Angeles

There is a recent tendency in architectural theory to apply the

concept of emergent processes of biology to analysis and

development of architecture and urbanism. This focuses

particularly on the material and organizational properties of

natural organisms and their morphological and structural

qualities and effects. It is through the properties of behavior

(how things perform and function), and DNA scripting (order

formation) that biology translates into architecture.

Particularly complex adaptive systems and the phenomena of

bottom-up emergence have begun to open up a new territory of

architecture. Through examining the nature of East LA’s

residents’ acts of claiming the city, we can see that this

model fits well as a framework for describing this urban

process.

Steven Johnson discusses in his book, Emergence, that a city’s

residents can form a type of collective intelligence through

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use of emergent behavior – simple random acts of contact,

communication, and adjustment. Because of many factors,

including East LA’s status as a non-incorporated county zone,

“top down” controls (and social and economic benefits) in East

LA are not as readily present at the street level as they are

in other sections of the city (e.g., West LA). This factor

creates a condition in which individuals need to take their own

initiative to develop effective economic and residential

structures and systems to survive. This individual, and at

times collective, structural initiative is a type of emergent

behavior – a type of information processing, storing, and

reacting that has become a driving force in the development of

East LA. This dispersed agency is enabling the aesthetic

sensibilities and spatial strategies in East LA to begin to

permeate sensibilities and strategies throughout the region.

Together these organic systems of adaptation, improvisation,

and emergence denote a type of coherent urban “noise” or

“chatter”, that has begun defining the urban imprint of future

L.A. The Spanglish Turn and its Barrio Emergent dimension can

be used for transforming this informal heavy accented data into

innovative frameworks and patterns, to offer an alternative

openness towards the development of experimental forms and

processes in architectural and urban design practices.

Contrary to the above mentioned schemata for integratingChicano spatial practices into architecture, the traditional

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relationship between architecture and other cultural forms hasbeen one where architecture has generally appropriated theseforms on a superficial level, and resisted alteration to anycore design sensibilities. This dynamic is readily evident inthe architectural trend associated with Robert Venturi’s 1977book, Learning from Las Vegas,20, initially received as a radical andinnovative analysis of the American post-war commercial urbancontext, but which, in the final analysis did little more than“become a new road to old Rome.”21 In fact, little withinarchitecture changed as a result of the attempted incorporationof popular culture sensibilities into the discipline. Thequestion is begged then as to what would occur in architectureif different dynamic relationships could be established betweenarchitecture and other cultural forms, where the possibilitiesfor ‘switching’ into various alternative positions is availableand desirable. And in particular, what would be the aestheticand spatial outcomes of these ‘switching’ dynamics.

While this process of analysis remains in its beginning stages,

it is clear that the discipline of architecture can benefit

from broadening its processes to include Chicano aesthetic

sensibilities and emergent behavioral systems with its ever

present goal to achieve contemporary relevance. As the process

of Latinization will only continue to get stronger in the years

to come, the aesthetic and spatial ramifications of this

20 Venturi, R., Scott Brown, D., Izenour, S., Learning From Las Vegas. Cambridge,MA: The MIT Press. 197721 Lavin, Sylvia, “A Contemporary Cocktail”, in Crib Sheets: Notes on the Contemporary Architectural Conversation, eds. Sylvia Lavin and Helen Furjan with Penelope Dean. New York: The Monacelli Press. 2005

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transformation of the contemporary city are enormous and

exciting. And as the sensibilities of this “Spanglish Turn”

become more fully elaborated, it seems clear that they will

provide a picture of elaborate, malleable, and performative

aesthetics that can provide a fresh take on old design

approaches. Additionally, the conceptualization of these

spatial attributes as charged fields within the built

environment, manifest as situatedness, organization, and

elements, can provide architects with the potential to utilize

these translated sensibilities for architectural design, and

further agents of change within the city’s contemporary

landscape.

REFERENCES

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Evans, Robert, Translations form Drawing to Building and OtherEssays. Architectural Association, London. 1997Garcia Canclini, Nestor. Hybrid Culture: Strategies forEntering and Leaving Modernity. University of Minnesota Press,Ann Harbor. 2005Gruzinsky, Serge, The Mestizo Mind: The Intellectual Dynamicsof Colonization and Globalization. Routledge, New York. 2002Jameson, Fredric, Postmodernism, or, The Cultural Logic of LateCapitalism. Verso, N.Y.. 1991Johnson, Steve, Emergence: The Connected Lives of Ants, Brains,Cities, and Software. Scribner, New York. 2002Leclerc, G., Villa, R., Dear, M.. Urban Latino Culture: La Visalatina in L.A. Sage Publications, Inc. Thousand Oaks, CA. 1999Lefebvre, Henri. The Production of Space. Wiley-Blackwell, NewYork. 1992Schleppegrell, Mary J., The Language of Schooling: A FunctionalLinguistic Perspective, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc., NewJersey. 2004Soja, Edward. Postmodern Geographies: The Reassertion of Spacein Critical Social Theory. Sontag, Susan. Against Interpretation: An Other Essays.Picador, N.Y.. 2001Stevans, Ilan. Spanglish: The Making of a new Language. HarperPerennial, N.Y.. 2004Tschumi, Bernard, Event Cities 3: Concept vs. Context vs.Content. The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA. 2006Venturi, R., Scott-Brown, D., Izenour, S.. Learning From LasVegas. The MIT Press, Cambrideg, MA. 1977

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