Little tokyo Tool Library + Aquatic Center
A conceptual design for a Tool Library and Aquatic Center that responds to the social, cultural, and spatial needs of Little Tokyo. The project investigates how hybrid public programs can promote community connection, expand access to resources, and support a vibrant, resilient neighborhood environment.
Studio - IIT COA
Bryant Pitak + Julie Eizenberg
Year
Fall 2025
Collaborators
Roshan Patel
Location
Little Tokyo, LA
Size
250,000 Square Feet
Type
Civic Center
With a traditional library already located nearby, we propose a Tool Library as a complementary resource for the Little Tokyo community.
To address the constraints of a dense urban site, the program is strategically stacked with the Tool Library above the Aquatic Center. This vertical organization frees the ground plane, allowing for an expansive public plaza that supports community gathering, outdoor activity, and a strong civic presence along the street.
Drawing from the atmospheric qualities of a cenote, the project explores how carved space can frame light, landscape, and material in deliberate ways. Architectural expressions such as vertical light wells, recessed green spaces, and monolithic, stone-inspired textures reinforce this concept, creating a sequence of spaces that feel grounded, immersive, and shaped by natural processes.
The Olympic pool is centered beneath a large open oculus inspired by the spatial drama of a cenote, creating a semi-enclosed, open-air environment filled with daylight and natural ventilation. Audience seating terraces and elevated diving platforms wrap the carved interior, forming a theatrical aquatic arena that feels both monumental and connected to the sky.
Adjacent spa pools occupy more intimate carved zones, where softened light, stone surfaces, and moments of spatial compression create a calming environment for relaxation and restorative bathing.
The sunken plaza integrates the outdoor auditorium with the adjacent metro stop, creating a dynamic entry sequence into the Tool Library. The stepped seating supports tool demonstrations and community events while also guiding pedestrian flow upward into the neighborhood. The space also introduces a shaded lower plaza with trees and planting, addressing the site’s previous lack of greenery and providing much-needed comfort and respite for visitors.
The interior Tool Library brings together a range of maker-focused programs, including studios, fabrication labs, material depots, and stacked tool libraries that support hands-on learning and community production. Galleries and retail zones give local makers space to display and sell their work, allowing creators to directly share their craft with the residents of Little Tokyo. By providing accessible tools, collaborative workspaces, and opportunities for makers to contribute to neighborhood needs—whether through repairs, workshops, or locally crafted goods—the Tool Library becomes a catalyst for community empowerment, creative exchange, and economic support within Little Tokyo.
The on-grade plaza serves as a flexible civic landscape, featuring a children’s splash pad and an open, multi-use area that functions as an outdoor extension of the at-grade Tool Library, supporting repair-day pop-ups, farmers markets, food trucks, and community gatherings. Native Los Angeles planting and permeable paving define the plaza’s ground plane, creating a resilient, climate-responsive public space that supports both everyday use and larger neighborhood events.
