Under Spring

The winner of the first CHS Book Award reimagines what a history book can be, and it tells a story all California needs to hear in order to understand itself. Beneath Los Angeles&apos;s North Spring Street bridge, a deteriorated concrete landscape was used for years as a homeless encampment and a buffer zone between gang territories. Between 2006 and 2013, artist Lauren Bon and her Metabolic Studio team transformed the underpass into a vibrantly creative space that served as a public square, ceremonial ground, art gallery, community garden, and musical instrument. <i>Under Spring</i> explores the unlikely history of this underpass, revealing the past of Los Angeles itself.<p>Sixty-six people from all walks of life&mdash;artists, scholars, laborers, graffiti artists, urban planners, activists, gang members&mdash;chronicle the underpass&apos;s many metamorphoses, and in doing so construct an energized account of change and development in LA. We come to understand how agriculture and transportation have shaped the city&apos;s growth; how abandoned places serve as refuges for people excluded from society; and how civic pride can arise from a city’s blighted core. <i>Under Spring</i> offers a new look at the story of Los Angeles and a new way of telling the story.