Laurel Canyon has always been a connector of the city of Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley. From the 1800s where it provided water as a resource for the Native Americans to present day as a route not only connecting two urban fabrics but also maintaining the culture that has been created throughout history in the Hollywood Hills. Transforming into a dirt path during the 1900s, Laurel Canyon Boulevard started from opposite ends; West Hollywood and the valley. As development of each city started to grow, the two paths met in the middle of and intersects many other notable roads like Mulholland Drive. This path in the hills cultivated a sense of escape into nature for many actors, musicians, artists, and writers. The peak of its culture happened during the 60s and 70s where the folk music scene grew and attracted a lot of attention into Laurel Canyon. However, as more people flowed in, the beauty of the nature in the canyon started to disappear; the structured fabric of the cities began to overtake the natural paths provided by the topography of the hills. Housing prices increased, and it became less of a retreat for artists to focus, and more for the rich to have a vacation home.
The intersection of Laurel Canyon and Mulholland Drive is a clear representation of the urban infiltrating the past; a closer look at the four quadrants produced by this intersection shows the land behind the boundaries of studio city have already been covered by housing projects built on the less steep parts of the hills. Whereas the steeper parts are mostly left untouched or houses built follow the topography. This intersection of the hill and the ridge creates an overlook onto the valley half of Laurel Canyon Boulevard; a view of Studio City, where the cultural history developed.
This archive is a collection of the unseen past that the people presently living or passing by Laurel Canyon might not know. Placed at ground level with the intersection at Mulholland Drive, the collection consists of ten different segments in the form of sections taken on the road, as if one were driving through. The path through the archive is a mimicry of Laurel Canyon Road, allowing for a full immersion through the hills. There is a range of one to three floors depending on the height of the section, which gradually increases through the archive due to the topography of the hill; the information is also organized chronologically from the start of its geological history to its present day cultural documents. For each segment, the two sides of the wall contain different material; one being the side where you can watch clips or listen to sounds pertaining to the history and the other side being the actual library, storing documents, photos, etc. There are stairs leading up and connecting to every floor and every segment except for when it is split by the middle path. The archive is a record of its whole history; from the water the route provided, to its slow development into a man made path and how it became a center for culture through its sublime nature.