La Maestra (Spanish for Professor) is a landmark project that comes all too far and few between. She was a blank canvas with which to create something that every man, woman and child in the community could relate to.
The Community of City Heights in San Diego was once a community with a suburban feel just a few miles from the city center. In the 1970’s after the last American troops left and a year before Saigon fell it became a haven for refugees from Vietnam. A year later followed the Cambodians and Laotians and refugees from Central America were also relocated in the neighborhood fleeing brutal civil wars in Nicaragua, El Salvador and Guatemala.
Ethnic Albanians from Kosovo and Kurds from Iraq were resettled here briefly in the 1990′s. In 1998, East Africans fled border wars in Ethiopia and Eritrea and were resettled in the community.
The Sudanese and Somalis, who were also fleeing brutal conflicts in their countries, followed these refugees. A local resident commented; “Anytime there is a conflict in the world, refugees from the country land in City Heights within three months.” The San Diego region is designated by the State Department and by other certified Refugee Relocation Organizations as a resettlement or “immigration zone” for refugees, one of six in the country.
According to census demographers, a quarter of all immigrants who entered the United States in the 1990′s are settled in California. While this seems a high percentage, it’s a significant drop from the 1980′s when 37 percent of all new immigrants called California ‘home’. According to the 2000 census, 44 percent of City Height’s population is foreign born. The residents have emigrated from more than 60 countries and speak more than 30 languages and dialects. The great numbers of them come from Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Ethiopia, Vietnam, Mexico, South America, Guatemala and Honduras.
So as you can see a great challenge to create a place where all could feel at home was turned into a great and satisfying opportunity.
Research had to be done to insure use of colors, icons; shapes, etc. were not offensive to any culture. In addition it had to brand this community icon, “La Maestra”, (The Teacher), whose mission is to provide quality culturally and linguistically competent health care and educational programs to improve the overall wellbeing of families in need.
The result was a theme represented by a tree offering a foundation for growth and a bird in flight representing, the journey”, elevating a community. A three story stair tower was used as a basis for beginning this journey with its geometric representation of leaves offering the growth and creating the beginning of the story.
The projects second floor which houses Pediatrics continues the growth of the tree as it reaches great heights creating a canopy in the jungle. This theme will be carried upwards into a two story hanging sculpture and evolves in the Child Interactive Area. Enhancing the theme is the introduction of birds and other animals as seen in the jungles, deserts and forests. This is represented in exam room murals as well as signage for the pediatric exam rooms. A major sea water aquarium was also commissioned for the Sick Waiting Room.
Once you reach the third floor, the intent was to offer a space for contemplation. The flowers of the jungle or the calmness of the skies, continuing their journey is represented in the design creating a spa like atmosphere for OB/GYN, Dentistry and the Administrative offices.
As this was a LEED Gold project great care was used in specifying materials that were sensitive to the ecology as well as identifying manufacturers who were sensitive to positive changes for people around the planet.