Liz Falletta teaches architectural and urban design at USC’s Price School of Public Policy. She has over fifteen years of experience teaching design across disciplines at both undergraduate and graduate levels. Her courses focus on design as an interdisciplinary activity and explore how the intersecting values of architecture, planning and development can inform the design process and improve design outcomes. She recently published By-Right | By-Design, Housing Development vs. Housing Design in Los Angeles, an interdisciplinary housing reference text. The project studies significant Los Angeles housing design precedents and their related development types. A side-by-side comparison of these projects – real estate development models built in large numbers as of right, versus singular examples of innovative architecture built by variance – reveals new insights for future housing production in Los Angeles and elsewhere. Projects are examined through the lenses of real estate development, urban planning and design, expanding the context in which these works can be understood, evaluated, and, ultimately, built upon.
In addition to teaching full time, Ms. Falletta is principal of Falletta Development, which developed one of the first small lot subdivisions in Los Angeles, located on Huntington Drive in El Sereno. Liz is a licensed architect and a licensed real estate broker in the state of California. She also served on the City of Los Angeles’ Zoning Advisory Committee (ZAC) for the re:code LA project. She is currently at work on an accessory dwelling unit in South Pasadena.