When living among oil infrastructures becomes unavoidable, whether for the livelihood of the whole of Los Angeles city or the financial bonding between public schools and oil companies, this project proposes a theme that is based on reality: a high school that searches for a symbiotic relationship between sports/education and oil production. This pioneer school is the epitome of the current LA school landscape but honestly uncovers and confronts the symbiosis conditions between school children and oil cultures. This school is situated near the national-level oil refinery Phillips 66 and right in the middle between the Carson Refinery (Crude oil processing) and Wilmington Refinery (refined oil products processing), encircled by the process of oil processing and transportation of oil products. This school is ironically located in a school district connection 14 schools around this area which were constructed in very different times of history ranging from the 1920s to the 2010s but almost all after the establishment of the oil refinery. The oil high is designed for prioritizing sports activities while safely creating a visual juxtaposition of oil infrastructures, educational classrooms, and sports activities for students participating in this school. By studying and exercising in between oil infrastructures, the students and their parents are getting to know a deeply rooted LA oil culture and the ongoing negotiation between Los Angeles’ life and the production of oil.
