Student-designed shade structure debuts at Metro station ahead of World Cup 2026
A student-designed structure is throwing shade near L.A.’s World Cup matches — but in a good way.
First showcased on June 12 at Los Angeles Metro’s Downtown-Inglewood station during L.A.’s opening World Cup match, the build takes a concept by USC students and puts it to real-world use. The simple framework topped with a hexagonal roof shows how temporary, portable infrastructure could provide more shade for transit riders and pedestrians, and help L.A. adapt to rising temperatures.
Soccer fans and thousands of Exposition Park visitors can now view the structure in front of the California African American Museum. Its prominent location and proximity to the L.A. Memorial Coliseum gave attendees of this weekend’s FIFA Fan Festival a unique opportunity to engage with the installation as part of their overall match day experience at Expo Park.
“This project represents the very best of what higher education can do when student creativity, partnerships with private and public-sector agencies, and community needs come together,” said USC Associate Professor Bhavna Sharma, Director of Chase L. Leavitt Building Science Program, and faculty lead for the Shade Zones Design Competition. “When students see their ideas put into use for the public, it gives a powerful sense of meaning to their work.”
Neri Landi and Jaci Hinman, juniors at the USC School of Architecture, created the design for the structure, which they named “The (Not So) Primitive Hut,” for ShadeLA’s 2025 Shade Zones Design Competition. Made of wood and designed to fit a sidewalk or fill a plaza, it features an intricate lattice covering that provides shade for guests standing or sitting beneath it.
Amid full-time classes and the demands of finals and other student projects, Hinman and Landi spent three months working alongside a team of engineering, architecture, and construction professionals from Arup, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), and advised by MATT Construction to build the structure.
Autodesk, the project’s leading supporter, gave the students access to Autodesk Forma to bring their ideas to life and donated the funds to construct the winning design.
Fifty student teams from throughout L.A. submitted entries to the 2025 Shade Zones Design Competition, which called for designs for shade systems that can be built quickly and easily, and moved across a variety of public settings.
The 2026 competition gets underway this fall and will engage students in designing permanent structures for the public right-of-way across L.A. County. The competition plans to return for a third round in 2027.
“The Shade Zones Build was so different from anything I had done before,” Hinman said. “The hard deadline pushed everyone involved to make thoughtful decisions at every step, which I think was a blessing in disguise. It kept us on track and helped maintain a cohesive theme throughout the entire design process.”
Landi said he appreciated the project’s demands. “It forced us to continue iterating on our design, working closely with structural engineers and designers to ensure that the project could be transformed from an idea to a tangible reality. I learned so much about how to negotiate real-world constraints and consider all aspects of the design process.”
Shade Zones — a collaboration among Sharma, USC School of Architecture, and USC Dornsife Public Exchange — is part of the broader ShadeLA coalition. And while the current installation is a single structure, ShadeLA organizers see it as the first step in a larger effort to rethink how shade can be integrated into public space across the region ahead of major global events, including the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
“The goal is not just one successful structure,” said Max Teirstein, USC Dornsife Public Exchange and Shade Zones Project Manager. “It’s creating scalable solutions that can help cool neighborhoods across Los Angeles for years to come.”