Archinect - News

Frank Gehry’s new SELA Cultural Center design inches forward in Los Angeles

2023-12-21T17:31:00-05:00

The proposed Gehry Partners design of the new SELA Cultural Center in South Gate, Los Angeles, is moving forward with approvals from the L.A. Board of Supervisors.

The project forms a major part of the Rio Hondo portion of the Lower Los Angeles River Revitalization Plan, which is contained in the larger 51-mile-long master plan designed by Gehry to run from the San Fernando Valley to San Pedro.

According to Urbanize LA, who reported on the recent approval: “The site sits on the south side of Imperial Highway, and near other upcoming Los Angeles River projects such as South Gate's 30-acre 'Urban Orchard.' Additionally, the cultural center would sit a short distance from the right-of-way of Metro's West Santa Ana Branch light rail line.”

SELA Cultural Center master plan. Image courtesy Gehry Partners & OLIN.

The project will be executed at 85,000 square feet with a site plan from OLIN. Details include an outdoor terrace deck and space for cultural events. Another pavilion structure at ...

Frank Gehry & OLIN break ground on new LA River revitalization Headwaters Pavilion

2022-11-21T17:28:00-05:00

In Canoga Park, a groundbreaking ceremony held on November 7 by City and County officials marks the official start of work on a new entry pavilion to the Los Angeles River Greenway. The new pavilion will consist of two buildings, framing an entrance to the river greenway, each featuring public restrooms. The new structures will support a shade canopy displaying public art. Other components include picnic tables, bike racks, and a drinking fountain.

The pavilion is the spearhead of the new “kit of parts” LA River revitalization master plan that was adopted by the county in May and includes the $1 billion-plus Taylor Yard G2 site and a total of 22 other new projects spread along the 51-mile-long course stretching from the San Fernando Valley to its southern terminus in San Pedro.

Previously on Archinect: Frank Gehry gets back in on the LA River action with a new Headwaters Pavilion design

OLIN is a collaborator on the project, which provides restrooms and a shade structure to frame the park's entrance at Bassett Street and Alabama Avenue. Total estimated costs for the design is $5.1 million.

Frank Gehry gets back in on the LA River action with a new Headwaters Pavilion design

2022-08-08T18:04:00-04:00

A few short weeks removed from the greenlighting of its proposed Ocean Avenue project in Santa Monica, Gehry Partners has revealed a new design for a Headwaters Pavilion to the LA River Greenway located within a city-owned plot in the San Fernando Valley neighborhood of Canoga Park.

Image courtesy Gehry Partners, LLP

Urbanize LA is reporting the firm will present its proposal to the city’s Cultural Affairs Commission on Wednesday. It was designed in collaboration with OLIN and will reportedly entail a sculptural shade canopy and public restrooms which frame the park entrance from the north-facing Bassett Street and Alabama Avenue. The total estimated cost of the design is $5.1 million.

Image courtesy OLIN

Pedestrian improvements and added seating amenities are planned for the site as well, along with added water retention infrastructure. Both entities have been involved in the LA River project since its inception seven years ago. Gehry’s role in the project has been heavily-scrutiniz...

L.A. gives the O.K. to massive Angels Landing high-rise development

2022-03-30T15:15:00-04:00

The city of Los Angeles is moving forward with a historic plan from Handel Architects and OLIN for a slice of Downtown’s Bunker Hill neighborhood called Angels Landing.

The LA Times is reporting the city’s granting of entitlements needed to build on the parcel designated Y-1, which features the site of the historic Angels Flight funicular railway system.

Image courtesy Handel Architects

The project, backed by developers Victor MacFarlane and R. Donahue Peebles, is being hailed as the largest ever by a Black-owned development firm and, at 1.26 million square feet, is one of the largest in the recent history of the city.

Image courtesy Handel Architects

A once bespoke residential area west of LA’s downtown core, Bunker Hill has developed into a commercial high-rise district since the city initiated a redevelopment scheme in the late 1960s.

Image courtesy Handel Architects

Now, with only the funky funicular railway remaining as a vestige of what used to be, MacFarlane and Peebles will lo...

Los Angeles City Planning Commission clears Convention Center and J.W. Marriot hotel expansion

2022-03-01T17:29:00-05:00

In a series of votes last week, the City Planning Commission has given the go-ahead to a more than $1 billion project which will simultaneously expand the Los Angeles Convention Center and adjoining J.W. Marriott hotel complex.

The long-awaited expansion led by a public-private partnership between the City of Los Angeles, AEG, and Plenary Group would see the construction of a Gensler-designed, 37-story hotel tower and conference center atop an existing parking garage. Combined with the neighboring J.W. Marriott and Ritz Carlton hotel, this project would be the second-largest hotel in California if built.

Previously on Archinect: An expansion of Downtown LA's Convention Center is once again underway

In addition to the hotel complex, plans call for spending more than $500 million on a Populous-led 700,000-square-foot expansion of the Convention Center. The project also includes public realm improvements to the surrounding area, overseen by Olin as the landscape architect. According to Urbanize, the developers aim to break ground on the project within the year, with construction of the hotel expected to occur over three years.

An expansion of Downtown LA's Convention Center is once again underway

2021-12-28T18:45:00-05:00

What once was an ambitious but abandoned expansion of Downtown Los Angeles’ Convention Center and Marriott Hotel has found a second life courtesy of a new proposal backed by a slate of big-name firms, according to a report from Urbanize LA.

Project renderings are emerging of a plan that would greatly enhance the existing site where a failed plan called Farmer’s Field had previously imagined a renewed site anchored by a professional football arena which later became the basis for SoFi Stadium.

An aerial view of the site. Image courtesy of Gensler.

Populous is in charge of the new site plan that calls for a total expansion of around 700,000 square feet (a 45% increase in the Convention Center’s total size) in the form of new multipurpose meeting spaces, an exhibition hall, parking garage, and pedestrian-friendly interventions along Pico Boulevard and Chick Hearn Court.

The expansion also includes significant improvements to the adjacent Gilbert Lindsey Plaza to be overseen by Olin.

A...

OMA reaches major milestones with 11th Street Bridge Park in Washington D.C.

2021-09-30T16:11:00-04:00

OMA, along with landscape architects OLIN, structural engineers WRA, and other members of the 11th Street Bridge Park design team have reached major milestones in the planning and design of the multi-use pedestrian bridge in Washington D.C. The breakthroughs come following the review and approval of plans by the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) at the beginning of April 2020.

Previously on Archinect: OMA, OLIN move forward with interlocking bridge design in Washington, D.C.

As per OMA, the intermediate design of the project is 65% complete. The team will move into final construction plans this fall. Additionally, the project has met 85% of its Capital Campaign development effort goal, with $118 million of the $139 million total project budget secured. Approximately $30.3 million allocated to the project was maintained in Washington D.C.’s new 2022 budget, as well.

Image: Copyright OMA and Luxigon

New renderings, following receiving approval and feedback from the U.S. Commi...

Frank Gehry proposes capping parts of the LA River with elevated platform parks

2021-01-11T15:52:00-05:00

Critics, including some influential environmental groups, would prefer to see naturalization of the river itself. But during a recent Zoom call from his Los Angeles studio, a grin crossed the Pritzker Prize winner’s face as he shared his plans to transform the forlorn industrial confluence of the Los Angeles River and the Rio Hondo in South Gate into an urban cultural park like no other.

It's been relatively quiet around the ambitious Los Angeles River revitalization project since Frank Gehry's firm was selected to lead the master plan effort in 2015.

Now the Los Angeles Times has revealed an update — although sparse in detail — which instead of the naturalization of the 51-mile LA River concrete channel many were expecting proposes a few elevated platform parks capping stretches of the river bed as well as a $150-million cultural center near the confluence of the Los Angeles River and the Rio Hondo in South Gate.

"Constructed on hulking concrete planks and enormous girders, the earthen parks would stretch nearly a mile over both rivers and support a lush landscape of trees, grass, scenic ponds, horse trails and walking paths," reports Louis Sahagún for the paper.

New Pier 26 opens at NYC's Hudson River Park

2020-10-01T14:34:00-04:00

Expanding a park usually means modifying an existing landscape. The designers of Pier 26 faced a far more daunting challenge: creating an entirely new one in the swift current of the Hudson River. [...] The latest addition to Hudson River Park, this 2.5-acre expanse is the city’s only public pier dedicated to river ecology.

OMA, OLIN move forward with interlocking bridge design in Washington, D.C.

2020-04-21T14:40:00-04:00

A design team led by the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA), landscape architects OLIN, and structural engineers WRA has completed preliminary plans for the new 11th Street Bridge Park in Washington, D.C.

Aerial view of the bridge. mage courtesy of Luxigon / OMA.

Made up of two interlocking runways that meet to create a series of covered outdoor spaces, the bridge park links two sides of the Anacostia river that are currently only connected by highway overpasses. Like other recent active bridge designs, the overpass creates habitable green spaces along the ground below the bridge while also creating new overlooks and usable spaces along the span of the bridge itself.

According to a press release from OMA, plans for the bridge were reviewed and approved by the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) in early April. Late last year, The Bridge Park also ”received positive feedback from the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts and is planning a presentation to the full Commission t...

Minneapolis picks architecture finalists for stadium-area park

2014-11-07T14:33:00-05:00

Three landscape architect-led teams have been named finalists by the city of Minneapolis to design the new two-block long park called the Commons near the new Vikings stadium. [...] The three finalists are: The Olin Studio, Philadelphia and Snow Kreilich Architects, based in Minneapolis Hargreaves Associates, San Francisco, Damon Farber Associates, Minneapolis and VJAA, Minneapolis WORKSHOP Ken Smith, New York and Perkins + Will, Minneapolis

OMA and OLIN Studio to design new 11th Street Bridge Park in D.C.

2014-10-16T12:37:00-04:00

OMA and OLIN Studio have been selected to design the new 11th Street Bridge Park in Washington D.C. The competition was held as part of the 11th Street Bridge Park project initiative, which will transform an old freeway bridge into D.C.'s first elevated park. From the six shortlisted teams in phase one of the nationwide competition, and down to four finalists, OMA + OLIN won with their proposal, "Anacostia Crossing."

Dig into the details over at Bustler.

SANAA Unveils Design for First U.S. Building Since Pritzker Win

2012-09-26T19:20:00-04:00

This week, the Tokyo-based firm SANAA released a proposal for its first building in the United States since its principals—Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa—won the Pritzker Prize in 2010. Located in New Canaan, Connecticut, the 65,000-square-foot glass, steel, concrete, and wood headquarters for the Grace Farms Foundation will wind its way along a piece of the 75-acre property owned by the nonprofit charitable organization.

"Confidential" architectural drawings of new Apple HQ leaked

2012-09-07T16:52:00-04:00

A reliable source provided us with some official blueprints for the Apple Campus 2 yesterday, and these are just a few of the images that illustrate the mammoth building currently being planned in Cupertino, Calif. A single one of these slides leaked out today, so we are putting these up now; we are resizing and still have to watermark.

Firms credited on the drawings include Foster and Parters, ARUP, OLIN and Davis Langdon.