Archinect - News

OLIN, Agency Artifact envision $4.8 billion ‘Central Park for the San Fernando Valley’

2023-11-03T13:53:00-04:00

The City of Los Angeles Bureau of Engineering has announced plans for a new master plan of the San Fernando Valley’s Sepulveda Basin from OLIN, Agency Artifact, Geosyntec, and a team of collaborating consultants.

The $4.8 billion Sepulveda Basin Vision Plan will unfold over 25 years and covers an area spanning more than 2,000 acres between Van Nuys, Lake Balboa, Reseda, Sherman Oaks, and Encino that is currently considered ‘park-poor’ by urban planning standards, according to Urbanize LA’s report on the announcement Wednesday.

The area includes segments covered in the LA River revitalization plan. The project will rehabilitate existing wildlife areas while installing a total of 46 new projects, some of which are scheduled to be included as venues in the 2028 Olympics. A new civic plaza and pedestrian walk will also be created along Victory Boulevard. Olin says it will become the “‘Central Park’ for the San Fernando Valley.”

Image courtesy City of LA/OLIN

By acreage, the plan covers ...

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...

MVVA-designed Dallas Trinity River Park to become America's largest urban nature park

2016-11-29T15:16:00-05:00

The Trinity River Park, which will be 10 times the size of Central Park in New York, will be made up of 7,000 acres of the Great Trinity Forest, 2,000 acres of space between the Trinity River levees and 1,000 acres of already developed space. MVVA’s design will build on municipal efforts to connect the river with the city. It envisions the space as a “beautiful and naturalistic network of trails, meadows and lakes living in harmony with the river”.

A look at some cities revitalizing their blighted rivers

2016-08-24T13:52:00-04:00

Los Angeles wants to rethink its river. [...] And LA isn’t the only metropolis looking to reclaim its once-mocked waterway. Cities around the world are realizing that water can be a cultural and recreational asset, not something to hide or pillage, and it seems no waterway will be wasted for long.

A closer look at reasons why the Los Angeles River revitalization is taking so long

2015-12-03T13:40:00-05:00

From a concrete ditch, the river is now, very, very, very slowly becoming that green, recreational space many supporters have imagined. But, the question is, what's taking so long? As anyone who's ever set out to build in Los Angeles knows, things aren't always as simple as they seem. A vision becomes reality at a glacial pace, which can be a good or bad thing.

In other LA River-related news on Archinect:

A plan to clean up the River Spree around Museum Island in Berlin

2015-10-13T17:31:00-04:00

A proposal under consideration here called the Flussbad (“river pool”) would clean up a filthy canal, part of the River Spree, that flows around the tourist-mobbed Museum Island. The plan would add new wetlands and some place the public can literally dive into. Despite detractors who picture Berlin’s cultural center being upstaged by the equivalent of one long, riotous water-filled bouncy castle, the idea, which has been around for a while, is gaining momentum.

Over the past few decades and across the globe, cities have been increasingly reimagining their waterways and -fronts. Hydrologic infrastructure projects, from Cheonggyecheon in Seoul to the LA River Revitalization Project (to be helmed by Frank Gehry), have the potential to inspire renewed relationships between urbanites and their city.

But they also run the risk of becoming subsumed in preexisting, local political conflicts – sometimes draining the city's coffers in the process.

The Flussbad plan for Berlin proposes cleaning up a section of the canal that runs around Museum Island and connects into the River Spree.

Imagined by the design firm realities:united, the plan could include a sandy bottom and new plantings to filter the polluted water, making it safe enough for swimming at a beach in front of the landmark museums.

Notably, the plan is backed by a diverse coalition of figures spanning the political spectrum, alongside architects, planners, and environmentalists, which could si...