last i heard its a permanent 'park' for the downtown area

uggg...

was down there yesterday and the place sucks. You have this HUGE site and there is a path and some grass and some glass in a cage.

No dog park, no playing fields, no jungle gym...

Damn landscape architects drawing some pretty design on a piece of paper and not thinking about the space being used

yeah, it's pretty bad. it was much better as a corn field.

, news 2, news 3,
& new 4 of many, many postings about the site, more links in each.

Orhan interviewed them a few months back...

treekiller

thanks for the links! Do you know, then, if Hargrave's plan has been implimented???

What has been built at the site seems somewhat 'designed', but the space isnt very usable ;(. I would have liked to have seen a more 'event' park (playing fields, dog park, etc...)

as far as i know, nobody sign a contract as of may. state have removed all the soil that was fertile and poisoned the remaining top soil so nobody could grow anything on it (!) to stop the killer (!) corn.
not a cornfield org now farm lab developed a edible farm project for the site but the future is bleak. a perfect example of how state takes the land over and slowly prepares it for developers. waiting on the tow are the so called urbanistic hot shot firms waxing their dicks to stick into a multi million dollar commissions all in the name of progressive development.
villagrosa needs a big project to seal his legacy. and seems to be that open area connected to the la river makes perfect let's like this project ah so green". got me?

fertile soil = $$$

will we get the tilt-up warehouses or will we have a park?

another example of public policy and developer $$$ trumping design

Rumors and misinformation are unnecessary. The site is owned by State Parks, which was the case before the competition. The design (if you want to call it that) that is there is temporary interim use so people can at least use part of the site while the final master plan is being developed and implemented. Which will take many years. One reason State Parks held the competition was to generate some excitement about the place, with the hopes that private donors would come forward to help implement the park.

Hargraeves and State Parks held an update meeting this past week (I didn't attend, so I don't know what was said. This was the announcement:

Please join California State Parks and Hargreaves Associates design team for a community meeting about the next phase of work for the park commonly known as the Cornfields.
This meeting will provide an introduction to the team, overview of the project, and a conversation with the community about programming in the park.


Date: Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Time: 7:00 P.M.
Location: St.Peter's Italiana Church
1051 N. Broadway
Los Angeles, CA

http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=22984

I think they should build an IKEA there

what are you, a fuckin' park ranger?

Alan-

thanks for the parks info. rumor and speculation are more fun then facts - i'm just out of the loop these days. Hey, how is life in the public's service treating you?

The Dude Abides. Public sector is fun, but obviously very different than private practice, starting with notions of identity and authorship.

my information was directly from lauren bon, the artist who headed the 'not a cornfield' project and currently running an organization called farm lab.
she did inform me last may, and told me at that time there was no contract signed between any designer (hargreaves) and the state. she did also told me that the top soil they paid good money and brought from somewhere else for the cornfield they have installed, was neutralized by the state to stop possible generation of agricultural deseases.
i was also told none of the design teams who participated in the said competition bothered to call her organization and ask a question or two cocerning the conditions. maybe her ego was hurt i don't know. but i would not call it a rumor what i heard from her, whose bigger organization (annenberg foundation) supported the competition. i doubt that she misinformed me or started a rumor.

(i wrote the above if my earlier post and its content was regarded as rumor or misinformation)
god i am too sensetive these days.;.)

I wasnt accusing anyone in particular of spreading rumors or misinformation (Archinect forums tend to generate rumors organically) but to shed light on a few questions and issues -

1) What is on the site today is a temporary interim park, not the final design.

2) Regardless of whether Hargraeves has a signed contract or not, his office and State Parks are as of last week hosting meetings about his proposal. As I said, I didn't attend the meeting, so I don't know what the current status is. I don't doubt Orhan's story about topsoil issues, or the design teams ignoring the NotACornfield group (although I recall being told by NotACornfield folks that they were on a design team that did not make the final shortlist for the competition - while I greatly admire the NotACornfield project, it doesn't entitle them to a monopoly on the site).

3) The site is safe from commercial speculation - at least for the time being. I suppose that could change if the State exhuasts the transportation funds as a source to prop up the budget and the Governor / Assembly start to consider disposing state land as a means of raising money.

4) The Hargraeves project will take many years to implement - not only was the competition to select a design team, not a project, but the State doesnt have the money to implement the plan. That will all have to be budgeted for over time. One thing I have learned in public sector is that slowness of government is not necessarily because of laziness, negilgence or stupidity on the part of bureaucrats - its a product of the public process (simple decisions can take more than a month to make, because public notices need to be prepared within legally prescribed time increments, so that decisions - especially those involving money - can be made in public hearings, which often get continued to the next hearing, and when a decision is made, it takes a few weeks or months for the staff to work out the details of contracts - insurance is a nightmare - and staff's attention can easily be shifted by politicians' pet projects or whatever crisis is making the headlines.... hopefully you get the idea).

thanks alan,
here is the project being proposed for the site, independent of hargreaves work. written by former councilman mike woo. nice idea if they can get it going for the time being. like alan said, everybody realizes developing the area for public will take years and this farm lab proposal seems, to me, much more usefull than the interim park they put up there.
http://notacornfield.com/ecoecon/

"Not A Cornfield" recently published a well-designed, two volume book on the NAC project. Book One contains essays, reflections, timelines, plus associated photos. Book Two is all photos (by Steve Rowell of CLUI fame) and historic maps. I'm not sure if its available through Amazon or only through NAC / Under Spring / Farmlab (a copy mysteriously appeared in my mailbox), but its worth hunting out. Incidentally, the book has no documentation about the competition, just the NAC project.

how does one get a copy of said book?