Gehry insists that he isn't interested in the river as the site for new landmarks. He says he told the Revitalization Corp. board members who first visited his office last year that he would take on the job only if he could look at the river primarily in terms of hydrology. [...]
"I told them I'm not a landscape guy. I said I would only do it on the condition that they approached it as a water-reclamation project, to deal with all the water issues first."
— latimes.com
Following up on last week's news that Gehry had been attached to the LA River redevelopment strategy, a few more details have surfaced – no distinct plans yet, but an overall approach has emerged. Summed up by Christopher Hawthorne, the LA Times' architecture critic, the plan is: "Gehry thinks [the LA River] could be turned into an entirely different kind of machine, one that could store and even treat storm water."
In the 1930s, the riverbed was coated in concrete by the Army Corps of Engineers to manage stormwater flooding, and has since turned the river into a piece of civic infrastructure foremost, a public space second. With that traditional understanding of the river's utility, Gehry's approach "stresses how little sense it makes to prohibit the public from using the river or its banks when risk of flooding is low — which means the vast majority of the time."
At least by that note, it appears Gehry's plan for the river will not push waterfront residential development at the expense of public access, and that primarily, he wants to make the river into a more efficient piece of water infrastructure – not simply a corridor for architectural icons. So if this is a hydrology project, why would the city give it to Gehry?
Hawthorne poses two justifications: one, Gehry's office is well-known for technical know-how. For the last year, the firm has been working pro bono on a plan for the river, after they were first approached by the L.A. River Revitalization Corp. (a nonprofit organization founded by the city in 2009). They've already produced "a three-dimensional, so-called point-cloud model for about 70% of the river" that will help guide planning across the wide-range of parties involved in the revitalization effort. The second reason is, simply, Gehry's starchitectural clout, with "the celebrity, connections and force of personality to consolidate political support and fundraising efforts".
Because the LA River flows through dozens of jurisdictions, coordination and consolidation of planning efforts will be a monster of a task, making political muscle a necessary part of the revitalization's calculus.
Collaborators on the project have already been brought in by Gehry, including Richard Roark from landscape firm Olin, water management expert Henk Ovink, and consultants from Geosyntec, an engineering firm. And subduing worries that Gehry is simply too old to oversee such a long-term project, Tensho Takemori and Anand Devarajan, two younger partners at Gehry's office, have taken the lead roles in the project.
More on the LA River:
5 Comments
Great exchange on Twitter between Brian Davis (assistant professor at Cornell University in the Landscape Architecture Department) and Christopher Hawthorne. Along with additional commentary by Alexandra Lange, Alexander Robinson (Assistant Professor in the Masters of Landscape Architecture Program at University of Southern California) and Rob Holmes (Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture, University of Florida).
no offense, dear Nam, but screw twitterati.
have some AP:
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_CALIFORNIA_WATER_TUNNELS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
After hearing Gehry on KCRW"s DnA, it's clear that his interest is in correctly identifying the big picture issues and bringing the right smart people and resources together to address those issues. He may not seem an obvious choice for such a project, but he's got name recognition and clout. Sometimes just being able to make things happen is the best role someone can play.
boy in well, what does that have to do with topic at hand?
Hi Nam!
its just a way to aggregate more news on Cali/water issues generally for those of us who are interested and don't really want to dip our toes too much in the twitter sphere.
like I said: no offense intended, dear Nam, but screw twitterati.
may as well put this here, as im currently listening to it and Mr. Ward mentions it:
http://www.kcrw.com/news-culture/shows/design-and-architecture/does-frank-gehry-have-the-answers-for-the-la-river-2015-08-11
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