Back in June of 2016, Mia Lehrer + Associates won the competition, beating out Eric Owen Moss Architects, Brooks + Scarpa, and AECOM, to design the two-acre park at First Street and Broadway. After winning the competition, the firm has taken suggestions from the Downtown community, altering their plans for the design. Settling on a greener approach, the new plan reserves roughly 10,000 square feet as green "meadow" space.
The original plan featured a two-story structure, designed by OMA, that would host a restaurant on the second floor and below, an outdoor amphitheater and cafe. While the structure will remain, the new designs include a rooftop deck and shade structure.
The park is expected to cost $28 million, and will be fully funded through Quimby fees, fees imposed on developers for the creation of public parks. The landscape architecture firm known for being one of the driving forces behind the 2007 Los Angeles River Revitalization Master Plan will continue to work on plans for the park, further revising the design that will then be presented later this summer. The park will break ground in early 2018 and is expected to finish by 2020.
15 Comments
I love everything about this design, it feels so suited for a park.
It looks nice enough in plan, but those posts...
Marc! Are you thinking it's not constructable? Damn you!
They're just boring. All that curvy reflective material and they just tack it on top of a straight post.
"It's a park."
"O.K., we'll make it green by only paving half of it."
The AECOM proposal was much better.
Assuming this is about the park and not the attached architect. And they're still basically the same park.
I'm not convinced that a "park" has to be about lawns.
I'm not convinced that they need a park there. But it's a catchy word that makes people happy. It pairs well with other happy words and phrases like "fab food."
Miles, since when are parks green by default?
"A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats."
Unless of course it is a car park.
oh- that green. gotcha.
The top of the seating quarter-bowl looks very uncomfortable. Hopefully they will budget someone cleaning those inside corner steps, because I don't know if anyone will sit up there. Maybe sleep...
Who needs railings? It's only a ten-foot drop.
To @b3ta's point, I am no expert, but if by "greener...meadow" they mean more grass/lawn, certainly seems like a missed opportunity to explore a more regionally/climatically, appropriate landscape.
hard surface in one area, soft in another. looks good, allows people to do different stuff in different parts of the park. Shiny blobs on dumb posts is a nice touch. Feels unpretentious for a challenging form.
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