Weiss/Manfredi, Diller Scofidio + Renfro (DS + R), and Dorte Mandrup have unveiled a trio of competing schemes for Los Angeles's La Brea Tar Pits, George C. Page Museum, and Hancock Park. 

The proposals are aimed at rejuvenating and updating the 12-acre park and its iconic tar pits installation, which includes a tar-filled lake populated with life-size fiberglass woolly mammoth figures. The three schemes differ in terms of their approach to retaining the existing Page Museum structure, an iconic and submerged Mayan temple-inspired facility designed in 1977 by architects Willis Fagan and Frank Thornton. 

The proposals, expanded below, will be on view at the La Brea Tar Pits museum through September 15th. A jury that includes Milton Curry, Dean of USC School of Architecture; Christopher Hawthorne, Chief Design Officer, City of Los Angeles; Kirk Johnson, Director of the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution; Kristin Sakoda, Executive Director, Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture; and Barbara Wilks, Founding Principal and Architect, W Architecture and Landscape Architecture, LLC is expected to make a final selection by the end of 2019.

Dorte Mandrup

Dorte Mandrup's proposal largely retains the existing museum structure, while adding a new level on top of the existing building, removing the existing structure's inner palm tree-filled courtyard and replacing the majestic Manuel Paz-designed ice age frieze that currently caps the structure with a replica made of fritted glass. 

The proposal's site strategies, designed in collaboration with landscape architects Martha Schwartz Partners, include adding boardwalks throughout the park and reorienting the museum's entrance, while keeping the sloped berm that school children visiting the museum often roll down. 

Regarding the proposal, Dorte Mandrup-Poulsen, founder and creative director of Dorte Mandrup said, "Our proposal interweaves the park and museum, so the moment you step inside the park you become immersed into the story of the Tar Pits."

Diller Scofidio + Renfro

DS + R's proposal calls for completely replacing the museum structure with a new building containing exhibition spaces, paleontology labs, and other display areas. The new museum complex would remain semi-submerged, however. 

The mammoths and the tar pit lake, on the other hand, are to be removed entirely in the scheme, with the mammoths relocated to spaces inside the museum. The grounds around the museum structure would be reshaped to remove parking, increase the amount of paved open space, and to create new semi-arid and tropical planted areas. The design team for the DS + R-led proposal includes landscape architects Rana Creek as well as landscape architect and theorist Walter Hood.

Regarding the proposal, DS + R said via press release, “A revitalized Hancock Park is conceived to be the connective tissue between existing and new institutions, public spaces, and urban infrastructure. We have taken a ‘light touch’ approach for the next evolution of the Page Museum, infilling underutilized spaces and reconfiguring what is already there to create a more dynamic and efficient hybrid structure that is both building and landscape."

Weiss/Manfredi

Weiss/Manfredi's proposal aims to transform the park to a large degree, leaving the existing museum structure intact while adding a new wing to the museum that is also partially submerged underground. 

Creating a series of looping paths around the park that connect to the adjacent Los Angeles County Museum of Art campus, the plan seeks to imbue the site with a series of "placemaking" strategies, including the addition of 400 new trees, a pathway that travels over the tar pit lake, and as a series of new shaded and covered seating areas. 

Describing their plan via press release, founding principals Marion Weiss and Michael Manfredi write, “The intertwining loops link all the existing site components, enhancing spaces for community and scientific research. The lenses, as framed views throughout the park and museum, reveal the La Brea collection to visitors, bringing the museum to the park, and the park into the public imagination. We are excited to reimagine La Brea and are committed to amplifying this enduring Los Angeles landmark to serve a vibrant community.”