Los Angeles area architect Ric Abramson has been selected to head a new Urban Design and Architecture Studio housed within the City of West Hollywood's Community Services Department. 

Abramson, whose practice, WorkPlays studio*architecture, is based in West Hollywood, has been active in the city's project review and design commission boards for many years. According to a report in Wehoville, the architect will oversee the city's sometimes-contentious Design Review process while also applying his expertise toward the redesign of West Hollywood's streets and public spaces. Abramson will also be tasked, according to the report, with implementing a series of new urban design strategies for the city as the West Hollywood negotiates for a potential transit line extension through the city in advance of the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The focus of these efforts will include improving the city's "architecture, infrastructure, and the relationship of private developments to public spaces in West Hollywood," according to Wehoville. 

Abramson earned a Bachelor's degree in Architecture from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and a M.Arch degree from UCLA's Architecture and Urban Design program. Over his three decades of practice, the architect has taught at a series of local institutions, including the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) and the University of Southern California (USC). In recent years, Wehoville reports, Abramson has led AIA California's Housing Congress, an outfit that aims to use design innovation to bring housing affordability to the state's urban areas. He was awarded the AIA|LA's Citizen Architect Award earlier this year. 

Abramson has his work cut out for him in West Hollywood, where a series of contentious new architectural projects from firms that include Morphosis and Gehry Partners have sparked backlash from community members.