CIVIC PARK IN FAB LOCATION

Competing against three other architecture practices, the OMA/Mia Lehrer and Associates submission for FAB civic park is designed to sit on two acres of highly prized land between First and Broadway, which is currently not in use. The project brief calls for a versatile green space that celebrates art, food and community engagement.

OMA’s design features a central plaza replete with sculpted and reflective canopies that serve to provide shade and light, and offers a unique visage that helps to make it readily identifiable.

Surrounding the plaza is a design of low maintenance greenery that includes mature oak and sycamore trees, reflecting the Southern Californian persona while also achieving ‘net-zero’ efficiency and water and energy use through the use of park-wide features such as solar collection and onsite stormwater filtration.

Infrastructure in the form of continuous seating also winds its way around the plaza to form “park rooms” within the space that can be used for art and cultural programming, while large amphitheater seating will be included to cater to performances in the main plaza.

The main structure of the civic park houseS a restaurant that will offer outdoor casual spaces for dining and a main dining area on the second floor overlooking the park, as well as an edible roof garden. The multi-side building will contain casual dining options at the ground level, with more formal dining options on the upper level – proffering a range of experiences for patrons.

Centred as it is in downtown LA, the proposed public park offers a respite from the urban environment and provides a much needed landscape that reflects the diversity of the city itself.

OMA claims their design “is a culmination of civic exaltation – cultural engagement, people watching, and natural juxtaposition – forging a new type of park that becomes a destination by promoting and instilling the virtues of a worldly and exceptionally diverse city.”