[Map via Santa Monica Civic Center Public Parks; High Line via Curbed NY]
A Santa Monica panel has chosen Field Operations, half of the design team for New York's new and much raved about High Line park, to design two adjacent parks in the city's Civic Center--the one acre Town Square and the six acre Palisades Garden Walk. The City Council is expected to sign off on the selection next month. LA Times architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne points out that Field Operations, led by James Corner, was the only Santa Monica park competitor without an architecture firm involved (they beat out groups including Gehry Partners and Shigeru Ban Architects). Hawthorne, by the way, is super excited about this selection--he writes that it "instantly raises expectations for the project," and says Corner is "among the most creative talents in his field, with a knack for incorporating community input into his designs without blunting their ambition or effect." He also thinks this project will be good for Corner, as it's just one part of "an ambitious and unusually comprehensive planning effort by Santa Monica," made in anticipation of the Expo Line's arrival (which, incidentally, includes a proposal for a freeway cap park).
· Field Operations [Official Site]
· James Corner and Santa Monica are made for each other [LAT]
· Santa Monica On a Starchitect-Designed Public Project Spree [Curbed LA]
Loading comments...