DETAILS
The SWA/Morphosis team, in partnership with Cecilia Estolano of ELP, Dan Biederman of BRV, Buro Happold, Sam Schwartz Engineering, and Walker Parking, reimagined the heart of downtown Los Angeles during a eight-month design competition.
The proposal reasserts Pershing Square as a dynamic, living platform that animates the urban center and advances Los Angeles as a vibrant cultural capital and global leader in sustainability. Practical concerns tackled by the design team included reorganizing below-grade parking, connecting the site to public transit, locating bike share hubs, and innovative infrastructure, such as purple pipe greywater recycling through reciprocal wetlands.
Distinct Southern California ecologies lie at the base of a solar-powered hydroponic urban farming tower. The park provides the vital park elements that everyone enjoys, while advancing a future of economic and ecological sustainability.
Westmoor Natural Science & Ecology Park
Westmoor Park is a 168-acre educational and recreational setting where visitors are encouraged to experience the natural world about them with the guidance of interpretive personnel. The park includes four separate areas, one of which is an Administration and Reception area with facilities for drop-off, group orientation, and parking. The Natural Science and E...
Cornerstone Garden Festival Selected Entry
The deep forest is nature’s supreme garden, sacred ground filled with the sights and sounds of life. Our native forests have been the sites of a 200-year-old clearing party whose hangover is still being felt. Very few of us have witnessed these sites to sense the magnitude of their destruction or their rebirth as represented by masses of seedlings, in a strugg...
Indianapolis City and County Building Plaza
SWA/Balsley, in collaboration with Ratio Architects, submitted this competition entry for the redesign of the Indianapolis City/County Building Plaza. We shared the competition committee’s vision of a world-class, 21st- century civic public space with the right ingredients to stand amongst the world’s best public spaces. The design concept builds upon the foun...
Paveletskaya Plaza
Situated along Moscow’s Ring Road and adjacent to the legendary Paveletsky Station transportation hub, the park at Paveletskaya Plaza will both cover and reveal the new bustling underground retail facility below while also serving as a landmark destination for residents and visitors alike.
The extraordinary retail and architectural vision for Paveletska...