The city of Los Angeles has selected concept design led by Office For Metropolitan Architecture (OMA), landscape architects Mia Lehrer + Associates (MLA), and the acclaimed global design and innovation firm IDEO to realise a new public park in Downtown LA. The new FAB Park will be located at First street and Broadway, which will be one of the most important civic spaces in the city’s vibrant downtown core. The City’s Bureau of Engineering will manage the overall design process from its beginning to the realisation of the project, which is anticipated to open to the public in 2019.

The MLA, OMA, + IDEO's design, FAB Park, brings together three concepts food, art and land to create diverse environment for Los Angeles. The design scheme features a split level restaurant and array of sculpted shade canopies distributed among a lushly planted grove of mature trees, the design maximizes the site’s potential to draw in the diverse mix of people that live, work and visit downtown, providing a comfortably cool space of respite and a dynamic place for cultural events.

The FAB Park night view from the street

The multi-purposed park is shaped with native oaks and sycamore trees offering ample green space and much needed shade. The canopied trees introduces a collection of shaded outdoor rooms sized for small group gatherings animate the heart of the park, called the ''Gallery''– creates a highly versatile central space for curating food fairs, art installations, and other civic and community serving events.

The restaurant, is envisioned to provide a self-generating economic resource for the park operations, which is placed within canopies. 

''We are excited to have the opportunity to design this destination park, providing Los Angeles with a new place to experience nature and culture'' said Mia Lehrer, president of MLA. ''We also want to thank Councilman José Huizar for his leadership and vision in bringing a new park to Downtown LA and the City’s Bureau of Engineering for leading a thoughtful process for design.''

The restaurant is opened to ground level to quick service for visitors. 

OMA's split level restaurant and sculpted shade canopies provide comfortably cool spaces of respite. Jason Long will lead the project with other teams. 

''FAB park will be a meeting point for civil servants, journalists, arts patrons and DTLA residents. Our design for the restaurant is a dynamic building that facilitates two distinct levels of service: quick and casual on the ground, refined and elegant above. Each level activates diverse experiences ranging from café to test kitchen to amphitheater seating'' said OMA Partner Jason Long.

Covering 1.96 acre (7 931.838 square meters) area in total, the park enlarges the park’s potential as a destination and promoting activities throughout the area, program elements will foster awareness of on and offsite events through user-experience design led by IDEO and curation of art by Marc Pally.

There teams proposal follows a holistic strategy for sustainability creating a potential to achieve "net-zero" energy and deals with all onsite stormwater capture, treatment and infiltration. Using California-native plant palette, the natural plants will maximize comfort, shade and beauty, while minimising the need for water and maintenance. Park program components include restaurant, is envisioned to provide a self-generating economic resource for the park operations.

The site was purchased by the City’s Department of Recreation and Parks from the State in 2013, and was made a dedicated park land for the development of a new park, under the City’s ''50 Parks Initiative'', with a competition held with talented local design professionals for the development of an iconic park at this prominent site in the Los Angeles Civic Center. The finalists included Aecom, Brooks + Scarpa, and Eric Owen Moss Architects. Finalists were announced in November 2015.

Project Facts

Location: Los Angeles, USA

Client: City of Los Angeles

Year: 2015-Ongoing

Status: Competition

Program: Landscape

Partner: Jason Long

Team: Timothy Ho, Wesley LeForce, Sunggi Park, Sandy Yum

Collaborators: 

Landscape Architecture: Mia Lehrer + Associates

Technology and Food LAB: IDEO

Civil Engineering: Psomas

Sustainability and Engineer: Arup

Park management: MJM

Executive architect: gruen

Lighting design: francis krahe & associates

Cost estimation: LENAX

Constructability review: development industries

All images © OMA/MLA

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