With 90+ categories and 300+ jurors, the Architizer A+Awards is the world’s definitive architectural awards program. In anticipation of the Awards Gala and Phaidon book launch on May 14, we are pleased to take a closer look at some of the winners of the 2015 Awards program — see all of them here.
Parks can often catalyze urban transformation, especially as an economical means of revitalizing underused land and harmonize disparate parts of a city. James Corner Field Operations was tasked with designing the new Tongva Park and Ken Genser Square in the prime location between Santa Monica’s City Hall, the I-10 freeway, and the iconic palm-tree-lined Ocean Avenue. The 7.4-acre public park has transformed the flat concrete of a derelict parking lot into an urban oasis complete with lush rolling hills and swales, Mediterranean meadow gardens, and dynamic urban spaces. The flowing natural habitat offers a strong contrast to the messy urbanism of downtown Santa Monica — and was recognized in the 2015 A+Awards as the Jury Winner in the Public Park category.
© Field Operations
© Field Operations
The park is steps away from the beach, so the designers were tasked with designing an attractive alternative. “We tried to make a new center, a new nucleus that ties everything together, and eliminates the black hole created by the parking lot,” principal James Corner noted. “At the same time, we wanted to create a set of experiences that is very different than what you would get at the beach.” Thus, they set out to create an active, innovative, resource-conscious, and ecologically rich place.
Informed by an open process of public input, the park becomes an important part of the downtown, both formally and culturally. It mends a broken urban fabric that has been sliced by roads, injecting a topography of rolling hills, meadows, and gardens as new urban sanctuaries. Braided pathways snake through the new landscape, connecting the footsteps of City Hall across to Ocean Avenue and integrating the fabric of the City with the new fabric of the park.
© Field Operations
© Field Operations
The new experience includes four main areas, loosely demarcated by the rolling hills and sinuous pathways. “The sculpting of the site is a very sensuous topography, which creates small enclosures in the park,” says Corner. “It also lifts people up to take advantage of the views.” The Garden Hill consists of display gardens and intimate alcoves for lounging or relaxing; the Discovery Hill is a a play-space for children where parents can keep an eye out for their youngsters; the Observation Hill is a crest that takes advantage of the framed vantage points of the city and ocean; and the Gathering Hill is a large open space for the community events or impromptu gatherings.
© Field Operations
© Angie Smith/Redux Pictures
The park is tied to the city culturally as well, as it is inspired by the Southern California arroyo landscape of washes and ravines, an allusion to the fact that the site was once an untouched hillside. This history is illustrated by water and architectural features, a rich material palette, and lush planting in order to create an identity unique to Santa Monica. The conceptual framework of reinventing the natural landscape of the site results in an ecologically sensitive park, but its success is measured in its social vibrancy.
© Field Operations
See all of the 2015 A+Award Winners here.