After an intensive, two-week workshop, the interns of the 2008 EDAW Intern Program proposed Park 101, a visionary, and realistic, urban design solution to cap the half-mile length of the 101 Hollywood Freeway in downtown Los Angeles. The proposal reconnects the city's historic core, north of the freeway, with the civic, cultural, and financial cores of modern Los Angeles to the south. Strongly being considered by the Planning Department of the City of Los Angeles and California Department of Transportation for implementation, the project provides a unique opportunity to point out a new direction for the resurrection of downtown Los Angeles.
A perspective look 10 years after
Park 101 is a new initiative to make Los Angeles, this fountainhead of culture, a more livable city. Park 101 is a proposal that will set an example that will help this extraordinary city create new common grounds for its diverse cultures. The proposal is focused on a relatively small area straddling the 101 freeway, situated in an existing maze of roadways. The communities that stand to benefit most from Park 101 are the densely urbanized and park-poor communities of inner Los Angeles. The proposal seeks to provide these communities and the greater Los Angeles with long term benefits through stitching together the urban fabric, strengthening the existing transportation network and extend possibilities of sustainability to heal and undo the impacts of the car. The plan for Park 101 will be flexible and adaptive to meet the challenges of today and next century while serve and inspire the people of Los Angeles through creating an iconic and memorable destination.
From extensive research and investigating the interns have crafted the Park 101 proposal based on six design principles:
The proposal for Park 101 is anchored by four main elements.
First, the 1/2 mile park capping the 101-Freeway transforms the trench into a place of gathering. The extension of the Chinatown grid towards downtown generates a series of bends that create the shape for the actual park, which will accommodate an amphitheater, a large, open space for gatherings, a mega program consisting of 101 swings that invites people to interact, and a city forest that celebrates the diversity and global nature of Los Angeles.
10 years later, a panoramic view of highway 101 cap
Second, a massive, public underground parking district on freeway level will create an incentive to move away from the car, and move towards a pedestrian environment. The Angelinos that will arrive in their cars will be able to make a right hand turn in the new Park 101 freeway tunnel and enter the new underground parking. From there they can leave their car and take an elevator up to the street level and find themselves in a new pedestrian friendly district.
Third, an iconic gateway consisting of two towers standing on Grand Avenue, will anchor the project on the western edge. One of the towers will be the tallest west of the Mississippi River, making a bold statement and announcing the beginning a new chapter in the history of Los Angeles. The orientation of the main tower of the gateway is a direct response to the California weather, taking advantage of the abundant sunlight, with a double skin façade on the south side to reduce the building's energy load and environmental footprint, while also leaving the opportunity to generate energy to light the park below.
And lastly, the buildings on the eastern edge of the project will be of an intimate scale, respecting El Pueblo, the birthplace of Los Angeles and maintaining the feel of the cultural and historic neighborhoods and while incorporating mixed use development to transform these into vibrant environments at all times.
Once implemented, Park 101 will provide the previously separated local communities north and south of the 101 freeway with not only new connections, but also new possibilities of merging, meeting and transforming the local cultures on the new grounds of Park 101.
Currently, Park 101 is being presented to a wide array of stakeholders and gathering public support by engaging community groups. The goal is to ensure that this proposal will become reality and mark the beginning of a new chapter in the story of Los Angeles.