Category: Master Plans
Region: North America
Year: 1993
Location: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A.
FT2 Construction: 215,278 sq ft
FT2 Ground: 0 sq ft
Involved Areas: Master Plan, Architecture
Collaborators:
LEGORRETA®
Ricardo Legorreta
Víctor Legorreta
Noé Castro
Gerardo Alonso
Associate Architects:
Arquitecto Ejecutivo: Langdon Wilson Architecture Planning, Los Angeles, Ca.
Consultants:
LANDSCAPE: Olin Partnership
PROJECT MANAGEMENT: Maguire Thomas Partners
STRUCTURAL DESIGN: Nabith Yussef & Associates
ARTIST: Barbara McCarren
CONTRACTOR: Turner Construction
Photographer:
Lourdes Legorreta
Erhard Pfeiffer
Pershing Square, located in the heart of Los Angeles, is designed to be an inspiring affirmation of the citys future. With its striking ten-story purple campanile and artistic interpretations of the citys history and culture, this latest incarnation of the 120-year-old park resulted from a collaboration between and landscape architect Laurie Olin. The block was too large to function as a single, symmetrical space, so transformed the square into two spacious plazas linked by the east-west walkway and midblock crossings to the surrounding context. The north-south change in level is accommodated along this centerline with a spacious ramp and steps. The focal point is the 125-foot campanile. At the base of the tower, water flows from an aqueduct into a large, pebble-covered circular pool that dominates the southern plaza. Its timed release causes a tidal action every eight minutes. Artist Barbara McCarren traced an earthquake fault line through the plaza from the pool to the sidewalk, recalling the citys geology. Two bright yellow buildings connect the southern and northern plazas, the triangular transit center serving bus patrons. The Pershing Square café, overlooking the bustling park, evokes those of European squares. In the northern plaza brightly, painted walls are punctured with squares, rectangles, and circles to frame views in shades of pink and purple. Large, freestanding concrete spheres, a signature of Legorreta Arquitectos and geometrically arrayed palm trees identify and shape spaces of their own. The new square is a choreography of elements knitted together to form a lucid yet complex series of spaces. What was once an unfriendly space in downtown Los Angeles has been replaced with an open space that recaptures the lost opportunity of community and contemplation.
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