SANTA MONICA’S TONGVA PARK ONE OF SIX FINALISTS IN URBAN LAND INSTITUTE GLOBAL AWARD OF EXCELLENCE FOR URBAN OPEN SPACE
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: June 30,
2015
Contacts:
Karen
Ginsberg, Director of Community & Cultural Services
City of Santa Monica
310-458-8310, karen.ginsberg@smgov.net
Manda Yakiwchuk,
Director of Development
James Corner Field Operations
212-433-1450, manda@fieldoperations.net
Selected Projects Celebrated for
Providing Healthy, Vibrant Public Destinations
Santa Monica, CA and
New York, NY
– The City of Santa Monica and James Corner Field Operations announced that
Santa Monica’s Tongva Park/Ken Genser Square Project has been selected as one
of six finalists in the Urban Land Institute’s Global Award of Excellence For
Urban Open Space, a prestigious annual competition that recognizes outstanding
examples of successful large and small-scale public spaces that have enriched
and revitalized their surrounding communities.
Santa
Monica’s Tongva Park/Ken Genser Square Project was selected based on the fact
that the project embodies a new type of urban landscape that is active
innovative, resource conscious, and natural. Shaped by extensive public
participation, the design by James Corner Field Operations creates a
contemporary and transformative series of gardens and active spaces that
symbolically redefine and interconnect the center of Santa Monica. The project
will now compete against other finalist projects in the US, Singapore, and
China.
“Tongva
Park enjoyed not only an incomparable location but an unprecedented public
process. We developed a true community vision for what had been a drab asphalt
parking lot. Working with James Corner Field Operations, and engaging residents
and other stakeholders along with our skilled and inspired City staff, we
boldly reshaped a new public space that brings our whole Civic Center to life,
linking City Hall with the Santa Monica Pier. Watching visitors and families
enjoy Tongva Park has been gratifying enough, and our acknowledgement as a
finalist in this prestigious global award is an exciting bonus,” said Santa
Monica Mayor Kevin McKeown.
Upon
opening in 2013, Tongva Park and Ken Genser Square were an instant hit with the
Santa Monica community and tourists from around the world. The project has
received significant acclaim from both industry critics and popular media. The
design for the parks was inspired by the arroyo wash once common in this
Southern California region. Through creative use of space, braided pathways,
18’ high overlooks, and a sustainable plant palette that changes dynamically
with the seasons, the parks feel much larger than they are, accommodating a
wide range of uses and users on a relatively small footprint of just 7 acres.
“It is extremely significant that Tongva Park
has been shortlisted for the very prestigious ULI Award. The Park is deserving
because it is an exemplary project where extensive public participation helped
to shape a beautiful and innovative outcome, and where the surrounding urban
fabric has benefited so significantly from this transformation. The Park is
today a newly inter-connected center-piece for Santa Monica, both as heartbeat
and catalyst for renewal,” said James Corner, internationally-renown designer
and head of James Corner Field Operations.
The six
finalists were selected from an impressive collection of entries from all
corners of the globe. The jury looked at a broad set of criteria that included
overall project design and how each project affected or revived its surrounding
area, in addition to landscape architecture and urban design. To be eligible
for the competition, an open space project must be used intensively on a daily
basis by a broad spectrum of users; promote the physical, social, and economic
health of the larger community; and provide lessons, strategies, and techniques
that could be used or adapted in other communities. The winning project is
scheduled to be announced in October 2015.
About the City of Santa
Monica & the Tongva Park/Ken Genser Square Project
Santa Monica is an 8.3 square mile city, home to a mix of
residential communities and commercial districts. Santa Monica’s residential
population is approximately 92,000. Santa Monica is home to the world-famous
Santa Monica Pier, Third Street Promenade, and attracts over 6 million visitors
annually. The City of Santa Monica is a national leader in environmental,
economic, and social sustainability. To connect with the City of Santa Monica,
visit www.smgov.net, follow @santamonicacity on Twitter,
or like CityofSantaMonica on Facebook. For more information on the Tongva
Park/Ken Genser Square Project, visit http://tongvapark.smgov.net/the-project.
About James Corner Field
Operations
James
Corner Field Operations is a leading-edge urban design, landscape architecture
and public realm practice based in New York City. The practice is
renowned for strong contemporary design across a variety of high-profile
project types and scales, from large urban districts and complex
post-industrial sites, to small well-crafted, detail design projects.
There is a special commitment to the design of a vibrant and dynamic public
realm, informed by the interactive ecology between people and nature. Major
projects include New York’s High Line; Santa Monica’s Tongva
Park; Philadelphia’s Race Street Pier; London’s South Park at Queen Elizabeth
Olympic Park; Chicago’s Navy Pier; Seattle’s Central Waterfront; San
Francisco’s Presidio Parklands; New York’s Cornell University Tech Campus on
Roosevelt Island; Cleveland’s Public Square; Memphis’s Shelby Farms Park;
Miami’s Lincoln Road, The Underline and Knight Plaza; and Hong Kong’s Tsim Tsa
Tsui Waterfront. For more information of Field Operations, visit www.fieldoperations.net
###