Great Park Design Jury Selected

The Orange County Great Park Corporation named a jury design panel today of six respected academics, architects and professionals. The jury will review the qualifications of the landscape architecture firms who are competing to design the Great Park and

The Orange County Great Park Corporation named a jury design panel today of six respected academics, architects and professionals. The jury will review the qualifications of the landscape architecture firms who are competing to design the Great Park and recommend six finalists to the Orange County Great Park Corporation board of directors. These finalists will have the opportunity to develop a Great Park Conceptual Design Master Plan.

“I am extremely pleased that such a distinguished group of experts from throughout the nation has agreed to participate in our design process,” said Larry Agran, Chair, Orange County Great Park Corporation. “Their professional expertise will assist us in creating the first great metropolitan park of the 21st century.”

Thirty-eight internationally known landscape architecture and design firms from around the world have been specifically invited to submit their qualifications, and any qualified design firm is also invited to submit its qualifications. Dr. Hamid Shirvani, Provost and Professor of Architecture at Chapman University, has been retained to organize the design process for the Great Park.

The Great Park will be developed on the site of the decommissioned El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, on seven square miles of land in the geographic center of Orange County, California.

The Orange County Great Park Design Jury Panel Members include:

CHAIRPERSON
Dr. Hamid Shirvani, Chair, FASLA, FRSA, AICP, Martha Masters Professor of Art and Architecture at Chapman University
Dr. Shirvani is internationally well-known for his contributions to landscape architecture and urban design. He is the author of three books and numerous papers. In 2003, he received a commendation from the American Institute of Architects California Council.

MEMBERS
Dr. Diane Ghirardo, Professor of Architecture at the University of Southern California
As an architecture historian and urban critic, Dr. Ghirardo is an internationally known scholar who has published extensively on architecture and urban design; former editor of the Journal of Architectural Education; Guggenheim fellow; Fellow of the American Academy in Rome.

Dr. Mark Francis, FASLA; Professor of Landscape Architecture at the University of California, Davis
He is an internationally renowned scholar of landscape ecology and sustainable environments. He is an environmental advocate who has published extensively on landscape design, planning and ecology including several books and numerous papers.

George Bissell, FAIA, President of Bissell Architects in Newport Beach, California
Mr. Bissell is one of the most senior and distinguished designers in Orange County, an active participant in the American Institute of Architects; he has extensive experience in designing and building various projects and is highly respected nationally.

Dan Heinfeld, FAIA, President of LPA in Irvine.
Dan Heinfeld is a highly respected design architect and a multidisciplinary individual who is well-versed in all aspects of design.

Michael Rotondi, FAIA, internationally recognized architect and founder of Morphosis
Mr. Rotondi was a founder and for ten years (1987-1997) the Director of the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc). He currently teaches and is a Board Member at SCI-Arc, is a Professor at Arizona State University in Tempe and one of the most noted creative designers of our time.

Linda Pollak, AIA, ASLA Associate, Partner, Marpillero/Park Architects, New York
A graduate of Harvard University, Linda Pollak’s designs focus on architectural relationships to social and environmental conditions. She is the recipient of the Arthur W. Brunner Rome Prize in 2004. She has published on architecture and urban landscape and served on the faculty of Harvard GSD and RISD. She is currently on the faculty at the University of Pennsylvania.