Seven Top Architectural Firms to Compete for Master Designer of the Orange County Great Park

June 24, 2005 – IRVINE, California – The Orange County Great Park Corporation Board of Directors today approved the selection of seven of the world’s top landscape architecture firms as finalists to compete for the job of Master Designer of the Orange County Great Park.

The seven firms selected as finalists are Abalos & Herreros of Madrid, Spain; Miralles/Tagliabue of Barcelona, Spain; Richard Haag Associates of Seattle, Washington; Hargreaves Associates of San Francisco, California; Olin Partnership, LTD, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Royston Hanamoto Alley & Abey of Mill Valley, California; Ken Smith Landscape Architect of New York in partnership with Ten-Arquitectos of Mexico City, Mary Miss Studio of New York and Mia Lehrer and Associates of Los Angeles.

“We have moved one step closer to finding a Master Designer with the talent and vision to give Orange County a park that will serve the needs of our local residents and become a destination for travelers from around the globe,” said Larry Agran, Chair of the Orange County Great Park Corporation.

Twenty-four design firms from around the world submitted proposals. The proposals were reviewed by a distinctive panel of jurists led by Dr. Hamid Shirvani, Provost and Professor of Architecture at Chapman University and a consultant who organized the jury panel of architects to review qualifications.

The firms were evaluated on a number of criteria, including references, national and international awards and recognition, qualifications of principals who will work on the Great Park, and the firm’s design philosophy and portfolio.

The second phase of the competition will now begin with the issuance of a Request for Proposals (RFP) to the design finalists. The firms will be asked to submit conceptual master designs for the Great Park based on specified criteria. The Master Designs will be displayed for public view, critiqued by a second panel of professionals and, finally, forwarded to the Board of Directors for their deliberations and final selection. The Board of Directors is expected to choose the Great Park Master Designer in October 2005.

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.

All board meetings of the Orange County Great Park Corporation are open to the public. For more information about Orange County Great Park, go to www.ocgp.org.

Press Contacts:
Maryann Maloney
(949) 375-0856