Los Angeles Times Architecture Critic Names Great Park One of the Best Designs of 2007

December 27, 2007 – IRVINE, California – Los Angeles Times architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne names his picks for the Best of 2007. He cited the Orange County Great Park as an example of one of the year’s best designs that, “help Los Angeles build its architectural momentum.” In a story featured in the Sunday, December 16, 2007 edition of the LA Times, Hawthorne cited progress at the Orange County Great Park led by Ken Smith and the team of designers turning the old El Toro Marine Corps Air Station into a 1,300-acre park saying “the park continued this year to make impressive strides.”

“The emerging design by Smith, Mia Lehrer and others is cheeky and smart, inventive about sustainability and conservation but never naturalistic,” says Hawthorne. He added, “The Museum of Contemporary Art’s Paul Schimmel has joined the group as an art consultant, proposing, among other ideas, amusement park rides designed by artists and a range of earthwork-sized attractions. Enrique Norten, the team’s lead architect, has done wonders with small-ticket items such as drinking fountains, bike lockers and pedestrian bridges. If he ever gets a collection of actual park buildings to sink his teeth into, watch out.”

“Being named one of the Best of 2007 by architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne demonstrates the Great Park is building momentum,” said Larry Agran, Chair, Orange County Great Park Corporation. “Hawthorne’s comments reflect the creative talents of those chosen to design the Orange County Great Park as being simply the best.”

The Orange County Great Park, which is almost twice the size of Central Park, will be a major metropolitan park and the focal point of the redevelopment of the 4,700-acre former Marine Corps Air Station at El Toro. The Great Park will include extensive natural areas and open space in addition to recreational and cultural uses.

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