The Machado Lake Ecosystem Rehabilitation Project, funded by Prop O, sought to improve the water quality in Machado Lake, enhance the surrounding natural habitat, and improve the recreational features of the surrounding park. Located in Harbor City, the park and lake re-opened in June 2017 after a 3-year cleanup process. Segal Shuart worked with the City of LA's Prop O team to design a series of interpretive signs that offer visitors an understanding of the project improvements and their benefits to the habitat and community.
Central Park Paseo opens in Glendale
Officially unveiled by the City of Glendale in December, the Central Park Paseo creates a new mid-block pedestrian connection between the Americana at Brand and the Glendale Central Library. Anchoring the Paseo is the neon Clayton Plumbers sign, which belongs to the neighboring Museum of Neon Art whose entrance sits on the Paseo. The sign, with its animated water droplets, is a replica of the original sign that once stood at the defunct plumbing business in Westwood.
The Paseo incorporates the brick paving pattern of Brand Boulevard with a new wood deck and terraced central planter. A steel-clad wall gently curves through the Paseo, adding pizazz to the space, and a grove of palms punctuates the eastern end of the Paseo where it intersects an enhanced alleyway.
It’s exciting to finally see this project built and in use after many years of planning, design, and construction. While at AECOM, Josh Segal helped to design and manage various pieces of the project over the course of its life.
"Beyond the Wall" at The Wende Museum
Segal Shuart was honored to be involved in The Wende Museum's "Beyond the Wall" fundraising gala last Saturday night. The planning and visioning really paid off and we enjoyed walking the red carpet, sipping on signature drinks and hearing from the many dignitaries in attendance. The palms that we planted only two weeks prior created a dramatically different, exciting new look for the former National Guard Armory building that's been abandoned for some time now.
A sampling of Cold War art and artifacts were on display as were renderings of the future space. We picked up a copy of the massive new Taschen book, four years in the making, which was completed just in time for the gala and for the 25th anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall (11/9). It was fun to see Benedikt Taschen and Justin Jampol, Executive Director of The Wende Museum, unveil the book by driving it into the event space in an authentic East German Trabant.
Josh Segal and Julia Shuart arrive at the event... and the paparazzi swarm.
Now that the gala has come and gone, we are very much looking forward to continuing our design work and to seeing the final product come to fruition. With so much happening in Culver City right now, this new space is gearing up for many years of success. To learn more about the event and about the museum, check out this article.
Digging in for Wende Museum's gala
As landscape architects we don't usually think of manual labor as part of the job description. We draw, collect imagery, research plants, draft plans and details, visit project sites and have client meetings. But yesterday was not your average work day for Segal Shuart. As we help our Wende Museum client prepare for a big gala on Saturday night, overseeing plant and boulder delivery turned into digging holes (in heavily compacted DG and aggregate) and unloading boxed trees.
Most of what was installed yesterday is temporary since the overall design will be finalized and implemented after this weekend's event, but with the amount of physical labor involved it sure felt permanent. Last week's palm planting in front, however, is in fact fixed and we are very excited about the gorgeous Phoenix canariensis, Washingtonia robusta and Phoenix dactylifera that now bring a new look to this minimalist, recently sandblasted, midcentury building.
Stay tuned for more news on the Wende Museum project as they prepare to move into their new home at the former Armory Building in Culver City. The first phase is the museum's street frontage and the second phase is a great rear space which will include sculpture garden(s), seating areas and more.
ASLA honors Echo Park Lake Rehab
The Echo Park Lake Rehabilitation Project won big at the "Quality of Life Awards," held by the Southern California Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA). The awards gala took place on October 23, 2014 at the Ebell Club in Long Beach, and the Echo Park Lake Rehabilitation Project came away with the top award in the Parks and Recreation category, as well as the top award overall, the Award of Excellence.
According to ASLA, the Quality of Life Awards are "designed to celebrate professional excellence by recognizing the firms, individuals, and agencies responsible for outstanding works of landscape architecture and environmental planning that promote an enhanced quality of life in Southern California and beyond."
The Echo Park Lake Rehabilitation Project has truly improved the quality of life for the thousands who use it on a weekly basis, as well as for the wildlife that call the lake home. The project also serves as a great example of how amazing things can be done when professionals, public agencies, and community members work together.
Josh Segal and Julia Shuart are proud to have been a large part of this project while at AECOM, and enjoy checking in at the lake whenever time allows.
Echo Park Lake Rehab wins preservation award
Segal Shuart is proud to announce that the Echo Park Lake Rehabilitation Project was awarded a Preservation Design Award by the California Preservation Foundation. The California Preservation Foundation celebrates and recognizes exemplary work in historic preservation, restoration, rehabilitation, sustainability, studies, reports and other significant categories in the preservation field through the Preservation Design Awards.
The Echo Park Lake Rehabilitation Project was among 24 projects throughout the state to be honored on September 26, 2014 at the Cicada Club in Downtown Los Angeles. Both Julia Shuart and Josh Segal worked on the project while at AECOM, with Josh leading the landscape architecture effort from early design through construction. The project, which successfully balances stormwater treatment, habitat, recreation, sustainability, and history, has received rave reviews since the park's re-opening in June 2013.