The Los Angeles Times on Sunday, Dec. 25, devoted its Current section to a showcase of ideas for the development of new public park space in downtown Los Angeles. The proposals were generated by an open design competition started by the USC Annenberg School's Norman Lear Center. The project is called Grand Intervention. "The future of this park offers Los Angeles a signal opportunity to declare — to itself and to the world — what the right balance is between private and public, between commercial and civic, between a civic project that is created from the top down (that is by politicians and powerful developers) and one that grows from the bottom up and is inspired and nurtured by a passionate public," writes Martin Kaplan (pictured), USC Annenberg associate dean and director of the Norman Lear Center. Manuel Castells, Wallis Annenberg Chair in Communication Technology and Society also authored an essay for the section.
Read Kaplan's Op-Ed
Read Castells' Op-Ed
View design proposals
Visit Grand Intervention