Gehry Partners, OLIN, & Team Present Plan for LA River

Gehry Partners, OLIN, and LA River Master Plan Project Team Present the Plan for the LA River

AIALA Committee: Urban Design

This is a virtual event. Zoom log-in information will be emailed to registrants 24 hours in advance from events@aialosangeles.org. If you do not receive a confirmation 24 hours prior to the event, please email events@aialosangeles.org.

Gehry Partners, with OLIN and Geosyntec Consultants will present their work with LA County Public Works undertaking the first update of the Los Angeles River Master Plan in over 20 years. The multi-year process has involved dozens of community meetings, interactions with thousands of community members as well as a diverse Steering Committee to ensure that the plan reflects and considers the diverse interests along the river. Public Works has a vision for the LA River to become 51 miles of connected public open space that provides landmark opportunities to reduce flood risk and improve resiliency, support healthy and connected ecosystems, address potential adverse impacts to housing affordability and people experiencing homelessness, promote healthy, safe clean water, and create jobs while fostering opportunities for arts, culture, and community engagement. These goals have perhaps never been more important than right now and the LA River can help us achieve them.

Some of the opportunities identified in the County’s 2020 LA River Master Plan are:

+ Over 200 potential project sites that will create local jobs.
+ Thousands of acres of publicly accessible open space that will help address public health issues, especially in the most disadvantaged communities.
+ Innovative multi-benefit projects that assist in mitigating future disasters, such as flooding, drought, and extreme heat events, while enhancing ecosystem function.
+ Actions for affordable housing and homelessness, a key initiative to address displacement in areas vulnerable to gentrification.
+ A framework for future community engagement to influence projects built under the plan.

The presentation will offer more in-depth knowledge about the above opportunities and strategies and allow attendees to engage in a discussion with the Project Team to dive a little deeper into particular issues.

Click to visit the LA River Master Plan Website.

Presenters:

Tensho Takemori, Partner, FOGA
Tensho Takemori graduated from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1988 with a Bachelor of Environmental Design in Architecture. For one year following graduation, Mr. Takemori worked for The Adkins Association, a small firm in St. Paul, Minnesota. Mr. Takemori continued his education at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he received a Masters in Architecture in 1992. After graduating, Mr. Takemori joined Gehry Partners, and has been involved in a range of project types over the past 20+ years.

Genevieve Osmeña – Senior Civil Engineer, LA County Public Works
Genevieve is a Senior Civil Engineer for the Los Angeles County Public Works, Stormwater Planning Division. She has worked for the County of Los Angeles since 2000, and in her current role, she is the watershed manager for the Upper LA River Watershed area in which she oversees long term multi-benefit planning for the Los Angeles County Flood Control District.

Jessica Henson – Partner, Olin
Jessica is a Partner at OLIN where she has contributed to several planning and design projects that seek to create socially and environmentally resilient infrastructures including the Los Angeles County LA River Master Plan and Meeting Green, a winning entry in the Philadelphia Water Department’s Soak It Up! design competition. Her other significant projects include Chicago’s Vista Tower, a new residential precinct at the University of Washington in Seattle, the new U.S. Embassy in London, and the LA River Index. Jessica’s work explores the relationships between hydrological, cultural, and social contexts. Specifically, she explores how landscape architects can create anticipatory design solutions that create more equitable communities in both urban and rural settings and respond to issues relating to flooding and water resources. In her design, teaching, and research she seeks to broaden the scope of the profession by thinking holistically about the places we live, why we live there, and the environmental, economic, and social effects of our settlement patterns.

Mark Hanna – Senior Principal, Geosyntec Consultants
Dr. Mark Hanna has over 25 years of experience in integrated water resources including: surface and groundwater management; hydrology and hydraulics; permitting; water quality; design; and reservoir and stream flow management. His most recent experience has been in large system hydraulic analyses, developing master plans and feasibility studies, and developing integrated water resource analyses prioritizing water supply, water quality, and flood risk management.