Los Angeles River

Studio-MLA took a lead role in the revitalization and reimagining of this urban river and its public landscapes, beginning by engaging in volunteering and pro bono work. One of these volunteer activities was for the annual La Gran Limpieza river cleanup put on by Friends of the Los Angeles River (FoLAR). There, in the early 1990s, Mia Lehrer met one of FoLAR’s cofounders, Lewis MacAdams. Lehrer’s design thinking helped visualize MacAdams’s dream of bringing people to the river. The Los Angeles River work is exemplary of Studio-MLA’s practice of creating private work from efforts to contribute to the community. We are proud to have furthered the work as a collaborative effort on the Los Angeles River Revitalization Master Plan, the US Army Corps of Engineers’ ARBOR Study, the Northeast Los Angeles Placemaking Plan, the Piggyback Yard Concept Plan and Feasibility Study, and the LA River Downtown Design Dialogue. Implemented projects include Confluence Plaza, several implemented stretches of the LA River Greenway, and the interpretive design for Albion Riverside Park, which is now under construction.

Friends of the LA River
City of LA River Works
LA River Exosystem Restoration Plan
LA River Downtown Design Dialogue