STudio-MLA is a landscape architecture and an urban design company under the direction Mia teacherA Salvadorian American landscape architect that tries to combine people with nature. The company specializes in large -scale, master planned environments and is behind some Of the most remarkable developments in Los Angeles, including Dodger Stadium, Sofi Stadium and the upcoming Lucas Museum of Narrative Art.
Studio-MLA was founded in Downtown in 1997 and temporarily lived in Koreatown before setting up in Boyle Heights in 2015. The company continues to have Mesquit from Vella group And East End Studios'New Adla Campus.
The business journal came together with teachers and studio-mla Senior Associates Eden Ferry And Alex San Diegoto discuss the company's pipeline and the hyperlocal approach of Studio-MLA in terms of design.
Mia, how did you get in the landscape architecture and what led you to Studio-MLA?
Teacher: I went on the east coast on the east coast Tufts University. My favorite professor was a geology professor, and this geology professor attended courses at a couple of other universities in Cambridge Coteach courses. Through this work I landed on the Harvard University Graduate School of Design In a Coteaching program you had and I learned the landscape architecture.
I saw the drawings of Frederick Law Olmsted Exhibited on the walls of the library and the librarian explained to me that (landscape architecture) was a job that I knew nothing about. So I started my studies and then moved to the west coast. I originally worked for a company in San Francisco with a small office (in Los Angeles). First I did living values and then cultural work, and then it was an honor for me to work on Barnsdall Art Park and Union Station, the two gardens on both sides. I realized: “Wow, I can do so many things” and then I started the studio.
What is urban design and how does it feed the general development of a project?
Ferry: I think for me, the landscape architecture identifies the place, embedded in the project, the space, the manner uses the environment outdoors and brings it to the urban environment. Sometimes this means that public parks, sometimes this means to consume the Los Angeles River, to create terraces outdoors on projects on projects on the 38th floor or only green infrastructure, street trees, the shadows, creation of habitats and everything outdoors offer.
670 Mesquit is one of the largest active projects in the Arts District. What can you tell me about the design?
Teacher: This project was the work of passion for both the developer and the design team. It is (planned by the Gallo family) and some donors from other parts of the country. It comprises a total of around 1,000 units, a hotel, a charter school, some retail space – and that means restaurants and gallery rooms – and office. The scale is fantastic.
Ferry: It will have this cultural infusion in the place, the visitor moves to the Los Angeles River. At the moment, the neighborhood itself has no space in which they can actually see the river and interact with it because the rail lines are along the edges. The river deck in Mesquit actually brings people to the next point of the river that they can reach, and they have done enormous work to bring this element on the site – between the structural coordination with the rail lines, the activity, both air and Land – It only becomes this incredible asset in the neighborhood, which will be a cultural goal for the city.
Alex, I know that you lead the landscape design of the East End of 1 billion US dollars. How do you juggle the harmony of 1.28 million square foot and 16 sound strips?
San Diego: It is a combination of many things. Our customer, East End Capital, develops four studios in the Los Angeles area, so that this is definitely your business, and we have to respect and know what your business will bring in for studios. At the same time, we would like to involve (placemaking) in design and create these rooms.
It is a massive 15 hectare site, but we have to create an environment at all levels, in which it is friendly not only for end users who are in the studios, but also for the community as a whole. We definitely know what from the customer's point of view, but from our ending this experiences create this experience by improving the landscape components and trying to achieve the sustainability guidelines that the state and the city have tried to drive forward.
Studio-MLA also completed the design of Hauser + Wirth, a contemporary art complex in the Kunstviertel in 2018. Are there any design elements that are particularly proud of?
Teacher: Well, we have this large oak tree. Everyone said that the oak tree would not cut off well in the middle of the city, but they are going there now and it is a large, beautiful oak. And when the crane arrived on the construction site, there were birds that followed the truck – it was amazing. We have (also) planted many interesting cacts as an art moment for ourselves – large agaves and yuccas. They have become very good and now it has become a goal for wedding pictures. I love this fact.
Ferry: What is really wonderful about the skins + Wirth site is that he embedded this unique character in the Arts District, where there are all these types of small, hidden, open rooms and they are somehow embedded in every corner. And Hauser + Wirth expands this legacy of the neighborhood by creating this really unique courtyard and having this sculptural copy garden at the front. And as soon as they get into the courtyard, many of the materials used in the design are locally locally, including the benches created by Angel City Holzwhich is the street from our studio in Boyle Heights. The use of local craftsmanship for the art gallery was really a great experience in this project.
How do you approach the urban design when you work on such a large selection of assets?
Ferry: I think in all of our projects, regardless of the type, we always try to embed a story and story into the design that helps us make decisions on the way. For many of our projects, we try to look at the history of the website (and the) history of the ecology of the area and to embed them in the design. Mesquit, for example, is inspired by the Los Angeles River. The Sofi Stadium is inspired by the region's tectonic shift. Consider the natural world and (see) how we can embed them in our designs and these contemporary, urban rooms.
How did you see how the Arts District has developed over time? And how did Studio-MLA play a role in his development?
Teacher: I personally think the art district is in preparation. I would think that Hauser + Wirth has added energy to the place.
San Diego: The Kunstviertel has developed over the years and has changed. In a way, it has become a bit more inviting and definitely a lot more life for a wider audience. And with these projects I think that we contribute to everything it offers – to create spaces for the people who actually live and are used to.
How do you work in Los Angeles?
San Diego: For me, the work in which I am involved is very locally, which is great. There is East End (and 670 Mesquit) in the Arts District, but we also have efforts here in our immediate neighborhood in Boyle Heights, which hits very close to home. Someone in our office works at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sunset Mausoleum, (which is) something that we have worked in recent years. Most projects are in our office. This is one of the things that I personally like in Studio-MLA because a lot of things we do here, at least in the office in Los Angeles is very accessible.