While Tongva Park's design may not be as bold as what James Corner has demonstrated on other projects or initially envisioned here, we should celebrate its planning, execution, and political sophistication, says Christopher Hawthorne.
"The British-born Corner and his New York firm Field Operations have just finished their first major project in California. The $46.1-million park covers seven acres just west of Santa Monica City Hall, two blocks from the beach."
Despite a design approach that he calls "soft-pedaling", Hawthorne praises the park for being "a rare example of farsighted urban planning in Southern California, which may in the end be its most important legacy."
"Santa Monica is ready to unveil an ambitious new public space more than two years before the completion of the second phase of the Expo Line, whose final stop, at 4th Street and Colorado Avenue, will be just two blocks away," he explains. "Certainly the park is poised to be hugely popular both as a place to walk and as a shady refuge from the lively, aggressive commercialism of the pier and nearby Third Street Promenade."
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