• WEISS/MANFREDI conceptual approach features a bridge across the Lake Pit at La Brea Tar Pits. Rendering courtesy of WEISS/MANFREDI.

    WEISS/MANFREDI conceptual approach features a bridge across the Lake Pit at La Brea Tar Pits. Rendering courtesy of WEISS/MANFREDI.

  • WEISS/MANFREDI “La Brea Loops and Lenses” conceptual approach links all existing elements of the park. Rendering courtesy of WEISS/MANFREDI.

    WEISS/MANFREDI “La Brea Loops and Lenses” conceptual approach links all existing elements of the park. Rendering courtesy of WEISS/MANFREDI.

  • The Lake Pit at La Brea Tar Pits features fiberglass mammals. The museum at La Brea Tar Pits (established in 1977 as the George C. Page Museum) is pictured in the background. Courtesy of La Brea Tar Pits.

    The Lake Pit at La Brea Tar Pits features fiberglass mammals. The museum at La Brea Tar Pits (established in 1977 as the George C. Page Museum) is pictured in the background. Courtesy of La Brea Tar Pits.

  • Fiberglass mammals on display in the Lake Pit at La Brea Tar Pits with Wilshire Boulevard in the background. Courtesy of La Brea Tar Pits.

    Fiberglass mammals on display in the Lake Pit at La Brea Tar Pits with Wilshire Boulevard in the background. Courtesy of La Brea Tar Pits.

  • A mammoth on display inside the museum at La Brea Tar Pits (established in 1977 as the George C. Page Museum). Courtesy of La Brea Tar Pits.

    A mammoth on display inside the museum at La Brea Tar Pits (established in 1977 as the George C. Page Museum). Courtesy of La Brea Tar Pits.

  • Museum visitors watch scientists at work sorting microfossils in the Fossil Lab at La Brea Tar Pits. Courtesy of La Brea Tar Pits.

    Museum visitors watch scientists at work sorting microfossils in the Fossil Lab at La Brea Tar Pits. Courtesy of La Brea Tar Pits.

of

Leisure

LA Tar Pits get Weiss/Manfredi makeover

Weiss/Manfredi, selected by The Natural History Museums of Los Angeles County after an international search and competition, to lead the master plan

by Georgina Johnston 07 February 2020 Future Projects

Dr. Lori Bettison-Varga, President and Director of The Natural History Museums of Los Angeles County (NHMLAC) announced that WEISS/MANFREDI Architecture/Landscape/Urbanism has been selected to lead the master planning team to reimagine the world renowned La Brea Tar Pits.

The team will work with NHMLAC on a multiyear process of public engagement, master planning, design and construction on the Tar Pits’ 13 acre campus, which encompasses the world’s only active paleontological research site in a major urban area, its asphalt seeps, surrounding parkland, and the George C. Page Museum building.

Weiss/Manfredi’s ‘Loops and Lenses’ concept developed for the competition creates new connections between the museum and the park, between science and culture, and envisions the entire site as an unfolding place of discovery. The approach includes a triple mobius that links all existing elements of the park to redefine Hancock Park as a continuously unfolding experience. 

We are excited to move forward with Marion, Michael, and their remarkable team, as we work toward a more integrated experience of the museum and the landscape in Hancock Park while increasing community access, preserving the site’s iconic features and developing a more sustainable infrastructure for the next 50 years. All three teams put forth compelling and creative conceptual approaches, but in the end, there was consensus in the feedback we received from the competition jury and selection committee, NHMLAC staff and board, and the Los Angeles community that Weiss/Manfredi’s conceptual approach captured the imaginations of a broad cross section of audiences. 

Dr. L. Bettison-Varga. 

There's no site in Los Angeles, and really no site in the world, quite like LA’s Brea Tar Pits. It's a community gathering place and a green space in the middle of the dense Miracle Mile, and a world class location for research, discovery, and exhibition. Weiss/Manfredi and its collaborators stood out with a concept for the site that is both full of fresh thinking and thoughtfully responsive to those layered existing conditions.

C. Hawthorne, Chief Design Officer for the City of Los Angeles, and jury member.

Weiss/Manfredi
United States
Sector Leisure Transport

Want to submit your project to World Architecture News?

Contact The Team