I-710 Corridor Project Urban Design & Aesthetic Concepts

Los Angeles County, California

Gruen Associates’ role was to prepare urban design and aesthetic concepts for community enhancements and treatments to the I-710 freeway corridor. Overarching enhancement goals are to: highlight unique community identities within a unified overall corridor theme, strengthen physical connections and access/mobility within and between communities, implement new technologies and best practices to ensure maximum respect for the environment and natural resources, and to design in scale with the size and speed of a freeway corridor in order to visually integrate built elements with their surrounding space. In meetings with the community three themes that will guide enhancements were discussed: High Technology, the L.A. River, and Contemporary Art and combined into one unified theme in a Tool Box for design. This project also provides opportunity to weave the multiple corridors of the freeway, the L.A. River, and utility corridor together into the neighboring communities. While a unified theme is indeed important, it is also important to provide the opportunity for unique branding of individual communities at the off ramps for each community.