#221: L.A. LIVE TRANSFORMED
Chick Hearn Court at L.A. LIVE, by Poon Design, looking west with Crypto.com Arena on the left (photo by Bradley Wheeler)
It started with a study of adding lamp posts in downtown Los Angeles. It ended up with Poon Design, AEG (Anschutz Entertainment Group), and a team of consultants transforming a six-lane, 1/3 mile long vehicular thoroughfare into a public plaza of over three acres.
As the name describes literally, L.A. LIVE is a premiere destination for live entertainment in Los Angeles, owned and operated by AEG, a global sports and entertainment company. Between Crypto.com Arena (home of the Los Angeles Kings and Lakers) and Peacock Theater, and adjacent to the Ritz-Carlton, JW Marriott, and the L.A. Convention Center—sits Chick Hearn Court.
The previous condition never made sense to me: 20,000 celebratory sports fans pour out of the arena and are often confronted by cars rushing by the venue’s front door, when the street isn’t temporarily closed down. The visitors to L.A. LIVE’s events, restaurants, shops, bowling alley, cinema, and museum deserve something more, and not just safety—rather, something transformative, deserving for those who have dubbed L.A. LIVE the “Times Square of the West Coast.”
The first step of AEG’s agenda closed this road to vehicular traffic. But not simply eliminating the street. Through an enormous amount of concrete, the entire road was raised 6 inches to be flush with surrounding curbs and sidewalks, removing all vestiges that this thoroughfare was once for vehicles. Standard city asphalt was replaced with colored patterned concrete and greenscape, by landscape architect, RELM Studio, in collaboration with engineers, KPFF and FPL and constructed by PCL Construction. Re-envisioning the street as a plaza unites L.A. LIVE on the north with Crypto.com Arena on the south, offering a new front door to the area.
The initial proposed towers for this new public space evolved from providing illumination and housing security cameras and speakers. After Poon Design presented several radical options to AEG, such as a dozen large arches, it became clear that such towers should do much more than address functional requirements.
Our creative agenda became heroic and grand, more urban in scale, philosophical even. The towers became ambitious structures that framed open space and defined social areas—signaled an unknown but welcoming future. Poon Design’s 10 twisting media towers (three at 58’ tall and seven at 37’)—blend architecture, sculpture, art, technology, and urban design. The towers march down the re-envisioned Chick Hearn Court at LA. LIVE—from awkward street to pedestrian plaza—adding rhythm and beat. With six 13’ x 23’ curved digital screens by Anthony James Partners and everchanging LED lighting design by ME Engineers—media, advertisements, and visual arts flood the space with entertainment.
Infilled with an expanded metal mesh exterior, the box-truss towers spiral upward—a challenging feat of engineering and fabrication accomplished by project partners, LA Propoint and JAMA. The three tallest towers frame the most active area of L.A. LIVE, a zone that greets the tens of thousands of attendees for a concert by world-renowed artists or perhaps a Lakers/Kings game.
We have added to the urban fabric of Los Angeles, contributing bold ideas both at a people and city scale. In a landmark partnership with AEG, the re-envisioned and expanded plaza captured the attention of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Commencing 2029, the Academy Awards and its famed red carpet Oscar’s reception will be hosted at L.A. LIVE and the Peacock Theater.
