To learn more about FORT's HEART OF LA initiative, please visit: https://www.fortla.org/healing-the-heart-of-la/

Design Competition

Healing the Heart of LA: Design for Memory, Resilience, and Recovery

Overview:

FORT: LA calls on architects and designers to reimagine one of Los Angeles' architectural treasures lost to the devastating 2025 LA Fires. This contest offers participants the opportunity to craft designs that serve as a love letter to heal the heart of LA—honoring historical legacies, fostering community integration, and promoting sustainable futures.

Participants will choose a site from this list of beloved public or semi-public spaces that held cultural and historical significance. In this speculative exercise, contestants will imagine a new structure on the site that would become a new "residential treasure" for Los Angeles, based on three essential pillars:

• Memory: The design must honor the historical, architectural and cultural character and significance of what was lost, preserving the memory of the site.

• Resilience: The design should integrate into the neighborhood, reflecting its values and fostering community strength.

• Recovery: The design should utilize sustainable, future-focused methods to ensure the structure is environmentally responsible and built to endure.

Competition Philosophy:

This competition serves as a conceptual platform to explore how historic spaces might be innovatively reimagined. Rather than advocating for faithful reconstructions, it seeks to promote a reflective dialogue on the intersection of history, architecture, and forward-thinking design. The objective is to inspire participants to propose visionary concepts that honor the cultural and historical importance of these sites while addressing contemporary challenges and opportunities for sustainability.

Importantly, these structures are not intended to be built—that is the point. This initiative is entirely speculative and does not seek to create expectations for actual reconstruction. Great care has been taken to position this competition as an exercise in creativity, innovation and celebration of our lost heritage, so notable for its eclectic architectural and social character. By emphasizing the potential of these places, the competition aspires to generate new perspectives and foster meaningful discussions on how history and innovation can converge in impactful ways.

Contest Deliverables:

1. Concept Statement

A written narrative (up to 1000 words) explaining the design concept.

Address how the design reflects the contest's three pillars:
•Memory: Honoring the site’s history and cultural significance.
•Resilience: Integration into the community, the landscape and reflection of neighborhood values.
•Recovery: Emphasis on sustainable and forward-thinking design principles.

2. Architectural Drawings and Renderings — 24”x36” board (PDF/ portrait format)

Site Plan: Show the proposed structure within its context, including landscaping or other environmental considerations.

Floor Plans: Include a clear layout of the interior spaces.

Renderings and Diagrams: Exterior and interior views, sustainability features, climate resilient strategies etc.

3. Presentation Summary

A concise PowerPoint or PDF (up to 10 slides/ 8.5” x 11” in landscape format) summarizing the project for judging purposes.

*Do not include any identifying information on the submission attachments.*

Additional Criteria:

The proposal should:

•Celebrate the unique cultural and historical legacy of the site.

•Design with community integration and resilience in mind, ensuring the new structure reflects neighborhood values.

•Emphasize sustainability and forward-thinking methods that create environmentally responsible and enduring designs.

Participants may think about additional considerations, including but not limited to:

•Multifamily affordable housing options.

•Environmental strategies such as renewable energy, fire resilience, and water conservation.

•Hybridized functions that incorporate public or community spaces.

•Designs that reflect cultural or social significance to underrepresented communities.

•Ways to highlight the intersection of natural and built environments.

Judging Criteria:

Submissions will be evaluated based on:

•Creativity and innovation in addressing the three pillars.
•Historical and cultural sensitivity to the original site.
•Integration of sustainable materials and forward-thinking climate resilient design.

Judges:

* Frances Anderton – Architecture and design writer and broadcaster
* Adrian Scott Fine – President and CEO, The Los Angeles Conservancy
* Sam Lubell – Architecture editor and author
* Sharon Johnston – Founder & Partner, Johnston Marklee
* Siddhartha Majumdar – Principal, Wyota Workshop; Board Member, FORT: LA
* Christina Morris – Senior Field Director, National Trust for Historic Preservation
* Rochelle Mills – President and CEO, Innovative Housing Opportunities

Prize:

The winning design team will be selected by a panel of esteemed experts in architecture and design and will receive a prize of $3,000. FORT: LA will also award additional cash prizes for honorable mentions, at the discretion of the judges, in recognition of other outstanding submissions.

Celebrate the Heart of LA