5 Finalists in Design Contest Refining Plans

The five finalists in the international design competition for Pershing Square are preparing their refined renderings and models for the final selection to be announced Aug. 25.

“To qualify for the final judging, each of the five design firms must include an architect based and licensed in California,” according to Janet Marie Smith, president of the Pershing Square Management Assn., formed to revitalize the downtown historic park.

The winner will have the opportunity to negotiate the contract for the $11-million revitalization project, Smith added.

The competition, funded by a $40,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, attracted 242 entries, she said.

Design teams that have been asked to submit further plans are: Kevin Bone, New York, Joseph Levine Architecture; Phelps/Son Architects with Welton Becket Associates, Los Angeles; Frank Welch & Associates Architects, Dallas, with Dworsky Associates, Los Angeles; SITE Inc. Architects, New York, with Charles Kober Associates, Los Angeles, and the SWA Group, Sausalito, with Robert A.M. Stern, New York.