Advancing future-ready landscapes that knit infrastructure into the public realm

Opened in 2005, SWA Los Angeles is a resolutely community-oriented studio that has led some of the firm’s most innovative infrastructure and social impact projects across the U.S. and internationally. These range in size and typology from large-scale initiatives, like a groundbreaking proposal to reconstitute a 3-mile segment of the underutilized Marina Freeway into a linear park with multimodal transit and affordable housing, to smaller-scale projects, like a series of recently completed greenways, stormwater parks, and playgrounds in disinvested communities across L.A. County. Several of the studio’s projects, including Ricardo Lara Park and Culver Steps, have drawn widespread acclaim for seamlessly integrating social and ecological infrastructure while maintaining a rigorous approach to landscape performance, detailing, and programming for active use. The office also works extensively across the U.S. and internationally, primarily in China and the Middle East, bringing the same systems-oriented mindset to bear on projects of all scales and contexts.

Selected Projects

Located in the heart of Downtown Los Angeles in the historic Fine Arts Building, the studio captures the spirit of SoCal in both its work and culture—vibrant, colorful, and socially active.