La Brea Tar Pits is the best and most complete record of life during the Ice Age, a living laboratory for scientists and the global community to engage in and learn from groundbreaking research, and discover plants and animals trapped in the tar pits over the last 50,000 years. In 2019, The Natural History Museums of Los Angeles County (NHMLAC), for which the Tar Pits is a part, embarked on a journey to re-envision what this location could be for the city of Los Angeles and the world, to REIMAGINE LA BREA TAR PITS.
To reimagine the 13-acres of Hancock Park, La Brea Tar Pits, and the museum, NHMLAC planned a series of conversations: a brainstorm about the possibilities with some of the world's top designers and creative in the form of an incubator; followed by a public presentation and exhibition of the chosen three architectural teams' proposals; ending in an announcement of the selected architectural team at the La Brea Tar Pits. For this series of events, the NHMLAC Design Studio was charged with creating a design system that both celebrated the iconic and historical elements of the site, while showcasing the potential and future vision of the museum, tar pits and park.