Arch Tour Fest 2PM: Audrey Irmas Pavilion and Wilshire Boulevard Temple

Photo Credit: Jason O’ Rear

Arch Tour Fest: Audrey Irmas Pavilion and Wilshire Boulevard Temple | 2:00PM

This tour is SOLD OUT

This is an in-person tour. Attendees will be required to show proof of vaccination. Please read and check the agreement and safety boxes in the registration. Additional information regarding the tour and check-in process will be emailed directed to registrants 24 hours before the event. Tickets are non-transferable.

View the list of all Arch Tour Fest LA tours

Arch Tour Fest is presented by LG | Business Solutions

CES Learning Units: 1.5 LU (applying)

Tour Organizer: Interfaith Design

Take a tour of the new Audrey Irmas Pavilion, a striking new building in the Wilshire Boulevard Temple’s Glazer Family Campus designed by OMA completed in collaboration with Gruen Associates. Located in the heart of Koreatown and directly adjacent to the Temple’s beautifully restored, historic sanctuary, the AIP will serve as a multi-purpose event space for both the congregation and the surrounding city. The pavilion forges physical and visual connections with the sanctuary as well as the school and other existing campus activities and hosts a variety of gathering spaces inside and outside of the building including a fully-occupiable landscaped roof, which highlights the AIP’s intimate relationship with the sanctuary and provides panoramic views of the LA basin. Construction is complete and the project will open in early 2022, assuming that gatherings are allowed by then!

Comprised of three distinct voids that puncture through the building—a main event space, a smaller multi-purpose room and a sunken garden, the three interlocking gathering spaces are stacked one atop another to establish vantage points and framed views in and out of each space while creating a series of openings that filter light and re-orient visitors to the complex and beyond.

At the ground level, the main event space echoes the temple dome by lowering the arc and extruding it north across the site. In its full-length, the expansive, column-free event space has the capacity to host diverse programs such as banquets, markets, conventions, performances and art events.

Executive Architect: Gruen Associates
Design Architect: OMA
Structural, MEP, Façade, FLS, Communications: ARUP
Landscape Architect: Studio-MLA
Lighting: L’Observatoire International
Graphics, Signage, Wayfinding: Space Agency
Civil Engineer: Rhyton Engineering
Acoustics/AV/Theater Planning: TheatreDNA
Vertical Transportation: Syska Hennessy Group
Façade Access: Olympique
Food Service: Webb Foodservice Design
Security: TRC
Client Rep: Searock Stafford Construction Management
General Contractor: MATT Construction

Tour Agenda:

Tour will be divided into two parts:

Part 1 (approximately 60 mins): Tour will take place at Audrey Irmas Pavilion which will be led by Gruen Associates.

Part 2 (approximately 30 mins): Tour will take place in the existing Wilshire Boulevard Temple sanctuary which will be led by Brenda Levin.

Tour Led By:

Debra Gerod, FAIA, LEED AP

Debra Gerod, FAIA, LEED AP is a Partner at Gruen Associates with 30 years of unparalleled experience in the industry. As a leader in collaboratively teaming with world-renowned A/E/C professionals, her expert guidance has resulted in landmark projects including the newest addition to the historic Wilshire Boulevard Temple—the Audrey Irmas Pavilion—where she is serving as the Partner-in-Charge and Project Manager. As the Executive Architect, Gruen Associates is leading the team which includes OMA as the Design Architect for the newest addition to the 1929 Byzantine-Revival sanctuary and oldest Jewish congregation in Los Angeles. The design forms new connections within the existing campus and creates a new urban presence with the modern multi-purpose gathering space amidst the temple.

Paul Phaisinchaiaree, Assoc. AIA

Paul Phaisinchaiaree joined Gruen Associates in 2015 and brings years of experience to the Audrey Irmas Pavilion—a new building at Wilshire Boulevard Temple. On the firm’s behalf, Paul led the project team in the Construction Documents Phase and the Construction Administration Phase for the newest addition to the historic temple—the oldest Jewish congregation in Los Angeles. The Audrey Irmas Pavilion design, by OMA, forms new connections within the existing campus and creates a new urban presence with the modern multi-purpose gathering space amidst the 1929 Byzantine-Revival sanctuary. The project is completed at the beginning of 2021. Paul’s additional projects intersect architectural design with engineering and infrastructure for creative outcomes, such as the Universal Studios Starway Expansion Design-Build project and the design of a 2.5-mile elevated guideway connecting facilities inside and outside an active airport terminal. His past projects include conducting surveys for the existing condition of homes, providing property documents and administrating the construction; reviewing and analyzing sound data for various projects; and working with the City of Inglewood under the Residential Sound Insulation Department (RSID) to upgrade the quality of life for Inglewood residents impacted by aircraft noise.

Brenda Levin, FAIA

Architect Brenda A. Levin, FAIA is known for revitalizing Los Angeles’ urban, historic and cultural form. For 40 years her architecture and urban design firm has pioneered the preservation and redefinition of important historic landmarks, the adaptive reuse of existing structures, as well as new educational and cultural buildings. Ms. Levin is a native of the New York metropolitan area. She studied graphic design at Carnegie Mellon and New York Universities, then pursued architecture at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. Prior to starting her own firm, based in Downtown Los Angeles since 1980, she worked for legendary architect John Lautner.

The firm has received recognition and awards from professional, national, and California preservation organizations, as well as business and governmental agencies. The firm’s recent and current projects of significance are the Centerfield Plaza at Dodger Stadium including new concessions, bars, beer gardens and gathering spaces; the $72 Million renovation and expansion of the 1200 seat John Anson Ford Amphitheatre for the County of Los Angeles; the restoration of the 1929 Wilshire Boulevard Temple; a pedestrian bridge, new middle school campus and Visual Arts Building for Oakwood School; the renovation and reinvention of seven former Howard Hughes buildings for creative office space at Hercules Campus at Playa Vista; and the ongoing transformation of Grand Central Market.

As an active member within the architecture profession and community, Ms. Levin currently serves on the Harvard University Graduate School of Design’s Alumni Council, the American Institute of Architects’ College of Fellows, and the Martin Luther King Community Development Corporation, and is a member of the Trusteeship/International Women’s Forum. In addition to numerous print articles, publications on the firm include a monograph, “Brenda A. Levin, Levin & Associates Architects: Los Angeles,” published in 2001 to present her ideas and work; a 275-page photo and essay book documenting the restoration of Wilshire Boulevard Temple; and a book on the multi-year Dodger Stadium improvements. In 2010 AIA/Los Angeles selected Ms. Levin to receive the Gold Medal, which is the highest honor it can bestow on an individual. In 2017 Ms. Levin received Project Restore’s Architectural Angel Award.

Learning objectives:

1. Participants will learn the design concepts of the Audrey Irmas Pavilion and its shape in relationship to the Wilshire Boulevard Temple sanctuary and campus.

2. Participants will understand the indoor/outdoor connection between spaces throughout the building and its adjacent surroundings.

3. Participants will learn how to select building materials and its benefits/constraints.

4. Participants will learn about building systems as required for a multi-purpose/event building type.