ORANGE COUNTY MUSEUM OF ART ’ S NEW HOME AT SEGERSTROM CENTER FOR THE ARTS
SPRING / SUMMER 2023
OC BUILDINGS THAT SHOWCASE THE
AREA ’ S OUTSTANDING ARCHITECTURE
HOW TO BE THE ECO-FRIENDLY
DESIGNER OF YOUR OWN FURNISHINGS
WELCOME
I
t ’ s probably true that for all the cultural attention Orange County has received , its architecture has not always been on the forefront . Disneyland , “ The OC ,” sandy beaches , surfers , McMansions and flashy housewives have captured the popular imagination of those who think of Orange County as the bedroom community for Los Angeles , and a not very cultivated one at that .
But times have changed , and while OC surf culture ( and probably its Real Housewives ) continue to set trends across the country , the area ’ s architecture is making a splash as well , from UC Irvine ’ s futuristic McGaugh Hall and undulating glass facade of the School of Humanities , to the Cesar Pelli-designed Segerstrom Hall and Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall . to most recently , the Morphosis Architects ’ designed Orange County Museum of Art , which reopened last November to much fanfare on the Segerstrom Center for the Arts campus , elevating the city of Costa Mesa to the de facto cultural capital of Orange County .
Orange County has also been on the forefront of sustainable design : Orange County ’ s first LEED Platinum building , the Environmental Nature Center ( ENC ), began in 1972 as a dream by Newport Harbor students and teachers . OC ’ s LPA , Inc . completed the dream in 2008 , creating a project built with recycled and recyclable materials , its main structure designed to capture as much light as possible with a north-facing glass wall and its rooftop solar array providing 100 % of its needed power . Drought-tolerant landscaping rounds out the environmentally friendly design .
Culture grows from the seeds planted many years ago when visionaries began to design and develop an argricutural area that is now home to over 3 million people . In this issue , we highlight some of the architectural achievements of Orange County , both big and small . As OCMA Director and CEO Heidi Zuckerman tells Sharon Stello in her story about the new museum : “ I think Orange County is a really innovative place … where people basically built something out of nothing .”
CREATING A MASTERPIECE
BUILDING A LEGACY
CUSTOM CREATIONS
Justine Amodeo Editor justine @ firebrandmediainc . com
COVER : This issue ’ s cover was shot by photographer Mike Kelly of The Orange County Museu of Art , designed by Morphosis Architects .
10 SPRING / SUMMER 2023 | LATITUDE33MAGAZINE . COM