SANTA MONICA — Nicholas Berggruen, founder of the think tank Berggruen Institute, is collaborating with the landscape firm Studio-MLA, headed by Mia Lehrer, to design a campus in the Santa Monica Mountains on Tuesday, September 29.
The original plan was announced in 2016 by the founder of the Berggruen Institute millionaire Nicholas Berggruen. The Institute has pledged to leave 95% of the property undeveloped and make it accessible to the public via a network of trails.
Lehrer, whose studio has worked on previous projects in the Santa Monica Mountains, said in a Los angeles article that the plan would provide important public access to the mountains — “the ability to get to the mountains, to see the view, to get a sense of the expansiveness.”
According to Lehrer this site will also provide a great opportunity to study impacts of human beings on the ecology of our environment. It will also help develop plans to protect, preserve and enjoy the mountains.
She said the landscaping of these kinds of fragile ecosystems at a time of explosive wildfires is something she has been studying and working on for years, and that a lot of new research is coming up with ideas about the ways to combat resilient forest fires in the area.
She also talked about the importance of healthy soil and its role in considerably slowing down the expansion of forest fires. The health of the soil determines the speed with which fire travels; it travels faster through the cracks in the dry ground. “So the idea of what we have to do is make our soil healthier in our mountains,” Lehrer said to The Los Angeles Times.
Berggruen described Mia’s experience to Los Angeles Times: “Mia’s deep knowledge of the Southern California environment and her ability to translate those qualities of place through community through design will help us create something extraordinary for Los Angeles.”
“Together, we will help to preserve and protects hundreds of acres of open space while providing increased access to nature for all,” he said.
