If you're a geek for architecture, these renderings of the new LA Convention Center, presented Thursday by architectural firm Populous, are like an early Valentine's Day gift.
The space, which we can't figure out how to pronounce -- LACOEX (LA Convention Center and Exhibition Hall), will feature restaurants and patios, intended to create gathering spaces; gardens that double the green space of the current convention center; and multi-colored lights for signage, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Will the convention center, depicted below, be an architectural icon for Los Angeles? Michael Hughes, managing director at a convention consulting firm, told the Daily News that, while cities like to build "eye-catching" buildings, planners think more logistically about how can people the space can fit and how they can move about. Planning director Michael LoGrande told LADN that, with a limited $300 million budget, an architectural icon is unlikely.
Still, the new convention center will bring LA from number 15 in US convention centers to number 5, according to ESPN. The new football stadium, which will have 68,000 seats and be expandable to 78,000 seats for big events like the Super Bowl, World Cup or Olympics, will require that the current, 40-year-old convention center be torn down.
