Architect’s L.A. plan places third

L.A. architect Eric Owen Moss’ vision for restoring and harnessing the Los Angeles River and building along and above freeways gathered no garlands on the History Channel’s website, where visitors voted a competing plan from Chicago’s UrbanLab team as winner of the “City of the Future” contest and its $20,000 first prize.

Moss earned $10,000 in winning the L.A. bracket of the three-city tournament in December, but finished third in the online finals voting, behind the Chicagoans and the New York City plan by Architecture Research Office.

All three finalists emphasized smarter use of water resources; UrbanLab’s winner proposed “Eco-Boulevards” that would channel and cleanse the water in Lake Michigan. In a second contest phase, engineering students from each city will compete with plans for making their city’s architectural finalist buildable.