Los Angeles Design Festival Announces Winner of 2015 ICON Award

LOS ANGELES - May 25, 2015 - PRLog -- The Los Angeles Design Festival today announced the winner of the annual ICON Award, recognizing design leadership and excellence. The awards program honors a bold woman for her outstanding contributions to the design industry. Honorees are key influencers in their professional fields. The LA Design Festival created this award to acknowledge iconic women who have made an indelible mark on Los Angeles, culture, and society in general through their work and creative leadership.

“We aim to honor and celebrate the role that women have played and will continue to play in the fields of design,” said Michael Sylvester, Co-Founder of the LA Design Festival. “This awards program gives us an opportunity to shine a spotlight on one incredible person whose groundbreaking work and achievements continue to inspire and open doors to the future.”

The 2015 ICON Award winner is Mia Lehrer, FASLA, founder of landscape architecture and urban design firm Mia Lehrer + Associates (ML+A). She is known for designing and implementing of ambitious public and private projects including mixed-use development projects, urban revitalization initiatives, and neighborhood and regional parks. A native of El Salvador, Ms. Lehrer earned her Master of Landscape Architecture degree from the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University. Last year, President Obama appointed Mia to the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts. She applies landscape and urban design innovation and technical expertise on complex Design/Build infrastructure projects, and continues to play a significant leadership role in project stakeholder outreach and consensus building. She is personally engaged in urban initiatives that include recalibrating infrastructure such as channelized rivers, sea ports, military air stations and oil fields from single purpose sites to multi-purpose community resources. Her design excellence and environmental leadership enables government agencies, communities, and stakeholders to create an interconnected system of meaningful open space through well-conceived projects.

In the last few years, she and her team have worked on the following projects: the Natural History Museum Nature Gardens, Dodgers Stadium, Vista Hermosa Natural Park and implementing the Los Angeles River Revitalization Master Plan. Within this process, ML+A examines the role of infrastructure for opportunities to improve the relationship between the built environment, natural ecology, and community, thereby enhancing the functionality, efficiency, and integrity of place.

Mia Lehrer will be honored at the Opening Night Celebration at the Hollyhock House on Thursday, May 28th. For more information about the 2015 LA Design Festival, go to www.ladesignfestival.org.