UCLA Stein Eye
Institute

• Los Angeles, CA
• 2010-2013
• 4.8 Acres
• CLIENT: University of California Los Angeles

The Edie and Lew Wasserman Building at UCLA Medical School, designed by Richard Meier and Partners transformed the Jules Stein Eye Institute. Countering the strong architectural frame, the landscape inserts a striking meadow with sculptural birch trees that offer respite to the intensity of hospital and lab work.

Standing on Westwood Boulevard, at the gateway to the UCLA campus, the Edie and Lew Wasserman Building completes the courtyard for the Stein Eye Institute. Viewed from the surgical waiting rooms the garden seeks to comfort. Since many visitors are sight impaired, one of the most notable aspects of the design is the care taken to engage one’s sense of sound and smell. Plants that gently rustle and offer pleasing scents were selected to engage visitors with impaired sight.

Gathering spaces are nestled into the space to allow for staff and patients to retreat from the daily stress of the medical facility. The project also greatly improved wayfinding and connectivity to the larger campus, resolving an important link for UCLA’s renowned School of Medicine.

Ramsey Silberberg served as a Principal on the project while at Meyer + Silberberg Land Architects. Images ©Meyer + Silberberg Landscape Architecture, Inc.