The City of San Diego’s Children’s Park in Downtown was selected by the 2024 Orchids & Onions Jury to receive an Orchid Award for Landscape Architecture. The prestigious honor was given out last night at the San Diego Architectural Foundation’s annual Orchids & Onions Awards Gala.

Children’s Park reopened last November after completing several improvements to the park that was first constructed in the mid-1990s. The $9 million project, a collaboration with Civic Communities, has already begun to help transform Downtown San Diego into a world-class urban center and aligns with the goals of the Downtown Community Plan, which encourages the development of a diverse range of outdoor opportunities for residents, workers and visitors.

The park’s makeover included a new children’s play area, picnic tables, adult exercise equipment, an off-leash dog area, public restrooms with an attendant booth, a multi-use lawn area, a new walkway through the Civic Pond and a vendor building.

San Diego-based artist Miki Iwasaki created a site-specific public art piece for the park. The artwork, titled Petrichor, was commissioned by the City of San Diego through Arts and Culture. Petrichor is a sculptural installation consisting of an abstract form that appears to float above the ground in a cloud-like shape and will serve as a beacon in the park. 

The Children’s Park project was made possible through the support of Civic Communities in its effort to build a more dynamic Downtown.

Orchids & Onions is an educational program dedicated to the promotion of outstanding architecture, planning, and urban design throughout the San Diego region. It is the only interactive, community-based program geared towards raising awareness and encouraging practical discourse in response to San Diego’s built environment.

Each year, a jury of design professionals and artists is selected to determine the official Orchids & Onions based upon public submissions in categories including architecture, interior design, landscape architecture and historic preservation.