The intersection of Olympic Boulevard and Normandie Avenue has long been a symbolic gateway to Koreatown.  Now, after years of planning, a physical landmark will make it official.

The City of Los Angeles has funded and approved the construction of the Koreatown Gateway, announced JFAK Architects.  Renderings depict steel columns and cantilevered steel beams at the southwest and northeast corner of Olympic and Normandie, supporting a cable system inlaid with a programmable LED array.

The project is designed to "embody the unity and strong friendship between South Korea and the City of Los Angeles, and the commonalities evident in their respective innovations in technology, the arts, and culture, the structure celebrates diversity and tradition through the use of symbolic form, color, and bold structural geometry," according to JFAK.

Funding for the project comes from an allocation of $1.5 million in CRA/LA excess bond proceeds, which was approved earlier this month by the Los Angeles City Council.  The money will also go toward the development of a linear park a block north at the confluence of Normandie and Irolo Street.

Funding has also been secured to underground the parking lot of the Pico Pico Library at 7th Street and Oxford Avenue to allow for the construction of a pocket park on the surface.  That project is also being designed by JFAK.