Landscapes—whether or not they be a public park, a playground or a whole waterfront—like buildings have a transformative energy and accountability to inform wealthy tales; they’ll paint a story of the previous and function fashions of city design. In our remaining finish of yr roundup of 2023, AN seems again on the high panorama tales of the yr, from new parks striving to redefine cities to a city assembly within the Hamptons to cease a proposal for a public park.
Tom Lee Park in Memphis opened, paying homage to latest and previous histories
At Tom Lee Park in Memphis, Tennessee panorama structure agency SCAPE and Studio Gang delivered a public greenspace that prioritizes native species, and provides new group gathering locations and leisure services to the banks of the Mississippi River.
Past the pathways winding via the park is a playground with sculpture modeled after aquatic animals. Moreover, two help buildings from Studio Gang take cues from the topography, utilizing tree trunks as structural and ornamental parts. On the middle of all of it is Studio Gang’s Sundown Pavilion, a construction made with Southern yellow pine. The six columns forming the pavilion are harking back to the historic waterfront cranes made out of logs.
Whereas the park itself is new, it pays homage to the latest and historic previous of town and race relations in myriad methods. The park itself is called after a Black river employee who saved 32 folks from a sinking steamship when he didn’t know how one can swim. The Sundown Cover honors Tyre Nichols, a Black man killed by Memphis police who loved capturing sunsets via his ardour for images.
Additionally put in within the park is A Monument to Listening, a everlasting set up from Chicago artist Theaster Gates. It includes of 32 stone chairs and a singled out throne for Lee.
Philadelphia broke floor on a brand new park that spans I-95
In September building began on Penn’s Touchdown in Philadelphia, a years-in-the-making 11.5 acre park designed by the panorama and concrete design agency Hargreaves Jones with structure by KieranTimberlake. The forthcoming park will create a freeway cap over I-95 to attach Philadelphia with the Delaware River.
On the crux of the challenge is the imaginative and prescient to enhance entry to the waterfront, quickly to be made doable by changing the getting old infrastructure of I-95 with “decking.” On the middle of the park a mass timber pavilion from native agency KieranTimberlake will grow to be a landmark not only for the park, however for town. The pavilion will goal internet zero power consumption and internet zero carbon.
Pink Sizzling Chili Peppers’ Flea patroned a playground designed by NBBJ and ESI Design
On the Paul Revere Williams–designed Nickerson Gardens—a public housing growth in Watts, Los Angeles, California—residents loved the opening of a brand new amenity: a playground patroned by Flea, the lead bassist for the Pink Sizzling Chili Peppers.
The 17,656-square-foot Nickerson Gardens Playground was designed professional bono by NBBJ and its expertise design studio ESI Design. It homes playground gear and train services, amongst this swings, slides, climbing nets, and a carousel. The bottom of the brand new play house is made out of recycled courtroom surfaces.
Flea fundraised for the challenge and has been lively within the space for a while. In the course of the pandemic, the musician gave out meals and face masks to the group. He performed together with his band on the park’s ribbon chopping.
Southampton, New York residents are strongly in opposition to a Peter Marino–designed public park
In Web page Six information, a plan for brand new park in Southampton, New York designed by architect Peter Marino has native residents shying away from the promise of greenspace. The backstory of the drama goes like this: Billionaire John Paulson introduced he’s providing to promote components of his 10-acre Outdated Timber property in Southampton to the Lake Agawam Conservancy which has concepts to work with Marino on a public park for the group.
A rowdy city assembly this summer time noticed native residents come out strongly in opposition to the park. One native informed reporters, “Southampton is the final place that wants a public park. There’s already a park in Southampton and no one makes use of it.”
Renderings of Marino’s proposal offered on the city assembly would ship a “world-class backyard” to Southampton and triple the scale of the present park to span over 12 acres on a plot of land that affords waterfront views.
In Dallas, a imaginative and prescient to reinvent Dealey Plaza engages the positioning with its previous
The historical past of Dallas’s Dealey Plaza, the place three Black males had been lynched in 1860, is overshadowed by the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The location has been lengthy ignored, and in want of an revolutionary imaginative and prescient that makes good with its unhealthy historical past, whereas additionally addressing city wants and modifications.
The Reinventing Dealey Plaza challenge commissioned by Dallas Morning Information and led by structure critic Mark Lamster, Chris Reed of Stoss Panorama Urbanism, and Monica Ponce de Leon of MPdL Studio units out to do precisely that with a plan that prioritizes pedestrians and group areas. On the coronary heart of the plan is what has been misplaced for therefore lengthy within the website: engagement with its previous.
Sasaki received a design competitors to reimagine the Monona Lake waterfront in Madison, Wisconsin
Sasaki was chosen because the profitable design agency in a contest to reimagine the Monona waterfront in Madison, Wisconsin. Sasaki beat out different finalists, particularly Area Operations and Company Panorama + Planning, with a considerate imaginative and prescient for the Lake Monona waterfront. The location slated for an overhaul extends from Legislation Park, on the lake’s northwest down towards Olin Park. It’s best recognized for Frank Lloyd Wright’s Monona Terrace, an occasion and conference middle that overlooks the lake.
Sasaki’s proposal titled “Voices of the Lake: Monona’s Waterfront” was designed to amplify the voices of the group across the water. It outlines 4 zones, the Legislation Park Ledge, Lake Lounge, Group Causeway, and Olin Overlook, and likewise proposes a Story Stroll the place guests can study concerning the authentic settlers of the land, the Ho-Chunk nation.
The imaginative and prescient additionally considers pedestrian entry from the waterfront to the downtown; widened strolling paths, separated bike lanes, and improved intersections—significantly round John Nolan Drive—are designed to scale back vehicular site visitors and promote strolling in an space not trafficked by pedestrians.
