Columbia University Landscape Master Plan

Columbia University Landscape Master Plan

Softening Landscape Character, Celebrating History
{"autoplay":"true","autoplay_speed":"3000","speed":"300","arrows":"true","dots":"false","loop":"true","nav_slide_column":5,"rtl":"false"}

DETAILS

LocationNew York, New York, USA
ClientColumbia University
Size36 acres

As part of a larger development framework plan by Beyer Blinder Belle Architects, Thomas Balsley Associates was commissioned to prepare a landscape master plan for this important historical campus.

The work began with extensive historical research into the original McKim Mead & White plan and Olmsted writings as well as an assessment of current campus conditions and use patterns. When necessary, circulation has been improved, barren spaces softened, the new venues for contemporary academic social life have sprouted. Those icons of the original masterpiece work, its spatial organization, and its system of lawns, pathways, walls, stairs and distinctive herringbone brick paving have been preserved. The cherished open spaces, even some that were originally designated as building sites, have been preserved as well for the enjoyment of the students.

The harsh North and East Campus zones will be gradually transformed into softer landscape “quads” with shaded lawns and social spaces. This re-knitting of the campus landscape will be accomplished with a carefully-selected palette of materials for paving, walls, fences, stairs, hedges, balustrades and lighting. Lynden Miller perennial and annual garden displays have been added to the academic planting palette of trees, shrubs, hedges and ground covers.

These recommended interventions are in keeping with the campus historic character, yet are responsive to current and future needs. The final report provides a long-range vision for the campus environment and its streetscapes, as well as a design manual for all future site improvements and maintenance, some of which are underway.

Related Projects

Stanford University Campus Planning and Projects

Over the past 20 plus years SWA has been working with Stanford University to reclaim the 100-year-old master plan vision of Leland Stanford and Frederick Law Olmsted for the campus. This series of campus improvement projects has restored the historic axis, open spaces, and landscape patterns. With Stanford Management Company, SWA designed the Sand Hill corrido...

UC Davis West Village

UC Davis West Village is a new 225-acre development in Davis, California, that responds to a substantial growth in the number of students, faculty and staff living on the University’s campus. The city of Davis is a unique and cherished community, and great care was taken throughout the design and planning process to pay homage to its history and culture. The n...

Leeum Samsung Museum of Art

From its mountainside perch overlooking Seoul, the Samsung Museum of Art Complex boasts museums by three of the world’s most sought-after architects: Rem Koolhaas, Jean Nouvel and Mario Botta. Uniting these remarkable yet divergent works of architecture is a space of clean and powerful gestures. This elegant, understated landscape serves as their matrix and mu...

New Jersey Institute of Technology Green

This campus, like many others, has suffered from the lack of a coherent plan, rendering its campus experience to a series of passages through disconnected interstitial spaces. A key component of the landscape master plan was the identification of new building sites on campus that would shed light on a comprehensive assessment of open spaces and movement system...

CSULB Liberal Arts Courtyards

The programming and design of the Liberal Art Courtyards were the result of the successful landscape master plan for 322 acres, completed by SWA in 2012 and enhancing the existing campus aesthetic and experience while improving functional relationships for its students, faculty, and community. Considerations included a wealth of open spaces largely devoted to ...

Montclair State University Student Center and Quad

SWA/Balsley collaborated with DIG Architects and Montclair State University to reimagine the campus student center, adjacent quad, and connections to the surrounding campus. Through site analysis and project stakeholder meetings, key pedestrian and vehicular circulation routes were identified for resident students, daily commuters, and University staff. The st...

Sheikh Khalifa Medical Center

Sheikh Khalifa Medical City is a massive new medical complex located in the Center City of the coastal city Abu Dhabi. The mega-project consists of four major hospitals and numerous outbuildings sited on a sprawling 90-acre medical campus. As the future flagship for the Emirates national medical system design excellence, cultural sensitivity, and advanced sust...

Tokyo University of Foreign Studies Campus

Tokyo University of Foreign Studies Campus Fuchu, Japan. Landscape International, Ltd. Kume Sekkei, Architects. NBBJ Architecture. SWA provided master planning and landscape architecture for the Foreign Studies Campus of Tokyo University on the site of a former military base on the outskirts of Tokyo. This campus serves Japanese and foreign students pursuing a...

2020-01-10T23:26:10+00:00