DETAILS
A new office tower, theater and café pavilion known as Alameda is being built in the high end district of downtown Sao Paulo; the centerpiece of the site design is the Alameda civic plaza. Lifted gently above the street level, four generous steps invite visitors to enter and explore the plaza while branded light pylons at all major entrances serve as place markers defining the boundary of the new development. An illuminated water feature of fountain jets and fog erupts from the organic patterned “Art Carpet” at the center of the plaza. Set in a field of mottled grey granite pavers, the dramatic pattern of deep blue and white tiles evokes the rich history of Brazil’s mosaic art tradition. For plaza events, the water feature can be diminished or turned off for additional gathering space.
An illuminated “Runnel of Light” weaves through the Art Carpet, past the theater, along the length of the Alameda, emulating Brazil’s ecology in abstracted form. This light stream guides visitors through the plaza and serves as an interpretive element, drawing from the site’s natural past. The terminus of the Runnel of Light is Memorial Wall, honoring those who worked on the plaza.
A raised lawn plateau bordered by granite steps and illuminated seat walls provides elevated views from among a grove of palms. An adjacent shade pavilion acts as both a beacon to enter the plaza and a shelter for refreshments. Seating areas are provided among ornamental gardens located throughout the site. Wood decks shaded by trees and containing cafe style seating are accessible at the ground floor of the buildings and feature installations of sculpture. Throughout the site a one-meter-high illuminated red wall provides dramatic framing of the gardens and conceals undesirable views.
Balsley Park
Located on Manhattan’s West Side, Balsley Park, formerly known as Sheffield Plaza, has been transformed from a barren, lifeless plaza into the community’s most cherished common ground.
Following public outcry and many failed attempts to redesign the plaza, Thomas Balsley Associates was hired to build community consensus around a new park-like image and ...
Chelsea Waterside Park
In 1986, Thomas Balsley Associates was asked by the Chelsea Waterside Park Association to translate this community’s vision for a waterfront park into a design document that would be used to plan the new Route 9-A and the proposed Hudson River Park. Ten years later, when funding for the Chelsea Waterside Park was identified, Thomas Balsley Associates won an in...
Soundview Park
Soundview Park, built on 212 acres of landfill at the junction of the Harlem and East Rivers in the South Bronx, is the most significant recreational facility in Community Board 9. As part of the PlanNYC initiative, Thomas Balsley Associates was selected as the lead designer of Soundview’s master plan. This brownfield remediation will drastically improve both ...
Peggy Rockefeller Plaza
Stretching along nine blocks of New York City’s Upper East Side, Rockefeller University is a world-renowned medical research institution with an impressive roster of Nobel Prize winners — and beautiful river views. Once a harmonious urban oasis of 19th century buildings and 20th century modernism stitched together by a renowned Dan Kiley landscape, the c...