On the West Side of Manhattan, on the scenic Hudson River shoreline, Riverside Park South is a massive, multi-phase project of sweeping ambition and historic scope. Combining new greenspace, new infrastructure, and the renovation of landmark industrial buildings, the plan—originally devised by Thomas Balsley Associates in 1991—is an extension of Frederick Law Olmsted’s famed Riverside Park, carrying it a further thirteen blocks beyond its traditional southern boundary. At the same time, the scheme calls for the elevated Miller Highway, long a barrier between the city and its waterfront, to be replaced by an underground tunnel topped by lawns and surface streets, affording unimpeded access from new high-rise apartment buildings and upland neighborhoods to the parks and paths along the river. The product of a unique partnership between private developers and municipal government, Thomas Balsley Associates’ design balances the needs of local community members, regulatory agencies, and the natural environment. Century-old pier structures and gantry towers, paying homage to New York’s maritime past, become part of a dynamic scenography that includes a network of boardwalks, esplanades, paved paths, and planted margins, all of it giving the visitor the chance to rediscover the Hudson in encounters that range from the intimate to the urbane, the lyrical to the theatrical.
SIPG Harbor City Parks
This new riverfront development is located on the Yangtze River in the Baoshan District of Shanghai. This area boasts some of the highest shipping activity in the world. However, in recent years this single-function industrial zone has given way, allowing for waterfront parks to develop. Within this historically layered water front the Baoshan Park and Open Sp...
Flushing Commons
This ten-acre mixed-use development with parks, plazas, and retail will become the center of social and retail activity in downtown Flushing. Driven mostly by an influx of immigrants from East Asia, Flushing is one of the fastest-growing and most diverse neighborhoods in the US. Abuzz with shopping and socializing at all hours of the day and evening, its stree...
Courthouse Park
Directly across the Hudson River from Lower Manhattan, Jersey City is an important growth hub for new housing. As it has grown denser, transportation options have improved in tandem. But one of its most central and densely developed neighborhoods, Journal Square, has lacked a central public space for years.
Located on a 3.4-acre site one block from the ...
Nanchang Xiangnan Urban Infill
Situated in the capital city of Jiangxi Province, which is known for its rich cultural and ecological resources, the Nanchang Urban Infill project strives to weave two new districts into the historical heart of the city. To the west, a tower and mall create a modern icon for Nanchang. Here, the landscape reinforces the architectural design through a fluid, con...