“I do sculpture as it relates to my designs, and as the sculpture emerges from the designs it becomes collaborative. This is gratifying because the sculpture is very much in keeping with the overall landscaping concept. It is not an afterthought,” writes Tom Balsley. Here we see the full integration of his sculptural expression in the overall landscape design for Gate City. Each swooping, spiraling, surging forest of steel brings a deeper meaning to the experience.
The challenge for this mixed-use development on the outskirts of Tokyo was to create two spaces, each with its own ambiance, that still function together while giving the complex an unmistakable identity. The South Entry Plaza had to alert visitors that they were crossing a threshold into somewhere special. This effect is achieved with a grid of poplars, planted with military precision, and slashed through with a diagonal path and channels of water.
One Zero Park
Digital City is blessed with many assets that make it a special place in the Samsung family of campuses. Brilliant minds from around the world, an innovative environment, and an open space system in which the quality of work life is enhanced with play and relaxation. One Zero Park will be its center of spiritual gravity in which Samsung can host events and cel...
Ferry Point Waterfront Park
Since the closing of a city-owned landfill in 1963, the site’s transformation into Ferry Point Waterfront Park has been a long, complex process. The new Ferry Point Waterfront Park will be a long linear eastern ecological extension of the previously built and conventionally programmed western Ferry Point Park. Part of a Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course, this...
Uptown ATX Master Plan
Previously a single-use, auto-centric office complex, Uptown ATX is a 66-acre transformation resulting in a transit-oriented, mixed-use neighborhood that further bolsters the burgeoning technology hub of Northwest Austin. Situated between the Charles Schwab campus and The Domain, the Uptown ATX master plan features 3.2 million square feet of workspace, 2.9 mil...
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 ...