![]() ![]() We will soon work with a playground consultant to design our own Mussel Beach inspired by native mussels in the Anacostia River! Domino Park’s playspace was designed by Brooklyn based artist Mark Reigelman that takes kids on a fun journey through 150 years of sugar production that happened on site. Governors Island has a number of play spaces including “Slide Hill” – a 57 foot curving path that is three stories tall! Brooklyn Bridge Park features several playgrounds including a giant sailboat, sandbox village and two swing areas. Playgrounds are spaces that naturally bring together people who otherwise might not cross paths and each of these parks use inventive open play design. This makes me wonder how we can incorporate the rich history of our surrounding neighborhoods such as the US Navy Yard or historic Anacostia. And Governor’s Island repurposed huge stone blocks that once served as a sea wall intro climbing steps providing an alternate path to the “Hills” – a 360 degree view of Brooklyn, Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and lower Manhattan. Brooklyn Bridge Park relocated giant concrete dock piers which are the central element of a splash pad. ![]() ![]() The building’s rusted frame was salvaged and frames an outdoor seating area and the original neon Domino sign will soon be reinstalled at the park. Giant gantries are painted a colorful teal and anchor the north edge of the park. Brooklyn’s Domino Park was built on the site of an obsolete Domino Sugar factory. These three parks incorporate historical elements into their design. The Bridge Park follows this mix of spaces (all requested by local residents) with an intergenerational playspace, outdoor amphitheater, picnic area and kayak / canoe launches. Governor’s Island includes a number of amenities including the tallest slide in New York City (fun!), baseball fields, picnic area and a hammock grove (inspiring the Bridge Park’s hammock grove!) Domino Park includes a very active volleyball sand court along with giant AstroTurf fields filled with socially distanced sunbathers. We’d like to give an enormous thank you to the staff at Governor’s Island, Brooklyn Bridge Park and Domino Park for taking the time to show us around and answer our many questions! We wanted to share several lessons learned as we charge ahead to finalizing construction drawings early next year.Įach of the three parks we visited had a healthy balance of active areas (basketball courts, baseball fields, volleyball) and passive areas (meandering paths, green lawns, hammocks!) For instance, at Brooklyn Bridge Park, giant piers jutting into the East River alternate with nature trails on Pier 6 followed by packed soccer fields on Pier 5. "Now they have been turned into this incredible 85-acre urban oasis that New York City and beyond truly, truly loves."ĭid you know you can now watch, read and stay informed with NY1 wherever and whenever you want? Get the new Spectrum News app here.This past week I traveled to New York touring civic spaces with our amazing design team from OMA+OLIN. "This area was in some respects, especially the piers themselves, they were an industrial wasteland,” Landau said. The park is now more than a mile long and attracts millions of visitors each year from around the world. A vision was to turn a former cargo shipping and storage complex along the East River Waterfront into a park. It's the end of a journey that began decades before ground was broken on the first section of the park in 2008. "The Brooklyn Bridge would not have been completed without Emily Warren Roebling, and Brooklyn Bridge Park was not completed until we finished the plaza that now bears her name." "It feels really fitting to us,” Landau said. She was the first person to cross the bridge in a carriage when it opened in 1883. He was the bridge's chief engineer and son of bridge designer John Roebling. The space is a tribute to the bridge and to Emily Warren Roebling, an engineer who supervised the completion of the world-renowned span after her husband Washington Roebling became ill. In a nod to the park's namesake, noted landscape architect Michael Van Valkenburgh and team designed a paving pattern that practically mirrors the bridge above. The new area of park gives visitors access all around the bridge’s Brooklyn Tower. Pavers along the last section of Brooklyn Bridge Park mimic the iconic span above. ![]()
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