Archinect - News

New York City previews initial pedestrian-minded ‘Future of Fifth’ redesign proposal

2024-10-21T18:51:00-04:00

The full details for a proposed new pedestrian corridor along Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan designed by Field Operations have been released by the city in anticipation of the first redesign of the famous thoroughfare in its 200-year history.

The plan covers a swath from Central Park South to Bryant Park, expanding sidewalks in the area by 46% and reducing the number of lanes for motor vehicle traffic from five to three.

Arcadis and Sam Schwartz Engineering are joining Field Operations as the co-leads of the design and study. Their work expands on the previous mayoral administration’s Open Streets program. The city says the plan is "projected to pay for itself in less than five years through increased property and sales tax revenue."

Image courtesy of City Hall

Aside from the stated economic benefit the redesign is meant ultimately to solve an existing spatial imbalance, as 70% of Fifth Avenue's current daily traffic is pedestrians.

At this volume—which increases during times wh...

Field Operations completes major elevated walkway on Seattle waterfront

2024-10-08T08:31:00-04:00

Seattle’s Waterfront Park transformation took another step closer to completion last week with the opening of Overlook Walk, a new elevated park for the waterfront designed by Field Operations. The new walkway creates a “new pedestrian destination and journey between the city and waterfront,” linking the historic Pike Place Market with the Seattle Aquarium, Pier 62, Waterfront Park, and Elliott Bay.

Image credit: Tim Rice

The walkway is located in the footprint of the former Alaskan Way Viaduct, which was demolished to improve access to the waterfront. Sitting between Pike Place Market and the Seattle Aquarium, Overlook Walk bridges a nearly 100 vertical foot gap between the market and waterfront, featuring 360-degree views of downtown Seattle, Lumen Field, T-Mobile Park, Elliott Bay, the Olympic Mountains on the western horizon, and Mount Rainier to the south.

Image credit: Tim Rice

Image credit: Lara Swimmer

The design also envelops the new Seattle Aquarium Ocea...

Field Operations announces new The Bentway Islands project in Toronto

2024-09-30T12:00:00-04:00

Field Operations has announced they are working with Canadian partners Brook McIlroy on a new public realm rehabilitation project dubbed The Bentway Islands in Toronto.

The plan calls for the redevelopment of three traffic islands into a new space that totals 125,000 square feet. Design concepts for the project will be revealed next year. It will serve as the "sister site" to a previously completed Phase I development. Field Operations also recently completed the final piece of the award-winning Domino Park in Williamsburg. Brooklyn.

Image courtesy The Bentway

Phase I of The Bentway development. Image courtesy Nic Lehoux

Phase I of The Bentway development. Image courtesy Brandon Ferguson

RIOS, Field Operations behind proposed $7B redevelopment of Chicago's United Center area

2024-07-23T19:39:00-04:00

The bigger picture of RIOS’s massive The 1901 Project proposal on Chicago’s West Side came into focus today as part of a planned $7 billion redevelopment of areas surrounding the United Center.

The 55-acre site is set to be transformed into a mix of retail, entertainment, and residential spaces over a period of ten years in a new privately funded venture that will join RIOS with Field Operations beginning in the spring of 2025.

The first phase of construction, which kicks off next year at what is now a surface parking area adjacent to the arena, will deliver a 6,000-seat music venue, a 10-acre elevated public park, new parking facilities, and a mix of retail and hospitality aimed at encouraging local businesses with a hefty sense of increased pedestrianism included.

Proposed The 1901 Project redevelopment. Image courtesy RIOS

Current situation. Image courtesy RIOS

Once that phase is complete, the plan's housing component will come into focus. The architects say this will include a mi...

MVRDV begins construction on overhaul of old Shanghai cement factory

2024-02-12T11:16:00-05:00

A team led by MVRDV has begun construction on a leisure and cultural district in Shanghai on the site of a disused cement factory. Named Gate M West Bund Dream Center, the project will transform a collection of buildings of different styles and time periods, “adapting a former industrial zone while making use of the existing structures and thus minimizing carbon emissions,” according to the team.

Image credit: Ucharm

Under the MVRDV scheme, developed with co-architect AISA, landscape architect Field Operations, and interior architects CL3 and Xu Studio, a series of disused buildings will be linked in a “cohesive whole” by a network of bright orange paths, stairs, ramps, and bridges. The site is organized around key landscaped axes including a central spine linking both ends of the district, while a “three-dimensional promenade” is created by a series of landscaped rooftops, elevated riverbank terraces, and a network of staircases and elevators finished in a defining orange color.

Ima...

SHoP, Field Operations behind proposed $8 billion ‘Metropolitan Park’ mixed-use/casino development in Queens

2023-11-09T19:46:00-05:00

A group affiliated with New York Mets franchise owner Steve Cohen has revealed a proposal for a new mixed-use entertainment district and casino that would occupy a transforming portion of the Willets Point, Queens neighborhood if approved.

The $8 billion proposal covers 50 acres (20 of which will be dedicated open space) and will include designs from SHoP Architects, Fields Operations, and Jeffrey Beers International. The site is located adjacent to another development that was announced in May and is being master planned by HOK to create the first-ever dedicated professional soccer facility in New York City. The plan calls for a hotel, multiple restaurants or bars, a conference space, gardens and athletic facilities, a music venue, and a food hall for local vendors.

Speaking in a press release, Cohen said: “When I bought this team, fans and the community kept saying we needed to do better. Metropolitan Park delivers on the promise of a shared space that people will not only want t...

Field Operations completes North Park transformation at Freshkills Park, once world's largest landfill

2023-10-17T17:24:00-04:00

Field Operations has shared photos of their completed work on the first phase of North Park at the Freshkills Park redevelopment project for the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation.

Over the course of 30 years, what was once the world’s largest landfill will become an interconnected series of parks and open spaces spread across 750 acres on the west side of Staten Island, beginning with the newly inaugurated 21-acre segment. A pathway carved into a gently curving earthwork arc guides visitors from a new entry approach around the base of the northernmost landfill mounds, culminating in an overlook that offers views of the Main Creek wetlands and William T. Davis Wildlife Refuge. Costs for the project have been reported at $21 million.

Image: NYC Parks/Malcolm Pinckney

Visitors entering from Wild Avenue will encounter an arrangement of flowering ground swales leading northeast to a sumac-lined plateau and picnic lawn. There, a bird tower set against the water’s edge dominate...

NASA’s $2 billion Berkeley Space Center proposal unveiled

2023-10-17T11:48:00-04:00

Details have been revealed on the design of the $2 billion Berkeley Space Center at the NASA Research Park in the Bay Area of California. A joint venture between SKS Partners and UC Berkeley, in collaboration with HOK and Field Operations, the 36-acre hub will be dedicated to “identifying, incubating, and launching technological breakthroughs across a diverse set of fields including astronautics, quantum computing, climate studies, and the social sciences.”

Image courtesy: SKS Partners / UC Berkeley / HOK / Field Operations

Located within NASA’s Ames Research Center, the development will include 1.4 million square feet of office and R&D space, including wet and dry labs, as well as conference space, academic facilities, and retail amenities. 18 acres of open space are planned, including outdoor working spaces and a central green area.

Image courtesy: SKS Partners / UC Berkeley / HOK / Field Operations

Among the environmental features to be incorporated in the scheme are low-carbon ene...

Field Operations will lead new Fifth Avenue pedestrian corridor redesign in Manhattan

2023-10-13T17:18:00-04:00

Field Operations has announced its participation as the design lead for a new public space and pedestrianization project that will affect a large swath of Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan.

The new “Future of Fifth” project, announced by New York Mayor Eric Adams this week, will permanently reimagine the area between Bryant Park and Central Park South based on an 11-block pilot that last year added $3 million in revenue to local businesses, according to a study performed by Mastercard.

Field Operations will be joined on the project by Arcadis, Sam Schwartz, Public Works Partners, and a number of other design and engineering firms, seven of which are either minority- or women-owned business enterprises. It is seen as an extension of the city’s Open Streets program that was targeted at local businesses’ recoveries after the pandemic and builds on a larger $375 million investment in public space outlined in Adams’ “Working People's Agenda” from earlier this year.

Together, the firms wi...

Manhattan’s first public beachfront opens at Gansevoort Peninsula, designed by Field Operations

2023-10-05T13:34:00-04:00

The 5.5-acre Gansevoort Peninsula has opened at Hudson River Park, the first public beachfront in Manhattan. The $73 million project was designed by Field Operations and includes a large sports field, boardwalks, promenades, lawns, a picnic area, and an ecological salt marsh.

Image credit: Barret Doherty

The southern edge of the park provides direct access to the Hudson River for non-motorized boats and views of both the river, the lower Manhattan skyline, and Day’s End, a monumental, site-specific sculpture by David Hammons. The adjacent beach holds 1,200 tons of sand with beach umbrellas, Adirondack-style chairs, and a misting feature for cooling down or rinsing off sand.

Image credit: Barret Doherty

A large picnic area with tables and benches overlooks the river, while a boardwalk with a Pine Grove draws people onto the site from the adjacent esplanade before connecting with the western esplanade where Manhattan’s Thirteenth Avenue was once located. Despite its waterside location, ...

Five urban landscapes by Field Operations: Your Next Employer?

2023-09-25T11:22:00-04:00

Following last week’s visit to Philadelphia-based CosciaMoos Architecture, we are moving our Meet Your Next Employer series to New York this week to explore the work of Field Operations.

Formerly James Corner Field operations until its name change and restructuring earlier this month, the firm has operated for almost 25 years. Today, the landscape studio has amassed a large portfolio of collaborative works with some of the world’s most well-known architecture practices, including OMA, Snøhetta, and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.

Over on Archinect Jobs, the firm is currently hiring for several positions. (UPDATE: These positions have now been filled. For other related openings, try a search on Archinect Jobs with the keyword "landscape.")

For candidates interested in applying for a role, or anybody interested in learning more about the studio’s work, we have rounded up five projects by Field Operations that exemplify the studio’s approach.

Greenpoint Landing. Image credit: Jason O'Rear

Gr...

James Corner Field Operations announces name change and restructuring

2023-09-11T15:53:00-04:00

James Corner Field Operations will be continuing under a newly-announced partnership renamed Field Operations after 24 years in reflection of what it says are the diversity, character, and experience of its new leadership team and staff members.

The newly branded firm announced its transition from a sole proprietorship and has named Sarah Weidner Astheimer, Richard Kennedy, and Lisa Switkin as new Partners. They join Founding Partner James Corner and new Associate Partners Megan Born, Isabel Castilla, Tatiana Choulika, Matt Grunbaum, Jayyun Jung, Veronica Rivera, Karen Tamir, and Hong Zhou in the new partnership model, which they hope continues the success built on projects such as the New York High Line and San Francisco Presidio Tunnel Tops, among many others.

“This new structure elevates some of the field’s most skilled and experienced professio...

New York’s High Line opens two timber bridges by SOM and Field Operations

2023-06-23T08:00:00-04:00

The newest addition to New York City’s High Line has opened to the public. Named the Moynihan Connector, and designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill with James Corner Field Operations, the timber bridges form a link between a series of civic spaces from Midtown West to the West Village.

The Connector is composed of two bridges running above Dyer Avenue and West 30th Street, creating what the team calls an “elevated, accessible, and episodic urban journey from the doorstep of Moynihan Train Hall to the contemporary public spaces of Brookfield’s Manhattan West and the verdant gardens and historic structure of the High Line.” The larger bridge, named the Woodland Bridge, comprises a 340-foot-long structure of exposed weathered columns and angle bracket arms. Meanwhile, the 260-foot-long Timber Bridge comprises a glulam Warren truss made from sustainably sourced wood.

Image credit: Andrew Frasz

“The High Line – Moynihan Connector knits the city’s open spaces together — bringing greater ac...

Snøhetta completes two new buildings for Cornell Tech campus in New York

2021-12-15T15:22:00-05:00

Construction has been completed at two Snøhetta-designed buildings for the Cornell Tech campus in New York. The two buildings, named the Graduate Roosevelt Island Hotel and the Verizon Executive Education Center, operate independently though physically connected by a planted entry plaza.

Image: Michael Grimm

Designed to be a “welcoming front door” to the Cornell Tech campus, the buildings will host academic conferences, classes, and programs, as well as lodging and dining outlets for guests and visitors.

Image: Michael Grimm

The 18-story, 196-room hotel tower features a façade with softly curved surfaces wrapped in double-height aluminum panels. At the ground level, a pair of V-shaped columns define the entrance to a bar opening onto the shared courtyard. A continuous soffit runs from this entrance along the perimeter of the ground floor, and ultimately to the education center.

Image: Michael Grimm

The education center, meanwhile, rises four stories, adopting an “intimate, orga...

L.A.'s 1111 Sunset Boulevard development shows signs of life again

2021-03-15T18:46:00-04:00

After three years of quiet, a proposal to redevelop the former headquarters of the Metropolitan Water District (MWD) with a trio of high-rise buildings has taken a key step forward: the release of the project's draft environmental impact report.

The project previously on Archinect: Kengo Kuma to design boutique hotel for downtown L.A.'s 1111 Sunset Boulevard development. Rendering: Kilograph, courtesy of SOM/Palisades.

Kengo Kuma to design boutique hotel for downtown L.A.'s 1111 Sunset Boulevard development

2018-01-15T14:16:00-05:00

The $600-million project, called 1111 Sunset, would include high-rise condominium and apartment towers, town houses, shops, restaurants and two acres of public open space designed by James Corner Field Operations, the landscape architect behind New York’s High Line elevated park. [...] The 98-room boutique hotel is to be designed by Kengo Kuma. It would be the major Los Angeles project for the high-profile Japanese architect known for melding his structures to their natural surroundings.

Image: SOM/Palisades.

First announced last October, the redevelopment of the William Pereira-designed former Los Angeles Metropolitan Water District HQ, right on the edge of Downtown Los Angeles and Echo Park, is further taking shape.

Besides new renderings of the 1111 Sunset Boulevard scheme, showing two high-rise residential buildings with several low-rise residences grouped around their bases and an integrated mid-rise hotel, the addition of Kengo Kuma and Stanley Saitowitz / Natoma Architects was revealed. Kuma will be in charge of the hotel design.

Leading the overall architectural planning and landscape design are Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and James Corner Field Operations.

Image: SOM/Palisades.

SOM and James Corner Field Operations to redesign long-dormant Pereira building in Downtown LA

2017-10-17T21:08:00-04:00

Two acclaimed design firms – Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP and James Corner Field Operations – are coming together to transform a 5.5-acre site along Sunset Boulevard into a mixed-use project focused on innovative design, open space and community. The project site is located on the northwest edge of Downtown Los Angeles, within a mile of Bunker Hill, Dodger Stadium and Echo Park Lake.

Located at 1111 West Sunset Boulevard, right on the edge of Downtown Los Angeles and Echo Park, the two-building complex designed by William Pereira is best known as the former headquarters of the Metropolitan Water District and has most recently served as a church.

The project's developer, LA-based real estate firm Palisades, selected Skidmore, Owings & Merrill for the architectural redesign of the building, while James Corner Field Operations will be in charge of landscape design on the 5.5-acre site.

Construction on first major phase of Freshkills Park to begin soon

2017-08-17T14:18:00-04:00

"The effort to turn Fresh Kills Landfill into a verdant and vibrant destination for wildlife and outdoor recreation received a huge boost on Monday as the city awarded a $22.9 million contract for the construction of the first major section of Freshkills Park."

Lomma Construction Corp. will lead works on the first 21 acres of the North Park. The area will be kept largely natural with simple additions including a seven-acre seed farm, an observation tower for birdwatching, a picnic lawn, composting restrooms, a waterfront overlook deck, a bicycle repair station, a forested plateau, bike/pedestrian pathways, and limited parking for visitors. James Corner Field Operations is responsible for the master plan of the park.

First look at Domino Sugar Factory’s 11-acre park and waterfront esplanade

2017-04-20T18:17:00-04:00

James Corner Field Operations will preserve 21 Raw Sugar Warehouse columns, nearly 600 feet of crane tracks, and 30 industrial artifacts, including 36-foot-tall syrup tanks that were used in the refining process, mooring bollards, and bucket elevators–not dissimilar from their efforts at the High Line.

Two Trees Management has revealed new details and renderings of the 11-acre park that will anchor their Williamsburg mega-development at the Domino Sugar Factory site. Domino Park, which will open in the summer of 2018, will have a new waterfront esplanade, six acres of parkland, and a wealth of preserved artifact.

Dive into James Corner's field of ICEBERGS, now at the National Building Museum

2016-07-06T20:07:00-04:00

Walk into the Great Hall of Washington D.C.'s National Building Museum right now and you'll find a glacial landscape of geometric "icebergs" floating before you. Landscape architect James Corner worked alongside the NBM to design the chilling scene, as part of the museum's 2016 Summer Block Party. In the past, the yearly series hosted Snarkitecture's monochromatic BEACH and BIG's gigantic maze.

Opening this past Saturday, ICEBERGS lets visitors catch a break from D.C.'s hot, humid summers. The installation is based on themes related to physical experience and landscape representation, according to James Corner Field Operations, welcoming visitors with an “interactive and playful space of respite and reflection”.

Encased in a large blue net, the installation comprises over 30 prismatic triangular pentahedrons and octahedrons constructed from translucent polycarbonate panels, and range from 16-56 feet in height.

Visitors can cool off as they lounge on chunky, triangular beanbags strewn a...

Cornell Tech to build world's first Passive House high-rise on NY's Roosevelt Island

2015-06-12T18:20:00-04:00

Construction is slated to start this month on what-will-be the world's first high-rise residential tower built according to Passive House (PH) standards, considered the most rigorous criteria for reducing a building's greenhouse gas emissions. Passive houses, such as the building on the right in the thermogram below, release significantly less heat compared with a typical building (such as that on the left).

Touted as an "iconic marker" for Cornell University's new tech campus on Roosevelt Island in New York's East River, the project will innovative design features such as:

A pre-fabricated metal façade that will act like a thermal blanket, insulating the structure.
A louver system, or the building's "gills," which will house the building's heating and cooling systems.
Low-VOC paint to limit off-gassing and improve air quality.
Exterior paint that "naturally shifts color from silver to warm champagne" when reflecting light.

According to figures released by the university, the building wil...

The Underline holds Public Interest Meetings in Miami

2015-04-17T23:44:00-04:00

Our vision is to transform the underutilized land below Miami’s MetroRail, from the Miami River to Dadeland South Station, into an iconic linear park, world-class urban trail and living art destination.

The Underline is a proposal to activate the 10 mile space underneath Miami’s elevated metro rail into an urban trail. This initiative was a collaboration between the organizers of The Underline nonprofit, The University of Miami School of Architecture, and Miami Dade County. Recently, James Corner Field Operations won a proposal to develop a master plan for the area. This is a continued involvement by the firm, as they already are developing strategies for the Lincoln Road area of Miami Beach, and developed Knight Plaza between the art and science museums in Downtown Miami.

Over the course of this weekend, organizers and volunteers of The Underline are putting together public meetings to gauge ideas from the locals of what they want for the future linear park. Holding interactive presentations, members of the community were asked to vote on preselected ideas by Field Operations, write in their own ideas, draw out ideas on maps showcasing the scope of the project, and open poste...

Field Operations to Helm New Miami Underline Project

2015-03-24T18:47:00-04:00

Proponents of the Underline bicycle route and linear park that would replace the threadbare M-Path under the Metrorail tracks from Dadeland to the Miami River have picked the co-designer of the wildly popular elevated High Line in Manhattan to draw up a master plan for their idea. James Corner Field Operations was selected by a local jury from among 19 architectural teams that submitted entries in a competition.

James Corner Field Operations selected for Nicollet Mall redesign in Minneapolis

2013-09-23T20:21:00-04:00

The City of Minneapolis and the Minneapolis Downtown Council announced on Sept. 19 that New York firm James Corner Field Operations and its team have been selected to carry out the $40 million redesign of Nicollet Mall, a major cultural and commercial center in Downtown Minneapolis. The winning proposal, called the "Nicollet Walk", is a 12-block stretch that divides the Nicollet Mall into three sections: Live, Work, and Play.

James Corner presented his team's project at a public event last Tuesday with the two other finalists: Daoust Lestage of Montreal and Tom Leader Studio from Berkeley, CA.

Office Style at the High Line's James Corner Field Operations

2012-11-11T23:49:00-05:00

On working in the field: "I find myself running in heels, and walking in the woods in heels. And when you're a landscape architect and you're investigating a site, you're having to look professional on the one hand often to meet with a client, and then you do a site walk. So I've found myself walking around landscape sites in heels more often than not."

Cornell Unveils New NYC Tech Campus by SOM and Morphosis

2012-10-15T11:55:00-04:00

“Google didn’t exist 25 years ago, Facebook didn’t exist 25 years ago, even AOL didn’t exist 25 years ago,” Cornell's Andrew Winters said recently. “The challenge is how do you create a tech campus today that is still flexible enough to grow and evolve for the next 25 years?”

Cornell unveiled its plans for a brand new 12.5-acre tech campus on Roosevelt Island today. The master plan is by SOM and Field Operations, the first academic building is by Thom Mayne and includes a giant two-acre solar array meant to help the structure achieve net-zero energy consumption.

James Corner Field Operations’ Winning Design for Navy Pier Redesign

2012-03-20T14:14:00-04:00

The team led by James Corner Field Operations has been selected as the winner in the international Navy Pier Redesign Competition. The Pierscape concept is part of the larger vision for Chicago's famous Navy Pier called The Centennial Vision, which seeks to make the "People’s Pier a truly iconic and world-class destination as it approaches its 100th anniversary in 2016."

The JCFO Team also included Terry Guen Design Associates, nArchitects, Leo Villareal, L’Observatoire International, Ed Marszewski, Fluidity, Patrick Blanc, John Greenlee & Associates, Chris Wangro, Billings Jackson, Buro Happold, Primera, HR&A Advisors, ETM Associates, Bruce Mau Design, and d’Escoto, Inc.

The winning proposal beat out stiff competition from the other four finalist teams, AECOM/Bjarke Ingels Group, Aedas Architects/Davis Brody Bond/Martha Schwartz Partners, !melk/HOK/Urban Lab, and Xavier Vendrell Studio/Grimshaw Architects.

Big Name Semi-Finalists for the St. Petersburg Pier Design Competition

2011-07-30T10:35:00-04:00

Six New York City firms were selected, including BIG, which Saitowitz said had designs of past projects that were "jaw dropping."

On Friday, a five-member panel narrowed down a list of 23 firms and teams competing to design a new $50 million Pier to nine semifinalists. They are:

West 8 Urban Design, New York City
Michael Maltzan Architecture, Los Angeles
BIG, New York City
James Corner Field Operations, New York City
HOK, Tampa
Frederic Schwartz, New York City
Weiss/Manfredi Architectural/Landscape/Urbanism, NYC
Farshid Moussavi Architecture, London
!melk Urban Design, NYC