Archinect - News

LA’s Wilmington Waterfront Promenade opens after Sasaki landscape overhaul

2024-02-29T12:24:00-05:00

The Wilmington Waterfront Promenade in Los Angeles has opened to the public following an extensive public landscape project by Sasaki Associates. The park seeks to improve public waterfront access near the Port of Los Angeles and expands on the 30-acre Wilmington Waterfront Park that Sasaki completed in 2011.

Image credit: Barrett Doherty

The new promenade, designed by Sasaki and Studio-MLA, is described by the team as “the first opportunity for the community to reconnect with the waterfront.” Among the spaces designed as part of the promenade is ‘The Landing,’ which sits at the highest point of the park, doubling as a spot for a future bridge. Meanwhile, the ‘Upland Walkways’ consists of a series of meandering paths landscaped with coastal planting.

Image credit: Barrett Doherty

‘The Bluff’ consists of a large, flexible open lawn intended to host community events, while the ‘Tidal Steps’ is described as a “dynamic water's ...

Cobe opens The Opera Park island in Copenhagen's inner harbor

2023-11-21T17:52:00-05:00

Cobe has completed work on a new outdoor concert space for Copenhagen they say will lend a rich cultural and green balance to the outcrop of new development in the city’s inner harbor area that has been reproduced in abundance over the past two decades.

The artificial island space is dubbed The Opera Park and was constructed on a 231,000-square-foot plot adjacent to the Royal Danish Opera House. It serves as its visual counterpoint and is accessed via a landscaped bridge connector covered by a glass walkway.

The Opera Park. Image: Francisco Tirado

Cobe’s Founder, Dan Stubbergaard, says: “The Opera Park is a place where nature comes first amidst Copenhagen’s bustling urban development. With its six gardens, winding paths, and carefully crafted viewpoints, the project seizes elements of Copenhagen’s historical, romantic gardens to tackle today’s challenges such as decline in biodiversity and water management. As you stroll through the park, you get the feeling of having left the city ...

Studio Gang, SCAPE complete work on transformative $61 million Tom Lee Park in Memphis

2023-11-06T15:35:00-05:00

Studio Gang and SCAPE have shared new photos following the completion of work on their $61 million Tom Lee Park redevelopment project in Memphis, Tennessee.

The 31-acre riverfront space puts Memphis squarely in league with a host of contemporary restorative urban green space projects slated for other major American cities, including San Francisco's new Presidio Tunnel Tops and the partially completed Freshkills Park in Staten Island.

Its ecological restoration work and accessibility to the residents of one of the city’s most impoverished neighborhoods make it an instant industry standard-bearer. The project creates a connection between downtown and the Mississippi River, also providing new ADA-approved access at three different points for the first time.

Image © Tom Harris

Studio head Jeanne Gang says: “Insights and input from the Memphis community were essential to this project from the very beginning, to make sure the park’s programming reflects how Memphians from across the city ...

LA's Destination Crenshaw pushes Sankofa Park opening to February 2024

2023-10-05T14:47:00-04:00

This fall’s anticipated debut of the Sankofa Park component of the new Destination Crenshaw public space redesign from Perkins&Will and Studio-MLA in Los Angeles has been pushed back to February of next year, according to an announcement made Wednesday by the group managing its construction in the city's Leimert Park neighborhood.

The park had previously received $3.4 million in federal funding, which added to another $2.4 million fundraising drive initiated by actress Issa Rae and star NBA guard DeMar DeRozan. Planners have now set Sankofa Park to open on February 24th. It is part of the larger $100 million project that will transform a 1.3-mile corridor into a new arts-oriented civic space. Perkins&Will says it is “destined to be a space for celebrations, protests, and demonstrations of grief and peaceful healing.”

Once it is completed, Sankofa Park will include art installations f...

Reed Hilderbrand signs on for a $22 million sculpture park at Louisville's Speed Art Museum

2023-08-15T17:54:00-04:00

A new three-acre sculpture park design for Louisville, Kentucky’s Speed Art Museum has been unveiled by Reed Hilderbrand Landscape Architecture in a preview of the project, which is expected to host some 500,000 visitors a year after it opens in 2025.

The firm’s $22 million Speed Outdoors makeover will recreate an area surrounding the museum with native flora, a water management system, and 150 new trees in coordination with the adjacent University of Louisville and with a 13-artwork bequest from local collectors.

Image courtesy of Reed Hilderbrand Landscape Architecture

The Museum’s Director, Raphaela Platow, said it will also instill Frederick Law Olmsted’s "dream of a Louisville connected by public parklands" while serving as a "welcoming forum for the whole community to connect with art, nature, and each other for generations to come."

Image courtesy of Reed Hilderbrand Landscape Architecture

The sculptural work of Zaha H...

SWA unveils plans for new 1,200-acre park in Irvine, California

2023-04-28T13:57:00-04:00

A new master plan led by SWA Group has been revealed by the city of Irvine, California, showcasing a park design that, at 1,200 acres, would create one of the largest municipal park environments in the nation.

The so-called Irvine Great Park would transform the site of the historic former Marine Corps’ El Toro Air Station into what could evolve into a new national landmark for the 3.16 million residents of Orange County replete with educational offerings, modern sport and recreation facilities, and cultural attractions.

The framework SWA developed in unison with Kellenberg Studio calls for a five-zone subdivision of the site. A 200-acre Sports Park, Cultural Terrace, 60-acre Botanical Garden, and Veteran’s Memorial Park will join a linear park called the Bosque that features trails and a children’s play area. A central “Heart of the Park” zone completes the spatial design, featuring the 12,000-seat Great Park Amphitheater, a farm, and a three-tiered, 22-acre system of small lakes.

A...

U.S. playgrounds are becoming more unique, accessible, and "dangerous"

2023-04-12T11:38:00-04:00

Playgrounds today are becoming more varied, more accessible, and more customized, according to playground experts. Some, surprisingly, may even be getting slightly more dangerous, at least within the limits of U.S. safety standards, giving American children more opportunity to take risks and push limits.

As reported by Fast Company, the transformation of playgrounds across the U.S. has been driven by the desire for these spaces to reflect the unique qualities of their communities or this idea of “localized play”. The term was noted by Scott Roschi, the creative director of Landscape Structures, a designer and supplier of playground equipment.

An example of this approach can be seen at a playground in Denver’s Paco Sanchez Park, which is named after the founder of the region’s first Spanish-language radio station. Its playground was designed around the theme of sound waves, featuring ramps and climbing structures that form ribbons of waves throughout. The centerpiece is a structure encased in a three-story tower resembling a 1950s radio microphone.

New playgrounds are also getting taller, with more communities in the U.S. requesting climbable structures that give children an increased sense of risk. This approach is more aligned with the European model, where equipment is less cons...

Turenscape's 'floating forest' reshapes a former wasteland into a multifunctional urban landscape

2023-01-11T12:20:00-05:00

Beijing-based landscape architecture firm Turenscape has completed the transformation of a former 126-acre dumping ground into a “dreamlike floating forest” in the eastern Chinese city of Nanchang.

The new Fish Tail Park operates a triple function as a habitat for wildlife, a recreational area for the city, and a stormwater regulator, creating what the design team calls a “replicable model of designed urban nature for regions with monsoon or variable climates that can address the multiple challenges of floods, habitat restoration, and recreational demands.”

Image credit: Turenscape

To create the landscape, the team recycled coal ash previously dumped on the site, mixing it with dirt from fish pond dykes to create numerous islets. At the same time, a new lake was created to accommodate over 35 million cubic feet of stormwater inflow. In anticipation of fluctuating water levels, a selection of native trees and wetland plants capable of surviving the varying conditions have been plante...

Los Angeles County to allocate more than $9 million for park projects in communities in need of open space

2022-07-20T20:01:00-04:00

The Los Angeles County Regional Park and Open Space District announced on Thursday, July 14, that it will allocate more than $9 million to support the development of park projects in communities in most need of open space. The grant funding is from Measure A, the LA County Safe, Clean Neighborhood Parks and Beaches Measure — a parcel tax approved by voters in 2016.

The funding will be allocated across 30 cities and in unincorporated areas in the Los Angeles region. According to the district’s director Norma Edith Garcia-Gonzalez, the funds will be critical in creating parks in areas with much less park acreage than the county average.

The Measure A funding will establish the Technical Assistance Program, which will help organizations with applications for grant programs for their park projects.

The cost of LA River Park's Taylor Yard G2 project could surpass $1 billion according to new Bureau of Engineering study

2022-05-04T11:46:00-04:00

The cost to turn 42 acres of contaminated railroad property on the border of Cypress Park and Glassell Park into a "crown jewel" of riverfront revitalization could top $1 billion. That's according to an updated study by the Bureau of Engineering that will be reviewed today by a City Council committee.

In March 2017, the City of Los Angeles purchased the land, known as the G2 Parcel, for $60 million with the aim to develop a combination of park space, walking trails, wetlands, wildlife habitat, river access, public recreation, and other amenities.

The undertaking, known as the Taylor Yard G2 River Park Project, is a portion of the greaterLos Angeles River Revitalization Master Plan, and sets out to unite the surrounding Rio de Los Angeles State Park and the state-owned G1 Parcel, which together would form 100 acres of open space along the LA River.

Previously on Archinect: SPF:architects' anticipated LA River pedestrian bridge opens to the public with a unifying gesture

While a major milestone in the project was reached last month with the completion of the SPF:architects-designed Taylor Yard Pedestrian Bridge, the cost of the G2 revitalization has soared since the start.

As reported by The Eastsider, between 2016 and 2019 the cost jumped from $252 million to $798.2 million, whi...

La Brea Tar Pits overhaul: Los Angeles County begins environmental review ahead of Weiss/Manfredi's redesign

2022-02-18T19:01:00-05:00

An official start to the transformation of one of Los Angeles’ longest-standing tourist attractions is underway as Urbanize LA is reporting that county officials have now begun the Environmental Impact Report portion of the La Brea Tar Pits master plan effective February 1st.

The Weiss/Manfredi-led design scheme will reconfigure the layout of the 12-acre park and George C. Page Museum into a better spatially organized program called La Brea Loops and Lenses. The comprehensive overhaul coincides with the more-publicized new Academy Museum and LACMA expansion next door to create a totally reinvigorated Hancock Park area in increments along a seven- to ten-year timeline.

Previously on Archinect: Weiss/Manfredi to lead La Brea Tar Pits overhaul in Los Angeles

Weiss/Manfredi’s plan beat out DS+R and Dorte Mandrup for the commission thanks in large part to its emphasis on keeping the existing museum, which will be given an addition in order to expand the role of education for the 45-year-...

Zaha Hadid Architects' Eleftheria Square inaugurated in Nicosia, Cyprus

2021-12-20T18:47:00-05:00

Zaha Hadid Architects’ Eleftheria Square in Nicosia, Cyprus has been inaugurated. The project intends to be the city's primary gathering space, establishing new connections to unite a divided capital.

Image: Laurian Ghinitoiu / Zaha Hadid Architects

Eleftheria Square is located near the center of Nicosia, adjacent to the centuries-old Venetian Walls and the dry moat that encircles the city. ZHA envisioned the project as the initial phase of a much larger urban plan that could be a catalyst for the reunification of the capital. The design provides unobstructed views of the Venetian Walls, highlighting the significance of the structures as an integral part of Nicosia’s identity. The dry moat was also opened for public use.

Image: Laurian Ghinitoiu / Zaha Hadid Architects

Through the transformation of previously inaccessible areas of the moat with the addition of new civic plazas, gardens, and palm-lined promenades, the moat can act as a “green belt” around the city. The design elevates...

Brooklyn's Prospect Park receives $40 million to restore historic, 26-acre enclave

2021-12-17T19:01:00-05:00

The Prospect Park Alliance and Mayor Bill de Blasio are announcing today that the city will allocate $40 million in the city budget to Prospect Park. This is the largest single allocation of funding from the city in the park's history and will be used to make much-needed upgrades and restorations in its northeast corner, known as the Vale.

The $40 million in capital funding will help to restore the historic Children’s Pool and former Rose Garden, originally constructed in the 1890s, that have fallen into states of disrepair. The project plans for the creation of a sensory garden and rustic arbor, a nature play area, and a landscaped amphitheater and small community building. Design of the Vale Restoration is expected to begin in 2022, in a process that requires another year for procurement, and 12-18 months for construction.

Map of the proposed Vale Restoration. Image: Prospect Park Alliance

“Prospect Park is Brooklyn’s backyard,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio. “It’s where I got married and raised my family, and where New Yorkers of all backgrounds come to spend time in nature. This historic $40 million in funding will ensure the Vale is restored to its full glory.”

Tokyo may get its own 'High Line'

2021-04-06T13:32:00-04:00

Tokyo’s Ginza shopping district is set to get an elevated “green way” similar to the High Line park in New York City [...], or Paris’ Promenade Plantée. The plan is to turn a 2km urban motorway known as the KK Expressway into the “Tokyo Sky Corridor”. The linear park will then form a green loop around the outskirts of Ginza.

The Tokyo metropolitan government has invited the public to submit feedback on the proposed Tokyo Expressway (KK Line) revitalization.

New Philadelphia park will be designed for, and together with, homeless people

2021-03-22T16:28:00-04:00

Plans are underway to start building in 2022 a pocket park where people experiencing homelessness will not only be welcome but will also be asked to design and build aspects of the space. It’s the only project of its kind in Philadelphia, say design professionals involved in the project.

Supported by a grant from the William Penn Foundation, Philadelphia's largest homeless shelter, the Sunday Breakfast Rescue Mission, aims to plan and build the small pocket park near its facility on North Pearl Street.

Frank Gehry proposes capping parts of the LA River with elevated platform parks

2021-01-11T15:52:00-05:00

Critics, including some influential environmental groups, would prefer to see naturalization of the river itself. But during a recent Zoom call from his Los Angeles studio, a grin crossed the Pritzker Prize winner’s face as he shared his plans to transform the forlorn industrial confluence of the Los Angeles River and the Rio Hondo in South Gate into an urban cultural park like no other.

It's been relatively quiet around the ambitious Los Angeles River revitalization project since Frank Gehry's firm was selected to lead the master plan effort in 2015.

Now the Los Angeles Times has revealed an update — although sparse in detail — which instead of the naturalization of the 51-mile LA River concrete channel many were expecting proposes a few elevated platform parks capping stretches of the river bed as well as a $150-million cultural center near the confluence of the Los Angeles River and the Rio Hondo in South Gate.

"Constructed on hulking concrete planks and enormous girders, the earthen parks would stretch nearly a mile over both rivers and support a lush landscape of trees, grass, scenic ponds, horse trails and walking paths," reports Louis Sahagún for the paper.

NYC's Lowline underground park proposal goes dormant

2020-02-26T16:37:00-05:00

It's been billed as the underground High Line: a park, not above the street but below ground, in an abandoned trolley terminal on the Lower East Side. But after more than a decade of planning, one of the founders of the proposed Lowline says the project is now on hold because there isn't enough money to build it.

It's been a while since we've heard from the ambitious — and in 2016 even city-approved — Lowline underground park proposal inside an abandoned trolley terminal on Manhattan's Lower East Side.

The Lowline Lab served as a prototype for the greater initiative from October 2015 through March 2017. Image: The Lowline.

But as one of the Lowline co-founders, Dan Barasch, recently told Spectrum News NY1, the project had fallen behind specific fundraising targets set by the city and remains on hold for now. "The Lowline is not dead," Barasch said in the interview. "The Lowline is simply waiting for the support that it needs to make it happen."

Another day, another gondola study for L.A.

2019-07-22T14:32:00-04:00

As Los Angeles officials ponder ways to cut down on traffic in and around Griffith Park, an engineering firm hired by the city is analyzing the pros and cons of installing a gondola or similar aerial transit system that could ferry riders in and out of the park. [...] City leaders ordered the study last year, after reviewing a list of 29 recommendations from an outside consultant brought in to analyze traffic issues in the communities surrounding the 4,511-acre park.

There's no shortage of aerial tramway schemes in Los Angeles these days. Pitched as possible measures to alleviate specific traffic hot spots, proposals for gondolas running between Dodger Stadium and Union Station, or up to the Hollywood Sign, and now along a number of potential routes in Griffith Park will, if ever realized, leave a lasting impact on the city's urban and natural landscape.

Put a park on it: BIG's Brooklyn-Queens Expressway proposal

2019-04-05T14:14:00-04:00

The crowded field of competitors who’ve proposed solutions for the ailing Brooklyn-Queens Expressway has gotten another entrant: Bjarke Ingels Group, which has unveiled a proposal that it calls “BQP.” The “P” stands for park, and in BIG’s plan, green space takes center stage. [...] the vehicles that use the BQE would be moved to a roadway that would be covered and topped with as much as 10 acres of new parkland.

"Though a cost and time estimate for BIG’s plan has not yet been made public, the firm claims it will be less expensive, and less time-consuming, than what the DOT has proposed," reports Curbed NY (click here for their detailed explainer of what the massive Brooklyn-Queens Expressway reconstruction plan is all about).

Image: Bjarke Ingels Group.

Learn more about BIG's BQE "BQP" proposal here.

UK Holocaust memorial plan faces resistance from Royal Parks

2019-02-11T15:04:00-05:00

A Holocaust memorial proposed for outside Parliament would have a "significant harmful impact" on the area, the Royal Parks have said. The landmark is planned to be built at Victoria Tower Gardens on Millbank, alongside the River Thames. Royal Parks, which looks after the space, said it could not support the plans as the Grade II listed park was a "highly sensitive location".

A star-studded design competition ended in October 2017 with the selection of Adjaye Associates and Ron Arad Architects as the winning team to plan the UK Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre.

"Adjaye himself said last week that 'disrupting the pleasure of being in a park is key to the thinking' of the project," writes The Observer architecture critic, Rowan Moore, in his commentary published by The Guardian. "Certainly a memorial to the Holocaust should have impact. It should not slip by unnoticed. But there is a difference between the intended disruption of a work of art and the clumsiness of a bad brief."

Landscape architecture firm Gustafson Porter + Bowman, Plan A, and DHA Designs also contributed to the winning scheme which is now being rejected by the Royal Parks charity.

DS+R's high-profile Zaryadye Park project in Moscow vandalized only days after its grand opening

2017-09-18T19:16:00-04:00

The Russian President Vladimir Putin opened Zaryadye Park near Red Square on 9 September, designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro, creators of New York’s High Line, but what Moscow city officials are lauding as a “new symbol of Russia” preservationists are decrying as a travesty that impinges on the Kremlin and St Basil’s Cathedral, two of Russia’s most sacred landmarks.

Diller Scofidio + Renfro's Zaryadye Park proposal for an ambitious replacement of the colossal Soviet-era Hotel Russia near the Kremlin in central Moscow won the international competition back in 2013 with a "wild urbanism" concept.

Rendering of DS+R's Zaryadye Park project in central Moscow. Image courtesy of Mos.ru.

The project has faced criticism from the city's preservationists, reportedly exceeded initial cost estimates, and already suffered a major act of vandalism shortly after its festive opening with Russian President Vladimir Putin in attendance.

One of Zaryadye Park's highlights is its V-shaped 'Floating Bridge,' extending far above the Moscow River. Image courtesy of Mos.ru.

Studio Gang releases design for Memphis Riverfront Concept

2017-07-18T19:19:00-04:00

Shaped from survey responses from over 4,500 Memphians at multiple public events, The Memphis Riverfront Concept proposes to transform six miles and five distinct zones of the historic and culturally significant part of the city.

Many of the Concept’s proposed uses, from an iconic adventure playground to a special outlook where people can listen to live music at sunset, come directly from community members’ suggestions.

With hopes of increasing the riverfront’s use, vibrancy, and economic potential, the project seeks to foster civic pride, restore natural conditions and the native ecology, and connect various assets along the river.

The Concept focuses on showing how five zones—the Fourth Bluff, Mud Island, Tom Lee Park, MLK Park, and Greenbelt Park—can leverage their particular strengths to become distinctive places offering activities and experiences that appeal to people of all generations, incomes, races, and backgrounds.

Elevating visitors above the river in Greenbelt Park,...

Data-collecting benches are making their way into cities

2017-07-17T16:47:00-04:00

A pair of USB ports on a console on the front of the bench provides juice from the solar panel mounted at lap level between the seats. Who wouldn’t want to hang out at a bench like this? It certainly catches the eye of passersby. What these kids might not realize, however, is that this bench is watching them back.

"Smart" benches are spreading—recently a series of them, manufactured by Soofa, was installed in a tiny neighborhood park next to I-77 on the north end of Charlotte, North Carolina with the intent of the neighborhood's analysis and redevelopment.

Soofa, founded in 2014 by three graduates of MIT Media Lab, is one of a handful of companies designing data-collecting street furniture. Their solar-powered benches register Wi-Fi enabled devices within 150 feet of them, sending data back to an office building in East Cambridge, Massachusetts. While the sensors can't access personal information from your phone, they pick up and remember your devices' MAC address. The technology allows cities and urban planners to count users of various public spaces, identifying when and for how long they're visited, and potentially optimizing their design.

"The line between collecting data for a valid public purpose and the unreasonable surveillance of private citizens can be tough to tease out. Beyond c...

Facebook and OMA New York to collaborate on mixed-use masterplan in Menlo Park

2017-07-07T13:09:00-04:00

Facebook announced today that it has partnered with OMA to design the masterplan for Willow Campus, a mixed-use neighborhood adjacent to their existing headquarters in Menlo Park.

"The first official step will be the filing of our plan with Menlo Park in July 2017. We will begin more formal conversations with local government officials and community organizations over the course of the review process, which we expect to last approximately two years."—writes John Tenales, VP Global Facilities and Real Estate. "We envision construction will follow in phases, with the first to include the grocery, retail, housing and office completed in early 2021, and subsequent phases will take two years each to complete."

Facebook also plans on building 1,500 units of housing on the campus, 15% of which will be offered at below market rates to mitigate traffic impacts from growth. "These efforts complement our ongoing work to address the issue, including the Catalyst Housing Fund for affordable ho...

MVVA-designed Dallas Trinity River Park to become America's largest urban nature park

2016-11-29T15:16:00-05:00

The Trinity River Park, which will be 10 times the size of Central Park in New York, will be made up of 7,000 acres of the Great Trinity Forest, 2,000 acres of space between the Trinity River levees and 1,000 acres of already developed space. MVVA’s design will build on municipal efforts to connect the river with the city. It envisions the space as a “beautiful and naturalistic network of trails, meadows and lakes living in harmony with the river”.

National Geographic takes a closer look at the world's great urban parks

2016-04-04T15:01:00-04:00

This is the urban park of today. Unlike the neatly drawn public spaces of an earlier age, these parks are reclaimed from the discarded parcels of our cities: Stranded patches of woods, abandoned military bases and airports, storm-water systems, rail lines and bridges, places where scraps of land are pieced together like quilts or strung together like beads. The experimentation is global.

What if: Perkins Eastman's "Green Line" proposal turns Broadway into a 40-block park in the heart of Manhattan

2015-12-15T14:39:00-05:00

Perkins Eastman is taking two of the best-loved urban land-use stories of the Bloomberg era—the High Line and Times Square—and combining them into one. The Green Line extends the logic of changes that have already taken root along the limited stretch of Broadway running through Times Square. [...] proposal builds on the work of Jan Gehl and Snøhetta, the architects who pedestrianized Times Square. Yet it also echoes the High Line by James Corner Field Operations and Diller Scofidio + Renfro.

London Garden Bridge will track visitors' phone signals, submitted plan says

2015-11-11T04:00:00-05:00

Visitors to the garden bridge in London will be tracked by their mobile phone signals and supervised by staff with powers to take people’s names and addresses and confiscate and destroy banned items, including kites and musical instruments, according to a planning document. [...] Caroline Pidgeon [...] said she feared the bridge was following “a worrying trend of the privatisation of public places, where the rights of private owners trump those of ordinary people”.

Previously on Archinect:

Transforming a garbage heap into a public park

2015-07-02T17:37:00-04:00

Since the capping and closure of Fresh Kills’ five mounds, this 2,200-acre expanse of wetlands, marshlands, dry lowlands, forests, and grasslands has evolved into an unusual combination of natural and engineered beauty.

Originally a patch of creeks and marshland on the western shore of Staten Island, the area now known as Fresh Kills became a major landfill for New York City in 1948, once Robert Moses bought the land for housing development. His plan was to solidify the marshland with waste for a few years, and then build. But construction never happened, and for the remainder of the 20th century, the area served as a 2,200-acre garbage heap (by comparison, Central Park covers 843 acres). People hated it, and in 2001 managed to get the city to close it down, and begin the process of transforming it back into its (more or less) former ecological state, to be used as a public park known as Freshkills.

Learn more about Freshkills' storied past:

The public life of the world's celebritrees

2015-06-30T18:46:00-04:00

To be recognized as a Great Tree, in New York City, is not just a matter of having the correct heritage or coming from the right family. [...] For a person, achieving fame or prominence comes with both perks and pitfalls. But what are the advantages of being a celebrated tree? And what are the dangers? While humans have long venerated old and large trees, we've also cut them down and razed whole forests of their less superlative brethren.

Need to see how your backyard elm compares to America's greatest trees? Click here to search the 2015 American Forests Champion Trees national register or sign up to become a big-tree hunter in your area.