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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. — The Eastsider
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... View full entry
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... View full entry
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... View full entry
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 Gothamist
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... View full entry
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.
— Global Construction Review
The Tokyo metropolitan government has invited the public to submit feedback on the proposed Tokyo Expressway (KK Line) revitalization. View full entry
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. — The Philadelphia Inquirer
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. View full entry
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. — Los Angeles Times
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... View full entry
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.
— Spectrum News NY1
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... View full entry
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.
— Curbed LA
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... View full entry
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.
— Curbed NY
"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... View full entry
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".
— BBC
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. South view. © Adjaye Associates and Ron Arad Architects "Adjaye himself said... View full entry
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. — The Art Newspaper
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... View full entry
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... View full entry
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. — Landscape Architecture Magazine
"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... View full entry
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... View full entry
