The Malt House Landscape: A Community Space in the Making

This summer, our Malt House landscape hosted its first two events, marking the beginning of becoming a vibrant neighborhood public space. Though still under development, the community has already started to enjoy and benefit from this new landscape in West Harlem.

On June 25th, the Architectural League of New York celebrated the fifteenth anniversary of Urban Omnibus, the League’s publication dedicated to observing, understanding, and shaping the city. Terrain Work’s publicly accessible landscapes in West Harlem were featured along with new architectural additions to the neighborhood by Gluck+ and Levin Betts Architects. The event included a tour of the Manhattanville Factory District projects by Janus Properties, concluding with a reception at the newly inaugurated Malt House Courtyard.

The West Harlem Innovation Network also hosted a networking event for industry professionals on July 30th at the Malt House Courtyard. This gathering provided an opportunity for professionals, students, and researchers to connect and build community in West Harlem.

The design for the Malt House landscape, originally part of one of Manhattan’s largest breweries during the late 1800’s, embodies the chemical reactions found in the brewing process by taking individual elements and combining them into something greater than their constituent parts. Salvaged pieces of the old brewery complex such as steel beams, cobblestones, and the remnants of the brewery foundations are reconfigured to become a landscape that reflects the past, while looking forward to a whole new array of activities for the community in the future. It provides a venue for events such as public art displays, musical performance, dancing, outdoor movies, open air markets, community gatherings and a shady spot to gather with friends.

Another more recent phase of the Malt House landscape has taken an existing asphalt parking lot slated for future development and transformed it into West Harlem Going Wild. With a limited budget, this space was creatively transformed using discarded construction materials and spontaneously occurring plants, turning an underutilized lot into a productive landscape for people and wildlife. The events underscored the courtyard's potential as more than just a green space—it serves as a model for future urban development in marginalized urban spaces. As cities worldwide face the challenges of climate change, grass roots projects like West Harlem Going Wild offer a beacon of hope and practicality, fostering resilient and livable urban environments.

Terrain Work Begins Work on Whipple Family Forest Education Center

Terrain Work is delighted to announce we are working on the landscape for the new Whipple Family Forest Education Center at the University of Arkansas’s Garvan Gardens. This project is a collaboration with the University of Arkansas Fay Jones School of Architecture, led by Dean Peter MacKeith, and the Urban Design Studio, led by Architecture Professor and Department Head John Folan, with Modus Studio Architects.

The Whipple Family Forest Education Center will be a multipurpose structure that places visitors “in the forest” so that they are “of the forest.” Constructed from Arkansas-sourced wood and timber, a mass timber canopy will hover above an open plan providing a series of flexible interior and exterior spaces that will physically demonstrate the value of Arkansas’ forest and timber industries. 

The Whipple Center will support participatory exhibitions integrating technology, art and culture as mechanisms for enhanced forest education while reinforcing the mission of Garvan Woodland Gardens as an outreach center of the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design at the University of Arkansas. The center will house the permanent Clark Family Exhibition in Timber and Wood, as well as the active public and educational programming for a forest and sustainability institute. We are Happy to be a part of the team for this special project!

West Harlem Going Wild

West Harlem Going Wild transforms a vacant asphalt lot on 128th Street in Manhattan into a planted respite. The design addresses issues that urban environments face in the wake of climate change, such as: reducing the heat island effect, improving air quality, breaking up the urban soil profile to allow for water percolation into the ground, and upcycling materials onsite to reduce waste and emissions associated with the construction industry. Working with limited resources on a shoestring budget, the design utilizes discarded construction materials and plant species that spontaneously occur in the urban environment that have historically been considered “weeds” to form a grass roots solution to these global problems. As a prototype for future urban landscapes, the site will be continuously monitored for species performance and longevity over time.

As we grapple with the deepening climate crisis that threatens humanity, novel and incremental solutions to combat this complex problem are desperately needed. It requires both broad level policy changes from governments as well as grass roots movements from individuals to address the myriad causes of climate change. In this spirit, West Harlem Going Wild was born. West Harlem Going Wild is a model of how underutilized and marginal urban spaces can be adapted to become productive and thriving landscapes with a limited budget. Learn more about West Harlem Going Wild by clicking here.

The Barking Club Miami Revealed!

Terrain work is thrilled to share the design for the Barking Club Miami. The Barking Club, in collaboration with Odd House, provides an oasis on the edge of Miami for dogs and their owners to play, socialize, and create community. The site is currently overwhelmed with Maleleucas, an invasive species that threatens the health and stability of the Everglades ecosystem. Terrain Work’s plan creates a new home for the Barking Club with a long term management strategy that eliminates the Maleleucas and reintroduces a native everglades plant palette to provide shade and habitat for creatures of the everglades and their furry friends. Learn more about the Barking Club Miami here.

Terrain Work Featured in Seoul Biennale

Terrain Work with The New York 8 (Terrain Work, MMK+, Strange Works, Emergent Studio, and Dong-Sei Kim) Productive Han-Ga-Ram is currently being exhibited in the 2023 Seoul Biennale. The proposal was selected through an international competition for ideas to help imagine the future of Seoul for the next 100 years.

Our proposal, Productive Han-Ga-Ram, reimagines the Han River as Seoul's central public space by transforming its thirty bridges and its riverfronts into a collective green network. The existing bridges and the waterfronts will be gradually transformed into a productive and performative public infrastructure. This phased process will bring about a series of pedestrian-oriented platforms and spaces where energy is produced, and air and water are filtered. Productive Han-Ga-Ram amplifies Han River's ecological potential to trigger a series of sociopolitical transformations for Seoul's next 100 years. To learn more about our proposal click here.

Terrain Work Receives Honorable Mention in Incheon Geodam International Competition

Terrain Work’s proposal “An Ecology of Knowledge and Culture” was recently awarded Honorable Mention for the Incheon Geomdan Museum Library Complex Cultural Facility International Design Competition. The proposal, in collaboration with Strange Works Studio and Emergent Studio, was inspired by the Korean landscape spanning from the Mountains to the Sea. The proposed landscape reveals the complex and diverse ecotonal landscapes that exist within the Korean Peninsula. It also mediates between repositories for three distinct forms of information – the library (recorded information), the museum (cultural objects embedded with information), and the landscape (biological information), allowing residents to engage with Incheon Geomdan’s intellectual, historical, and biological history. To learn more about “An Ecology of Knowledge and Culture” click here.

University of Arkansas Garvan Woodland Botanical Gardens Design Underway

Terrain Work is excited to share that we are working with Garvan Woodland Gardens and the University of Arkansas to create a new entry sequence and arrival garden for the acclaimed botanical garden. Garvan Woodland Gardens is a 210 acre botanical garden set on shores of Lake Hamilton located in historic Hot Springs, Arkansas. The garden was originally gifted to the University of Arkansas in 1985 by Verna C. Garvan to highlight the unique flora found in the Ouachita Mountains while serving as a place of learning and cultural enhancement.

Terrain Work’s design for Garvan’s new entry sequence creates a series of interconnected gardens, expanding the garden’s world class collection and serving as a place of arrival, gathering, and recreation for visitors. A wood promenade will connect the entry gardens with the existing botanical collections and architectural features within Garvan. The form of the promenade is borne out of the symbiotic fungal networks that forge ecological connections in the forest. To learn more about this project click here.

Terrain Work Selected to Exhibit in the Seoul Biennale for Architecture and Urbanism

Terrain Work with collaborative partners - MMK+, Strange Works Studio, Emergent Studio, and Dongsei Kim, NYIT - were recently selected from an international competition to exhibit in the 2023 Seoul Biennale for Architecture and Urbanism : A 100 Year Master Plan. Our proposal, Productive Han-Ga-Ram: Han River as Madang of Culture and Ecology, reimagines the Han River as Seoul’s central public space by transforming its thirty bridges and river front into a productive and performative infrastructure that helps to mitigate the effects of climate change while offering new venues for public recreation. Learn more about the Seoul Biennale here and stay tuned for our proposal in September!

Gravity Field Wins Azure 2023 Award

Terrain Work is honored to receive the Azure Magazine 2023 jury award for the best experiential installation for “Gravity Field”! Drawing over 1,000 submissions from around the world, the 2023 Azure Awards edition represents the best in global architecture and design. Collectively, the diverse range of awarded projects exemplify excellence in innovation, aesthetics, creativity, and social and environmental responsibility.

Gravity Field was one of the international winning entries selected for the Jardins de Metis Garden Festival that has been on display at the garden since 2022. Jardins de Metis is the biggest contemporary garden festival in North America with over 60,000 visitors each year.

“Gravity Field” demonstrates the robust adaptability of plants in even the most extreme conditions. A floating cloud of 171 sunflowers transform during the course of the installation. The sunflowers are initially grown upside-down, but curve up toward the sun defying gravity. To learn more about Gravity Field click here.

Terrain Work Makes West Harlem New Home!

Terrain Work has relocated our office to the historic Mink Building located in West Harlem! Our new neighborhood is the Manhattanville Factory District located near Columbia University, City College, and the 125th Street corridor, Harlem’s most important commercial and cultural zone. We made the move to West Harlem after working the past several years on a series of projects in the neighborhood with Janus Property Group to bring publicly accessible open spaces to the Manhatanville Factory District. We are thrilled to make West Harlem our new home in such a vibrant and culturally rich neighborhood!

VOTE FOR GRAVITY FIELD FOR PEOPLE'S CHOICE 2023 AZ AWARDS BY THIS SUNDAY!

Vote for our public art installation ‘Gravity Field’ for the AZ Awards People’s Choice of 2023!

VOTE FOR GRAVITY FIELD HERE: https://awards.azuremagazine.com/

“Gravity Field” demonstrates the robust adaptability of plants in even the most extreme conditions. A floating cloud of 171 sunflowers transform during the course of the installation. The sunflowers are initially grown upside-down, but curve up toward the sun defying gravity. Visitors are encouraged to visit the installation numerous times throughout the festival to experience how adaptable plants are to their circumstances: phototropically, gravitropically, and heliotropically. Gravity Field is a delightfully immersive artwork and real-time experiment that highlights the powerful resilience of nature. To learn more about Gravity Field click here.

Al Fresco Wins American Society of Landscape Architects NY Award!

Terrain Work is excited to announce that Al Fresco Botanical Garden has won an American Society of Landscape Architects New York award for 2023! Located in Peoria, Illinois, the botanical garden highlights the rich diversity of flora and fauna found in the riparian riverfront ecology of the Illinois River while embracing the site's cultural history as an amusement park in the early 1900s. Al Fresco offers a dynamic and infinitely changing experience for visitors based on the rise and fall of the water level of the Illinois River. Al Fresco presents visitors with “Ecological Amusement” by weaving together the natural and cultural history found on the site while showcasing plants from one of the most ecologically productive habitats found in North America. To learn more about Al Fresco click here.

HAPPY 2023 FROM TERRAIN WORK!

From all of us at Terrain Work we wish you a happy and healthy New Year in 2023!  We look forward to what the new year brings with all of our friends, collaborators, and clients.

Hudson Commons Wins Urban Land Institute NY Award For Excellence in Development

We are proud to share that our Hudson Commons project in NYC with KPF Architects and Cove Property Group was the recipient of the Excellence in Office Development Award for the Urban Land Institute (ULI) of New York. Terrain Work’s landscape for Hudson Commons, creates a landscape that views the Manhattan skyline as an integrated topography full of peaks and valleys embedded in its underlying geology. This ‘Urban Mountain’ changes in composition and experience as it climbs up from the ground to the peak of the structure.   Plant communities, strata, and programs are all linked to their corresponding elevation within the Hudson Commons giving shape to a distinctly different set of experiences as the various terraces climb up the 17 story structure. Learn more about the Hudson Commons Project.

POP Rocks Featured in August Issue of Landscape Architecture Magazine

Terrain Work’s public art installation, POP Rocks, is currently featured in the August issue of Landscape Architecture Magazine. POP Rocks is an interactive permanent art installation in the Mission Bay district of San Francisco that is a result of a competition organized by Mission Rock Partner to enliven the public realm of their new development on San Francisco’s historical waterfront. Mission Rock partners is a joint venture between the San Francisco Giants and Tishman Speyer that is creating a vibrant new neighborhood in the heart of downtown San Francisco. To learn more about POP Rocks click here.

Terrain Work Creating New Entry Sequence & Arrival Garden for Garvan Woodland Gardens

Terrain Work is excited to share that we are working with Garvan Woodland Gardens and the University of Arkansas to create a new entry sequence and arrival garden for the acclaimed botanical garden. Garvan Woodland Gardens is a 210 acre botanical garden set on shores of Lake Hamilton located in historic Hot Springs, Arkansas. The garden was originally gifted to the University of Arkansas in 1985 by Verna C. Garvan to highlight the unique flora found in the Ouachita Mountains while serving as a place of learning and cultural enhancement. More to come on this special project!

"Gravity Field" Opens at Jardins de Metis in Quebec, Canada

“Gravity Field” has opened at the Jardins de Metis Garden Festival! Terrain Work’s artwork was one of the international winning entries selected for the 2022 Jardins de Metis Garden Festival entitled “Adaptation.” It is the biggest contemporary garden festival in North America with over 60,000 visitors each year. You can visit “Gravity Field” from June 24th to October 2nd at Jardins de Metis located north of Quebec City, Canada.

“Gravity Field” demonstrates the robust adaptability of plants in even the most extreme conditions. A floating cloud of 171 sunflowers transform during the course of the installation. The sunflowers are initially grown upside-down, but curve up toward the sun defying gravity. Visitors are encouraged to visit the installation numerous times throughout the festival to experience how adaptable plants are to their circumstances: phototropically, gravitropically, and heliotropically. Gravity Field is a delightfully immersive artwork and real-time experiment that highlights the powerful resilience of nature. While the future is uncertain, Gravity Field sees optimism in the ability of plants, and all organisms, to adapt and thrive. For more about Gravity Field visit here.

Terrain Work Wins Public Art Commission in San Francisco

Terrain Work is delighted to announce that our public art installation, POP Rocks ,has been selected as a permanent art installation in the Mission Bay district of San Francisco. The Mission Rock development is a joint venture between the San Francisco Giants and Tishman Speyer. The competition for Mission Rock Street Rooms provided an opportunity to shape the identity and experience of San Francisco’s historic waterfront.

“Erupting from the sidewalk, POP Rocks, creates a dynamic sandstone sculpture that invites people to interact with it.  The sandstone highlights the unique geological rock formations found in the San Francisco Bay Area while integrating splashes of orange and yellow reminiscent of the native California poppy wildflowers. While developing our artwork, POP Rocks, it was important for our ideas to be embedded in the enduring history of the San Francisco Bay Area landscape while creating a place where the whole community could delight in the unexpected.” - Theodore Hoerr, Founding Principal Terrain Work. To learn more abut POP Rocks click here.

Taystee Ribbon Cut with Governor Kathy Hochul

Terrain Work was delighted to be part of the ribbon cutting ceremonies for Taystee in West Harlem recently. Governor Kathy Hochul and Lt. Governor Brian Behjamin led the festivities along with Janus Property partners Scott Metzner and Jerry Salama. "The completion of the Taystee Lab Building is a milestone in the next chapter of Harlem's rich history," Governor Hochul said. "Anchoring the Manhattanville Factory District, the new state-of-the-art building will serve as the home for innovative companies developing the next generation of life science research and technology. As we continue to build back from the pandemic, today's investments that support our life science infrastructure will ensure that we are better prepared, better equipped and more resilient in the future."

Terrain Work is honored be part of this transformative project in West Harlem’s Manhattanville Factory District with Janus Property and LevenBetts Architects. For more on the Taystee landscape click here.

Terrain Work Winner of Jardins Metis International Garden Festival!

Terrain Work’s art installation “Gravity Field” was selected as one of the winners of the Jardins Metis International Garden Festival. It is the largest contemporary garden festival in North America.

Gravity Field represents in real time how adaptive plants are to their environment even when presented seemingly impossible growing conditions.  The installation illustrates principles of gravitropism, phototropism, and heliotropism through the course of the festival. The sunflowers are installed as small plants upside down and they will grow and curve towards the sun adapting to their new environment over the course of the festival.  While the future is uncertain, Gravity Field sees optimism in the ability of plants, and all organisms, to adapt and thrive.

Hope to see you in Quebec City beginning in June! For more information on Gravity Field click here.