NEW YORK, NEW YORK

Manhattan can be viewed as an agglomeration of objects resting on terra firma or as an integrated topography full of peaks and valleys with a close association to its underlying geology.  Terrain Work’s landscape for Hudson Commons, a new commercial office space by Cove Property Group and KPF Architects at 441 Ninth Avenue in Manhattan, creates an Urban Mountain where the landscape 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 three distinctly different set of experiences -  The Grove, The Glades, and The Apex.  

The Grove is located on the 9th floor at the base of the tower and is characterized by a dense canopy of native Grey Birch (Betula populifolia) trees creating shady spots for individual outdoor work areas, meetings spaces, and large gathering spaces.  The Glades are a series of terraces that climb up the mid-level of the structure with native Pitch Pines (Pinus rigida) that lend a windswept sculptural appearance.  The Apex is at the peak of the structure with panoramic views of the Hudson river Palisades to the west and views of the historic Empire State Building and New Yorker Hotel to the east.  The landscape is comprised of alpine plants and low sedums along with a large granite boulder that acts as a counterpoint to the iconic New York City skyline. Photo Credit: BTH

PEORIA, ILLINOIS

InterPlay Park is an intergenerational park for the people of Peoria that reconnects communities divided by the construction of the I-74 Interstate corridor in 1958.

Interstate-74 brought Peoria into America’s interstate highway system and was expected to facilitate progress and prosperity, but its construction created unforeseen consequences and ultimately damaged the city fabric. In Peoria, as with many other US cities, the interstate encouraged urban sprawl and suburbanization, hollowing out downtown. Viable residential neighborhoods were altered and abandoned. Downtown retailers and restaurateurs eventually left with their shoppers and diners in tow.

By creating a park over I-74 that connects North Valley and the Downtown District it allows to divided neighborhoods to once again be whole. A walkable district will encourage downtown foot traffic and spur new development and investment in the adjacent neighborhoods. Surrounded by multiple existing community organizations, non-profits, and healthcare businesses, the park can extend the mission of community-oriented development to public spaces in Peoria.

InterPlay Park consists of programmatic “molecules” or gathering spaces of varying sizes that intermix opportunities to play for all age groups. The play molecules are strategically disbursed across a flexible lawn space, where users can lounge, walk, or play catch. The lawn could also host interactive sculptures and events. Two iconic landmarks anchor each end of the park, aiding in pedestrian wayfinding. Drivers on the I-74 below will see these landmarks as they drive to and from Downtown Peoria. On the eastern side of the park, The Window opens to the highway below, creating an oculus that stimulates curiosity and beckons users to peer down onto the interstate. On the western side of the park, The Tree Cathedral frames the sky above, naturally raising the gaze of visitors and sparking imagination.

InterPlay Park has the potential to become a destination that spurs development and investment in Downtown Peoria and connects the growing hospital district with both the downtown core and the residential North Valley neighborhood. With InterPlay Park, the I-74 corridor becomes a walkable destination in the city, rather than an area to avoid. Parks and open space are vital for the cultivation of physical and mental health while equitable access to local green space is critical for community health and social cohesion. InterPlay Park aims to revive the spirit of Downtown Peoria by highlighting the vibrant possibilities when people of all ages and backgrounds can gather together and play.

SAO PAULO, BRAZIL

The Mata Atlantica Forest that is indigenous to Brazil is one of the most diverse ecosystems on the planet, but only 9% of this Brazilian ecosystem remains in the world.  Sao Paulo Corporate Towers ,in collaboration with Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects, aims to capture the biodiversity and spatial richness of this habitat in an urban landscape at the center of São Paulo. Tree canopies of various heights create magical outdoor spaces of dappled sunlight and shade, providing a cool and inviting environment. Landforms accentuate the display of the vegetation in their multiple canopy layers. A large green roof accessible by a series of ramps becomes a link between the two towers and integrates the amenity building. The collection of rain water on the site and the selection of native species with lower water demand allow for minimum irrigation and help cool the towers.  Theodore Hoerr was Principal at Balmori while leading the design of this project. Images courtesy of Balmori.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK

The ‘Broadway Bouquet’ captures the quintessentially New York spirit of spectacle and wonder that the city’s scale-bending urban environment cultivates. This public art installation revels in the culture of cut flowers found on countless street corners from Manhattan to the outer boroughs and turns it into a larger than life experience where individual trees and shrubs replace cut stems and flowers. This portable landscape is turned into a destination for the public inspiring delight and wonder in a space that might otherwise be dedicated to the automobile and giving people a glimpse of how introducing plants and urban ecology in civic spaces can stir the imagination.

The 'Broadway Bouquet’ is a 40' feet long by 8' high temporary public art installation that was displayed at the intersection of Broadway and 24th Street in the Flatiron District of Manhattan on Saturday April 21, 2018. The art installation was a featured piece of the NYC/DOT Car Free Earth Day event. The annual event closes thirty blocks of Broadway from Times Square to Union Square to vehicular traffic, creating a temporary pedestrian space for people to explore for the day. A variety of environmental programming including public art, musical performances, and various exercise activities were introduced by city agencies and nonprofit organizations along Broadway to promote activism and education surrounding climate change, sustainability and rethinking how we use our city streets.

The Broadway Bouquet provides a tangible example to the public of what we give up – civic space and public art – when cities are dominated by vehicular traffic. The art piece captures the imagination by illustrating the potential for a car free future with a living breathing garden in the middle of one of the busiest spaces in the world.

A special thanks to the following organizations that enabled this project to come to life through their generous support: NYC DOT, Blondie's Tree House, DeSimone Engineers, and Duggal Visual Solutions. Video courtesy of Alexius Tan of DeSimone Engineers. Aerial photos courtesy of NYC DOT

QUEBEC, CANADA

Plants are extraordinarily adaptive. They have the ability to thrive in some of the harshest environments on earth by responding to a myriad of stimuli - sun, water, temperature, soil, and gravity - to sustain life. Plants are also essential to human existence, providing sustenance, ecosystem services, and carbon sequestration. While they play a key role in mitigating the effects of climate change that threaten our existence as a species, they too are also vulnerable and must adapt quickly to a rapidly changing climate.

Gravity Field demonstrates the robust adaptation of plants in even extremely strenuous conditions. A floating cloud of sunflowers will transform during the course of the installation. The sunflowers are initially grown upside-down, but will bend up as they grow towards the sun, defying gravity. Visitors can visit the installation numerous times to experience how adaptable plants are to their circumstances: phototropically, gravitropically, and heliotropically. Gravity Field is an immersive, delightful experience and real time experiment that spotlights 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. Photos by JC Lemay and Terrain Work.

PEORIA, ILLINOIS

Al Fresco Botanical Garden is located on the west bank of the Illinois River a few miles north of downtown Peoria. The botanical garden highlights the rich ecological and cultural history of the site while embracing the dynamic rise and fall of the Illinois River. The site of Al Fresco was a burgeoning Amusement Park starting in 1905 and attracting 10,000 visitors a day from around the Midwest during its heyday in the Roaring ‘20s before closing near the end of World War II. It had a 65-foot-high Ferris wheel, a figure-8 roller coaster, and various attractions along a grand promenade. World renowned touring acts such Harry Houdini, and Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show made appearances at Al Fresco. People traveled to Al Fresco from as far away as Chicago and St. Louis by steamship as well as having a dedicated trolly line from downtown Peoria, Illinois. In the 1920’s, because of the Chicago Drainage canal project, portions of Al Fresco become permanently flooded that ultimately led to its demise in 1944 when it was finally closed.

Al Fresco’s natural history as a riparian zone, defined by the transition between land and water, is equally impressive as one of the most ecologically diverse and species rich landscapes found in North America. This riverfront landscape is notable for its various habitats starting from the upland forest and transitioning into floodplain forest, mesic prairie, wet meadow, and marsh. The botanical garden is designed to allow for visitors to experience these various ecological zones while creating an infinitely changing series of experiences for visitors based on the rise and fall of the water level of the Illinois River. This takes the very element that destroyed the amusement park and turns it into the main attraction for Al Fresco Botanical Garden.

Taken together this offers visitors an experience of “Ecological Amusement” weaving together the rich natural and cultural history found on the site while showcasing plants from the riparian zone. “Ecological Amusement” also merges the Illinois River’s flooding dynamics with the history of the site as an amusement park. Ecological art installations inspired by plant species of the Illinois River floodplain are interspersed throughout Al Fresco Botanical Gardens that perform as habitat for fish, birds, and other wildlife. The botanical garden also provides active recreational opportunities such as kayaking, birdwatching, fishing, and ice skating. Flexible lawn spaces allows for an array of programming, including concerts, festivals, weddings, and picnicking. The River Walk, Floodplain Walk, and Forest Walk are pathways designed specifically for educating the public about the diverse native plant and animal species of this unique riverfront landscape.

AUSTIN, TEXAS

Austin resides at the intersection of rich musical culture and ecological diversity. Three distinct eco-regions converge in Austin that can be found in Texas: Blackland Prairie, Cross Timbers, and Texas Hill Country. Our design for this Austin Residence with Wang Architects samples from these three regions mixing up a new landscape that embodies these regional characteristics and it’s diverse musical landscape.

It also is connected to a unique Karst geological system that is characterized by its striated limestone layers that produce a varied topography with unexpected sink holes and cave features found throughout the region. These unique regional features are woven into the landscape for the Austin Residence in several different ways. The plant palette takes a sampling of species from each of the three ecoregions to create a landscape of layered plant textures and colors that also act as wildlife habitat for local fauna. The walkways, terraces, and walls recall the regional Karst geology creating subtly striated patterns out of local limestone and granite.

MIAMI, FLORIDA

The Barking Club provides an oasis on the edge of Miami for dogs and their owners to socialize and create community. The site is currently overwhelmed with Maleleucas, an invasive species, that threaten the health and stability of the Everglades ecosystem. The proposed plan creates an new home for the Barking Club while rehabilitating the site and managing these invasive species. The site will be restored with a native everglades plant palette to provide shade and habitat for native creatures and the furry friends that will occupy this new home.

The Barking Club site is broken up into a series of play lawns that accommodate dogs with different levels of socialization. A large public plaza with canopy and public lawn anchor the park, while a series of more private lawns provide for individual dog play and quiet seating areas for their owners. Play follies and spray features are designed to provide an active environment for the dogs and stimulate their senses. Terrain Work in collaboration with Odd House.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK

The Taystee Lab Building will become one of the citys first life science buildings that provides a key anchor to the one million square foot master-planned vision for the Manhattanville Factory District in West Harlem that will be a delicious addition to the community. The Taystee development will establish a new connection publicly accessible pedestrian connection from 125th Street to West 126th Street that will be one of the defining landscapes in the rapidly changing district. In collaboration with Janus Property Group and Leven Betts, the new vision for Taystee will reveal the sites geological history while creating a forward looking landscape that offers new opportunities for connectivity, outdoor gathering, and recreation for the whole community to enjoy.

HOT SPRINGS, ARKANSAS

Garvan Woodland Gardens is a 210 acre botanical garden set on shores of Lake Hamilton in historic Hot Springs, Arkansas. On the edge of the National Park, 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 also serving as a place of learning and cultural enhancement. Terrain Work’s design for a new entry sequence to Garvan Woodland Gardens creates a series of interconnected gardens that serve as a place of arrival, gathering, and recreation for visitors. The proposed entry gardens will expand the Garvan's world class botanical collection featuring a native Pine and Bluestem garden, a Woodland Botanical walk, and a Seep Garden. A wood promenade connects visitors from the parking lot through these new gardens to other botanical collections and architectural features within Garvan. The form and structure of the promenade is borne out of the symbiotic fungal networked ecological relationships that are at work in the forest. These relationships allow trees to communicate with one another and share resources among divergent species. The design for Garvan Woodland Gardens makes these invisible connections visible and curates a legible entry sequence that reinforces the garden’s unique identity as both a woodland and botanical garden.

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA

POP Rocks is an interactive art installation that celebrates the geological and botanical landscape of the Bay Area by creating a three-dimensional mosaic of sandstone. This is the same stone that can be found throughout the Bay Area forming the spectacular bluffs such as Baker Beach and the Presidio. These Colma Formations are comprised of sandy deposits that are up to 120,000 years old and laid down in the last major interglacial period. The sculpture is also designed to be occupied and engaged with as a multilevel outdoor room. The sandstone pieces serve as edges, seats, platforms, and podiums. A pop of color on the edges of the stones create different perceptions of the sculpture based on your orientation while adding vibrancy and whimsy to the streetscape. The yellow and orange colors recall the native California poppy wildflowers that are iconic to the Bay Area Landscape, and also happen to be the San Francisco Giants team colors!

NEW YORK, NEW YORK

The 127th Street Park is a park in West Harlem’s Manhattanville Factory District that creates a mid-block pedestrian connection stitching together the Taystee Life Sciences building with the Malt House mixed-use site. Like the Malt House and Taystee, 127th St. uncovers the neighborhood’s geologic history with consistent materials and motifs that unite the neighborhood’s public spaces. Large boulders represent the glacial erratics that were deposited in Manhattan when the glacier retreated from the last ice age. Glacial erratics are all different types of rock, moved by geologic forces from one location to another. Harlem is similarly shaped by “cultural erratics”- the variety of ethnic communities that have historically settled in Harlem and currently reside in Harlem, making it the neighborhood it is today. A graphic mural that abstracts the glacier’s height in comparison to the neighborhood’s buildings enlivens the blank façade that borders the site. The mural extends through the site, uniting the two planes, with the “ice” splitting the boulders. Floating furniture and a continuous tree canopy create spaces of respite that elevate this space from more than just a pedestrian connection.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK

Located in Manhattanville’s Factory District, the Malt House was the site of one of the largest breweries in Manhattan during the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. The entire brewing process – from malting, to boiling, and fermentation - was carried out on this site in West Harlem along with acres of cellarage to store raw materials. The site is also important for its topographic makeup. The Malt House is centered on a low point between two bluffs in West Harlem that provide direct access to the banks of the Hudson River.

The Malt House landscape embraces the chemical reactions found in the brewing process and throughout nature as a way to structure new activities within the space. These “program molecules” like public art displays, musical performance, dancing, outdoor movies, open air markets, and a shady spot to gather with friends can be done independently or combined to create new experiences that differ from the constituent parts. A series of large pyramidal earth forms provides an environment to encourage these interactions to unfold. These forms shape spaces for people occupy between and can be climbed to relax, take in a performance, or used for informal play for people of all ages.

AUSTIN, TEXAS

The Austin Salon creates a landscape that is at once a sign and a dynamic installation that can be “styled” and sculpted through seasons and over the years. The landscape creates and inviting environment for salon patrons to view and occupy during their visits. It also acts a sign at the confluence of a busy intersection that is the site of a former gas station. Pre-cast concrete planters dot the perimeter of the site and the entry and are “styled” in a variety of ways to reflect contemporary hairdo’s and catch the attention of passer byes. The salon architecture by Wang Architects creates a series of diffuse screens that act as a new skin for the structure while also emerging as a framework in the landscape to define outdoor terraces around the perimeter of the building.

WASHINGTON D.C.

The Center Block of Capitol Crossing stitches together a piece of the city fabric near Union Station that was once divided by Interstate 395 in Washington D.C. A series of publicly accessible landscape spaces serves as the connecting tissue for a mixed-use development including a residential tower, a boutique hotel, and retail space designed by Ennead Architects. The landscape also extends through the buildings and up to the rooftops creating a vertical network of interior and exterior landscape experiences . The landscapes of the Capitol Crossing Center Block each express the unique qualities of the geological transect found in the region beginning with Appalachian Plateau, cutting through the Blue Ridge and Piedmont regions, and ending at the Coastal Plains that surround Washington D.C. The landscape will create a new civic hub of activity in the development and surrounding neighborhoods that will become a destination for residents and visitors of the city.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK

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 conceived.

Working with limited resources on a shoestring budget, the design transforms a vacant lot in West Harlem by utilizing discarded construction materials, and plant species that are considered “weeds” spontaneously occurring in the urban environment. These plants not only withstand harsh urban environments, but thrive, allowing this site to become a green respite that will address the mounting challenges cities face in the wake of climate change. As the species grow and spread across the site, the vegetative canopies will improve air quality, reduce the heat island effect, and provide habitat. The aggressive root systems will break up the urban soil profile and allow water to percolate. By reusing materials onsite, waste and emissions associated with the construction industry are minimized during the construction process.

West Harlem Going Wild is a model of how underutilized and marginal urban spaces can be transformed to become productive and thriving landscapes with a limited budget. Taken together these small scale grass roots have the potential to impart significant changes on a global scale to combat climate change in cities.

HUDSON VALLEY, NEW YORK

Located along the picturesque Hudson River with expansive views of the rocky pine-oak-heath summit forest bluff is the Hudson Highlands Residence. The Hudson River is a tidal estuary ebbing and flowing with the ocean tide, revealing a biodiverse riparian habitat right on the site’s edge. Made evident through the exposed rock on the property, the site is located on the rugged and rocky terrain that characterizes the Hudson Highlands geology, which is generally characterized by pyrite, pyrrhotite, calcite, and Canada Hill granite. The design of the landscape features a gradient of spatial scales that create distinct experiences of intimacy and openness in relation to the river, the forest bluff, and the existing natural elements on site. Three categories distinguish various scales of these experiences: interpersonal/intimate, interpersonal/intermediate, and expansive/panoramic. These spatial scales create varying moments of perceiving the both the inward and outward landscapes.

Terrain Work’s Ageless Design Research project explores how landscape is vital to the mental and physical health for older adults and the ability to create environments for purposeful living. It also advocates for the integration of age friendly landscape design tactics that can bring about delight and foster purpose in life for all generations.

A pioneering scientific study demonstrating some of the health benefits of landscape was undertaken by Roger Ulrich in 1983. Ulrich found that patients whose rooms faced a courtyard of trees in a Pennsylvania hospital were admitted quicker, needed fewer strong pain doses, and recorded fewer negative comments than patients that faced a brick wall. More recently, Gregory Bratman and colleagues found that people taking a ninety minute walk in nature versus a ninety minute walk in urban conditions reported lower levels of rumination and showed reduced neural activity in an area of the brain linked to risk for mental illness. Benefits are not exclusive to exposure to nature, but gardening as cognitive therapy offers the potential to learn new skills, improve memory, attention, sense of responsibility, and improve self-esteem.

Terrain Work’s Ageless Design Research project explores ways to implement evidence based design in creative ways that go beyond a series of checklists to create environments that are immersive sensory experiences. Terrain Work has explored how landscapes can promote accessibility and autonomy, improve mobility while offering a sense of discovery and reward, activate the senses, and create landscape that facilitate social interaction.

PEORIA, ILLINOIS

The Vision Plan for the Peoria Riverfront Museum campus integrates the museum landscape into the urban fabric of Peoria, creating a civic link between the Riverfront Park and downtown Peoria. The landscape concept emerges from the natural history of the Illinois River Valley that was formed through glacial moraines and the Kankakee Torrent. These events that occurred 20,000 years ago created dramatic topography stretching from bluff to bank. This regional landscape is embodied through the entry and overlooking river terrace, The Bluff, which offers space for hosting a variety of community and large-scale events. Additional gallery space is created in The Bank, a series of earthworks that the community is encouraged to use as a new public space.

18,000 years ago Manhattan was covered by two miles thick of glacial ice – taller than any building currently in Manhattan. As the glacier retreated it created the defining geological features and topography of Manhattan and deposited boulders and glacial debris that originated hundreds of miles away. The landscapes for the Manhattanville Factory District reveal this rich and varied geological history through the use of stone and topography. The landscapes also connect various development sites in the district through three new interblock links between 125th street and 128th. Taken together these three landscapes will provide vital new publicly accessible open space in the Manhattanville Factory District and offer array of new programmatic activities for residents of West Harlem. Terrain Work is collaborating with Janus Property, Leven Betts, and Gluck+ for this new plan that will transform the district giving residences the framework to forge new connections and experiences of their own.

Montclaire, New Jersey

The Mid Mod House is a mid-century modern house designed by the acclaimed native New Jersey architect Arthur Rigolo in 1956. Located next to a nature reserve, the house is perched at the midpoint of a steeply sloping site offering panoramic views of the distant Manhattan skyline. The landscape been neglected over time and was overrun by invasive bamboo that required removal from a large portion of the property. Terrain Work created a new design for the entire landscape while Jeff Jordan Architects is restoring the original dwelling.

The design for the Mid Mod house draws on elements of this significant design period while remaining forward looking. The entry approach to the house is configured with a playful curving hedge of boxwood that lead visitors to the arrival and offering a counterpoint to the orthogonal geometry of the architecture. A copse of flowering redbud trees is positioned at the base of the house to create a sense of scale and add a burst of color in the spring. The outdoor courtyard located at the middle of the dwelling is designed to create seamless circulation while offering opportunities for outdoor living and entertainment. A long linear reflecting pool is incorporated next to the bay of windows at the family room to view the sky and reflect light into the house. Creating a visual anchor for the space is a pyramidal moss sculpture that can be viewed from all vantage points while inside the house or in the landscape. Finally, a row of columnar cypress trees add privacy to the landscape from the street above and recall the vegetation that was closely linked with the mid-century modern movement.

New York is a city of spectacle and awe.  The Empire State Building, Times Square, Central Park, Coney Island, NYC Fashion Week, and the Brooklyn Bridge are just a few of the places and events that are genre-defining and renowned as quintessentially New York.  New York is also a city of dramatic and contradictory scale shifts that are easily distorted while living and visiting the city.  In New York what is small may seem big, and what is big may seem small.    New York possesses this uncanny ability to continually reshape and alter a person’s perception of scale, space, and time.

The New York Plant Circus aims to capture this spirit of spectacle and wonder that its scale-bending urban environment cultivates.  Three pedestrian bridges are situated at the intersection of Park Avenue and 47th, 52nd, and 56th Streets, enabling pedestrian flow between adjacent blocks and creating a tripartite of surreal elevated landscapes that blur the distinction between garden, infrastructure, and iconography.  Hedges turn to the sky to perform aerial acrobatics, topiaries become cities unto themselves, and the Big Top is reimagined as a giant trellis for vines.

Within each of the blocks a series of quixotic New York landscapes unfold.  The Bouquet Block captures the culture of cut flowers that is present throughout the city and can be easily found on a nearby corner.  The Topiary City takes one of New York’s most exportable commodities, the skyline, and transforms it into a three-dimensional garden of hedges.  The Edible Forest celebrates New York’s world-class foodie culture by creating a block for song birds to feast on fine dining down Park Avenue.  The Three Vases creates a playful facsimile of one of the most ubiquitous, and achievable, gardens to which New Yorkers have access.  These portable landscapes are turned into permanent places.  Taken together the New York Botanical Circus creates a new landscape experience down Park Avenue that is as delightfully unexpected as it is undeniably New York.   

FREMONT, CALIFORNIA

Warm Springs will become a burgeoning new environment for the high tech industry in Fremont. Located adjacent to a new Bart Station and a recently constructed Tesla factory, Warm Springs is part of larger transit-oriented development plan that provides residents and technology workers a new publicly accessible civic landscape. The Landscape is centered around a large sunken plaza, The Black Box, acting as a gathering space for the surrounding community and new tenant for the site. The plaza also serves to anchor the western portion of the transit-oriented district plan that is a mix-ed use development . The human brain is oft referred to as a black box. The question emerged of how to create a landscape that can spur novel ideas to create an environment for technology workers and community residents alike. Research has linked the activation of sensory stimuli in the brain with the emergence of novel ideas and divergent thinking. The Black Box plaza does this through the curation of botanical species, tactile materials, and the animation of water.

IOWA CITY, IOWA

The University of Iowa Hancher Auditorium landscape creates a new topographic ground fusing the site and building by Pelli Clarke Pelli architects while accommodating for an extensive pedestrian circulation network, water treatment system, and the reintroduction of a riparian riverfront habitat.  The fluid forms that emerge are a direct response to the program providing for manifold circulation routes to the adjacent parking area and also creating topographic depressions that enable stormwater capture, cleaning, and infiltration back into ground.  This supplants the old system of stormwater management that delivered polluted water directly into the river, which decreased water quality and increased water volume and velocity, directly amplifying recent flood events along the Iowa River.  Theodore Hoerr was Principal at Balmori while leading the design of this project. Images courtesy of Balmori.

Arcapita, a leading financial company in Bahrain, is situated within the Bahrain Bay district that has recently arisen from the Persian Gulf.   The design for the Arcapita landscape explores the rich history of Islamic patterns found in the region and how they inform the organization of the Arcapita landscape through geometric principles, subtle level changes, and the use of water for passive cooling and aesthetic purposes.

The design process examined historic patterns from the region to see how these geometric systems would respond to scale shifts and the evolution from a two-dimensional system to a three-dimensional space. This creates a surface for the building to set on while offering an array of spatial configurations that people could enjoy while experiencing the surrounding landscape.

There are several layers the landscape is comprised of, the first layer is the paved areas directly adjacent to the building.  This area creates a flat plane for the building to rest on serving as a plinth for the new headquarters.  As you move further away from the building into the landscape this plane begins to fragment and lift up to form a new spatial and organizational sequence.  This is defined by parterres of paving, planting, and water.  The parterres offer opportunities for seating near under the shade of Acacia trees and the cooling effects of water.  Theodore Hoerr led the design of this project while at AECOM.  Images courtesy of AECOM & SOM.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK

Situated in the heart of Manhattan and intertwined in a sixty story residential tower designed by Cetra Ruddy Architects, the landscape for West 53rd Street was generated by an urgent need for programmatic flexibility within limited space. The project began with research into the various types of activities that a residential complex could contain given the various site characteristics such as light, wind, and noise. By analyzing how residents might use their outdoor spaces over time and coupling activities that would build value for the development we were able to create spaces that would respond to the residents needs throughout the four seasons.  Theodore Hoerr was Principal at Balmori while leading the design of this project. Images courtesy of Balmori.

HOBOKEN, NEW JERSEY

Hoboken is a city built predominantly on a salt-water marsh.  Flash flooding has plagued the city for decades, creating water management problems for both city officials and residents alike. The design strategy for the garden was to create a series of landscape terraces for contemplation and recreation that would also solve the client's pervasive flooding problems.  The strategy also contributes to the larger citywide effort for residents to manage stormwater on site to mitigate stress on the city storm .  This was carried out by the use of pervious landscape materials and the installation of two dry wells that capture and infiltrate water back into the ground.  To make the space more habitable for entertainment, a fence that captures the interplay of light was erected around the perimeter of the site and fused with a stone bench serving as seating for the garden.

PEORIA, ILLINOIS

The Wheels O’ Time museum in Peoria, Illinois houses an extensive collection of over 30,000 square feet of antique and collector autos, trains, airplanes, tractors, fire trucks, and bicycles.  The museum recently acquired a house constructed from steel designed by the renowned industrial designer R.G. LeTourneau in the late 1930’s. 

Terrain Work’s master plan for the museum incorporates the newly acquired Le Tourneau house into the museum campus to create an interconnected series of wheels that each contain different gardens designed to display artifacts and provide a variety of programmatic functions.  Terrain work created new outdoor venues for museum patrons to enjoy that integrate gathering and educational opportunities alongside the artifacts.  The wheels are connected by a network of belts that serve as pathways for circulation between each garden.  The gardens each have their own unique botanical characteristics based on native Illinois plants that create a dynamic experience through the seasons.

Set in a thirty-four acre site in rural New Jersey, the Quarry House is the site of a decommissioned shale and sandstone quarry from the early 1900s. The property is comprised of a heavily wooded second growth forest of oaks, maples, and hickory with sensitive wetland habitats interspersed throughout the entire landscape. The design for the Quarry House landscape acknowledges the site’s lengthy history of disturbance by creating a strategy to amplify some of the residual stone artifacts from the quarry operations that are scattered around the site. Large cut stone shelfs around the pond are uncovered and featured as a foregrounding element in the design. Expansive areas of stone spoils are reorganized to create a sculptural ground plane that defines the entry drive sequence. Stone boulder fields found in the heavily wooded areas of the site are given access and repurposed as contemplative gardens. A stone garden and fluctuating water feature at the arrival of the house explore ideas of how stone was extracted and processed.

Terrain Work’s design also contemplates the broader disturbance to the site and its ecological functioning. The three primary ecosystems found on site – upland deciduous forest, wetlands, and meadows – each have been carefully studied to understand how to recover lost ecosystem services that have been in precipitous decline through the last century. Each of these areas are carefully designed to re-introduce native plantings and eliminate invasive species that prevent larger habitat development. The result is a landscape that will provide critical sources for food and cover for indigenous New Jersey wildlife.

PEORIA, ILLINOIS

Terrain Work created a master plan and design guidelines for a new 33 acre Ecotonal Community on the site of a former tree production nursery in Central Illinois.  The community will be organized around the ecotones of several landscape types: Deciduous Hardwood Forest, Shortgrass Prairie, and Littoral.  A central wildlife corridor creates a link for both species and residents to move between an adjacent hardwood forest and a shared open space surrounding a small lake.  A water management plan for the community will capture and treat all runoff generated on the site through a network of bio-cells distributed throughout the community. 

PEORIA, ILLINOIS

Bradley University represents a significant moment in the city of Peoria acting as an incubator for learning, and serving as a key link to downtown Peoria via Main Street. The proposed plan for the campus will increase the legibility and image of the University in two ways. The first is through strategic removal of parking that will re-establish a sequence of pedestrian friendly spaces within the existing campus framework and strengthen the existing east-west axis along St. James Street. The second is the addition of the alumni quad to serve as a western anchor in the campus by providing an area of confluence for students, alumni, and faculty.  This is carried out with the implementation of a new topographic frame that reasserts a spatial order in an area of the campus that has grown organically over time. 

NEW YORK, NEW YORK

X Street Park turns an existing underutilized streetscape in Manhattan into a vital urban park in an area of the city that is sorely lacking open space opportunities. Commissioned by Hines, Terrain Work’s design study creates a series of botanical installations that emerge from the street and contain an array of evergreen and deciduous vines like Climbing Hydrangea (Hydrangea peteolaris) and Climbing Honeysuckle (Lonicera sepervirens). The botanical installations strategically add three-dimensional vine plantings to a streetscape that contains myriad underground utilities preventing the planting of a consistent tree canopy to provide relief from the surrounding dense urban environment. The installation not only adds much needed vegetation, but also serve as spaces for people to occupy underneath and in between. The vine trellis transforms from spaces to be occupied to overhead shade structures. X Street Park also helps to activate proposed retail space along its northern and southern edges by providing seating and dining opportunities. Finally, the park creates a large civic space for gathering, performances, and special events at the midpoint of the block where larger community gatherings can take place.

NEWTOWN, CONNECTICUT

Distilled by tragedy, love, hope, and unity emerge in their purest form to honor those lost and help restore a community.  A circle is chosen to symbolize the perfect and complete expression of these universal human needs.   It is a simple yet powerful form that predates recorded history and crosses all cultural boundaries, appearing in both nature and man-made environments to represent wholeness.  The circle also signifies the unbreakable bond of a community that has experienced deep and acute loss, yet remains united in their love for the children and adults whose memories will endure with the falling leaves each autumn and the blossoming flowers in the spring.  The memorial is rooted in this bond of community, and the tranquil habitats found within the landscape provide the setting for healing and remembrance.  
The memorial, like the grieving and healing process, is understood as a space of transformation and change that embodies both the evolving landscape and the commemorative pieces within it.  The existing site contains four diverse habitats: Deciduous forest, Meadow, Wetland, and Boreal forest.   Each of these landscapes creates an experience independent of the others, offering a range of moods, tones, and emotions that are brought about simply through walking from one habitat to the next.  The memorial uses three distinct components - Unity Path, Meadow, and Reflection Plane - to unify all of the site’s existing habitats in remembrance of the students and educators.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK

To witness the unfolding of a bloom is one of the simple pleasures in life. For people of all ages this floral explosion marks the passage of time and elicits delight and wonder like few other events. It is one of the joys that transcends cultural and geopolitical boundaries and brings communities and families together. Unfolding Blooms is an installation proposal for the Lexus Intersect Gallery in Chelsea that celebrates this phenomenon and the creative muse it has provided for thousands of years.

The artwork is comprised of a grid of three hundred and fifty mirrored spheres that each contain a mix of blooming flowers and cut branches in the manner of the art of Ikebana. The spheres float above the ground at different levels and are organized in rows spaced three feet apart to allow people to circulate among the blooms. Unfolding Blooms also creates distinct topography of peaks and valleys that people can occupy within the gallery space. It extends the experience beyond the gallery borders by introducing a mirrored surface on the gallery wall that creates the illusion of an expansive landscape in the heart of Manhattan.

Unfolding Blooms creates an immersive experience that occurs through space and time where people can celebrate the simple beauty of a blossom opening. The installation may be ephemeral, but the plants in Unfolding Blooms will be reused in Ikebana workshops offered to the public, creating delight for years to come. Unfolding Blooms is a collaboration between Terrain Work & Behin Ha Design Studio.

“The Fold” collection is custom designed by Terrain Work as an integrated system of flexible outdoor furnishings. The planters and benches are created out of overlapping pieces of black oxide or red powder coated finished steel that are folded giving the planters an elegant and versatile profile. The collection was designed with maximum flexibility that is adaptable to a variety of urban settings. The planter and benches can be utilized as independent pieces of site furnishing or configured and reconfigured in an infinite number of ways working as a set. “The Fold” collection was originally developed for the Peoria Riverfront Museum in Central Illinois.

TIANJIN, CHINA

The Academy in the Park was a finalist for an international competition led by Ennead Architects. The strategy for the Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts (TAFA) hybridizes two fundamental landscape typologies, the campus and the park, cultivating a new landscape where the academy is also viewed as a civic expression of the city.  This creates a host of new programmatic possibilities. For Tianjin residents the park is both a civic gathering space for the city, but also a tool to educate the public about the production and display of art.  For the students of TAFA the strategy provides a broad canvas of possibilities that extends beyond institutional walls.  On a district level the Tianjin Loop is proposed to unify the Fine Arts Academy with several cultural landmarks and create a new pedestrian bridge across the Hai River.  Theodore Hoerr was Principal at Balmori while leading the design of this project. Images courtesy of Balmori & Ennead Architects.

QUEBEC, CANADA

As a child we see the world through an unblemished lens.  As an adult we often try to catch glimpses of the perspective we had as a child, but it comes filtered through our life experience.  Mind Games explores our perceptions of childhood through the lens of adulthood. The garden is at once a representation of these myriad states of being, and a sensory experience that invites both children and adults to play in a field of fallen leaves.  Approaching the garden from the exterior end you peer through a diaphanous screen that serves as a filter for light and shadow.  Here the interior garden is seen in silhouette projecting shadows against the screen at different points in the day. This is a space of contemplation with varying opacities around its perimeter.  As you walk into the interior the appearance of a prototypical bosque of Sugar Maple Trees is upended.  The bosque is rotated off axis and set within an undulating turf topography. Within the topography there are ten thousand plastic balls of yellow orange and red creating an explosion of color inviting kids and adults to play in a field of fallen leaves that is under perpetual change.   

QUEENS, NEW YORK

Queens is the most ethnically diverse spot on the planet. According to the Endangered Language Alliance, there are more languages spoken in Queens than any other place in the world. This rich multicultural atmosphere is woven into every aspect of the community creating a unique cultural tapestry that is expressed through the daily rhythms of its residents. The diversity of people, food, music, recreation, fine arts, and many other integral aspects of daily life in Queens creates a unique experience for residents and visitors alike.

“Queens Blossoms,” captures the borough’s rich diversity of ethnic communities through a large mural on the ground that stretches the length of the plaza and depicts the blossom from every country of origin currently represented in Queens. The walking surface creates an immersive and colorful floral explosion that animates and enlivens a space where plants are not typically able to grow. The size and scale of the blossoms create an atmosphere of wonder and delight that brings us back to how we experienced the world as a child. “Queens Blossoms” not only creates a visually striking piece of art within the plaza but also invites residents and visitors to learn more about the cultural diversity of their community. All of the flowers found in the artwork are marked with QR codes that people can scan with their smart phones to learn more about the flowers and the countries they symbolize. Finally, partnerships with local gardens and botanical gardens will be formed so the artwork serves as a virtual map that can lead people to experience the actual flowers cultivated around New York City.

SANTA MONICA, CALIFORNIA

Santa Monica spans three unique landscape typologies: the beach, the city, and the mountains. The landscape for this mixed-use development in the Bergamot neighborhood of Santa Monica takes inspiration from these three different geologic regions and their unique soil profiles. The different scale and arrangement of soil particles were conceptualized as patterns and perforations in the landscape.

Targeting creative industries, the project prioritizes public space to facilitate collaboration, provide pedestrian access, and encourage connection to the surrounding Bergamot Area neighborhood. The streetscape for the development acts as a linear plaza that punctures through the development for mid-block connections. The central courtyard space continues down to the subterranean levels. Perforations in the terra firma allow for sunlight and pedestrian access to the semi-public spaces below. Additional perforations in the hardscape allow for plantings to puncture through and graphic landforms to emerge at different scales. Graphic pavements and materials visually the various park levels, while paying homage to the geology, vibrant art scene, and iconic attractions of Santa Monica.

PEORIA, ILLINOIS

The trailhead for the Rock Island Greenway establishes a critical piece of infrastructure for cyclists, runners, and walkers in the Village of Peoria Heights that connects to the broader regional trail system. The trailhead will create a safer experience for bikers, runners, and pedestrians to navigate a busy vehicular route in highly trafficked commercial corridor. Overhead lighting, signage and wayfinding, as well as shading structures will be inserted at the trailhead for a more legible experience. This multi-modal crossing t will tie into other regional initiatives intended to create bike lanes connecting to the trail head and the reduction of traffic lanes to engender a safer experience for the community.

The proposal aims to create a vibrant public space for trail users and the local community, while improving trail occupancy, safety, and legibility. Utilizing the existing ROW, the proposal stitches the trail on either side of the intersection together with consistent paving, planting, and trail amenities. The proposed trailhead will be located at the Southwest corner of E Marietta and Prospect within the ROW, where new concrete will expand the trail width and connect to the adjacent sidewalks. The trailhead will be a consistent painted concrete surface. The current trail crossing at Prospect and at E Marietta is re-routed to streamline circulation, make the trail easier to navigate, and to turn the underutilized corner of the into a public amenity for cyclists and pedestrians.

The existing traffic pattern and asphalt of Prospect and E Marietta will remain; however, a painted graphic on the groundplane will signal a multi-modal intersection and the trail’s location. The simple diagonal striping of the graphic paving evokes the corridor’s historic rail lines, but also signals traffic to slow down. The graphic paving will extend throughout the trailhead, and also extend on either side of the crossings to create a consistent experience and connect each portion of the trail.

Overhead structures that mimic oversized bicycle wheels will provide shade, signage, maps, and trail lighting. The wheel motif plays homage to the rich cycling history in Peoria Heights, while also defining the location of the proposed trail head. The overhead structures also hold potential to produce their own electricity through wind energy to provide trail lighting, charging stations and emergency lighting.

RED BANK, NEW JERSEY

Sited on a heavily wooded property, the landscape design preserves the existing mature trees and introduces a native planting understory to create a naturalized aesthetic. The residence is sited centrally on the property and emerges from a wooded drive to enhance the feeling of retreat and privacy. Unified by a linear path, large lawn terraces are carved out of the woodland plantings. Imagined as a series of courtyards framed by the woodland, the terraces offer opportunities for entertaining and gathering at different scales. The linear path ties the architecture to the landscape and provides a strong geometric datum within the naturalized planting areas. A small landscape path also meanders through the property.

MORRISTOWN, NEW JERSEY

Set on a five acre lot of a mature hardwood forest of oak, maple, and walnut trees, the design of the garden for this midcentury modern home was informed by its historical origins and programmatic elements adapting it to a landscape to be lived in for the new owners.   The house was originally designed by Robert and Rowena MacPhail, two local artists and art educators.  The Mac Phail's turned their passion for art in the 1950's toward the design and construction of their house that was completed in 1958.  The house was recently purchased by new owners and  Gary Rosard Architect is providing the design for the renovation and addition to the historic structure. 

The garden for the house draws upon the artwork that is thought to have influenced the artist's design of the structure with its sloping triangulated rooflines reminiscent of the works of Maholy-Nagy and Wassily Kandinsky.  In particular Kandinsky's Composition VIII was looked at as a point of departure for the design of the garden.   The garden takes two-dimensional concepts found in the painting and extends them into three dimensional expressions of space, color, and movement in the landscape.  This creates the essential elements of the garden - pathways, plantings, terraces, and reflection pools - that provide a space for outdoor living.

INCHEON, SOUTH KOREA

The design for our proposal “An Ecology of Knowledge and Culture” 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. The proposal, in collaboration with Strange Works Studio and Emergent Studio,

Incheon’s Metropolitan City Municipality and its Housing & City Development Corporation sought to construct a cultural complex integrating museum and library programming as a cultural landmark for the Geomdan New Town in the outskirts of Seoul’s metropolitan expansion in South Korea. “An Ecology of Knowledge and Culture” establishes a museum to exhibit excavated historical relics of the region, as well as the construction of a new public library to address the expansion of its collection. The site of this new cultural complex is located at the corner of a large public park lake which serves as a critical ecological access point to the adjacent historical mountain ranges of the region. Through the synergy of library, museum & landscape, “An Ecology of Knowledge and Culture” creates a cultural landmark in which knowledge, history, people, technology, and environment are harmonized by merging material culture (museum) and archival culture (library) representative of Incheon’s regional culture and ecologies. In collaboration with Strange Works Studio and Emergent Studio.

SEOUL, KOREA

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 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. In addition to the continuous trails for walking, running, and biking, these madang spaces will also become multi-functional spaces that are integrated into rivers' new soft edges that mitigate the effects of increasing floods. At the human scale, playgrounds, picnic areas, pools, trails, learning centers, restaurants, and cafes, provide opportunities for young and seniors to mingle share the river's new spaces. On a larger scale, the bridges and riverfronts will be retrofitted into infrastructure that actively mitigates the impacts of the rapidly changing climate and water crisis, Productive Han-Ga-Ram proactively connects the people of Seoul to its immediate mountains and waters, it further connects the people to the waterbody that flows from the Tabaek Mountains to the Yellow River, generating a new collective identity for Seoul. Productive Han-Ga-Ram amplifies Han River's ecological potential to trigger a series of sociopolitical transformations for Seoul's next 100 years.

Terrain Work with The New York 8: Terrain Work, MMK+, Strange Works Studio, Emergent Studio, and Dong-Sei Kim

ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, NEW JERSEY

The landscape for a composer and concert pianist in New Jersey creates a living composition that unfolds through the days, seasons, and years, offering a perpetually changing botanical symphony. The design uses the fundamental sonic structures of musical composition - rhythm, tone, dynamics, melody, harmony, and texture - and reimagines them as distinct landscape elements such as botanics, light and shadow, birth and death, and change over time.

Another peculiar aspect of the landscape is that it was designed from the inside looking out. The client conveyed their desire to appreciate the landscape from the interior rather than occupying these landscape spaces. The design for the house was borne out of a careful study of the interior program and circulation of the house. Landscape elements are composed to create dynamic and compelling views from each room throughout the seasons.. The result is a house that offers a different perspective of the landscape depending on what room you occupy.

SHORT HILLS, NEW JERSEY

The Four Square House is located within a steeply sloping, wooded glade in New Jersey, surrounded by native Beech and Oak trees. The landscape is organized into four distinct square volumes, each carefully carved from the surrounding woodlands. These volumes are designed to accommodate a variety of programs tailored for a young family while offering flexibility to adapt to their future needs.

The first square volume serves as the arrival courtyard to their home, featuring sculptural walls and flowering dogwood trees that frame the entry. The next volume serves as the primary outdoor gathering space and center of the home, transitioning into a native grass meadow at the rear of the house. A swimming pool connects this area to the third square volume-- a large lawn for informal play. The final square, elevated on the property's ridge, acts as an outdoor entertainment space. Border gardens, including a sunny perennial garden and a woodland shade garden, respond to the site’s varying exposures and frame the latter two squares. A meandering footpath winds along the sloping terrain, offering a woodland stroll that connects the different parts of the landscape.