Battery Park Esplanade
Once a landfill site, Battery Park City in New York is now an extensive public open space system which includes a 2 kilometre long riverside esplanade and several miles of streets with parks and squares. As a landfill site, natural features such as topography and vegetation were non-existent. Various pavements and furnishings now provide a backdrop from which artwork and activity can take place. Several landscape architects have been involved in the design of this urban waterfront (for example see Michael Van Valkenburgh’s website below and his design for Teardrop Park). The websites below give links to a number of other landscape architects who have been involved with the design of Battery Park City.
Websites
http://www.mvvainc.com/
http://www.olinptr.com/pdf/batterypark.pdf
http://www.pps.org/gps/one?public_place_id=535
http://www.bpcparks.org/bpcp/parks/parks.php
http://www.newyork-architects.com/content/profiles/index.cfm?fuseaction=profile&architect=1974&lang=e
Other urban waterfront projects
Royal library waterfront in Copenhagen, Denmark
http://www.arcspace.com/architects/schmidt_hammer_lassen/royal_lib/
The shoreline walk in Beirut
http://www.topos.de/Previous-issue/detail-574.html
New public spaces in Portland, Oregon
http://www.asla.org/nonmembers/lamarticle/rivercity.htm