High Line Phase II

So despite the fact that the second phase of the High Line Park opened last summer, and I have been to NYC probably dozens of times since then, I had yet to visit the newest leg of the park, extending from 20th to 30th Street.  I finally got there last week (though sadly, idiotically, I forgot to bring a decent camera, so these pics are with my very old, very slow iPhone 3GS). 

For the most part, the second phase is more of the same, though there are some unusual changes to the previous plant palette (more on that in a future post).  But what I enjoyed seeing most was this fantastic bird coop/co-op.

Built with steel wires and rods, the structure most be relatively heavy (and thus stable) and no doubt it's on footings.  But yet the whole thing looks quite light.  It provides ample opportunity for perching and the assortment of small stakes and boxes allow passersby to deposit apple cores for the birds and for small amounts of water to collect.

My only frustration was that the bird apartments (there were two, on each side of the path) were placed, no: squeezed, on a straight and narrow part of the park, creating bottlenecking and traffic.  Not only does that placement stifle circulation, but I kinda want to see this structure over a larger area so that there's more opportunity for birds to visit, deposit seeds and create a more complete model of urban ecological succession, which is of course what the park is all about.  

The somewhat clumsy placement makes me wonder if this was not an add-on.  I can imagine a city agency or organization bringing this to the program after design was already complete, and the designers needing to struggle to find a place for it.  And don't get me wrong, I love the structure!  I just wish it didn't feel like it was shoehorned onto an existing design. 

Long Bridge Park, Part II

Last May, I wrote a post about a construction field trip I took of Long Bridge Park in Arlington, Virginia.  Then in July, a reader submitted a photo of the construction's progress.  Well shame on that reader, for not sending some finished photos of phase I!  (Just kidding -- I know you've been busy!) 

 

Last Sunday, I finally went for a run through the park on what was a somewhat gray, dreary day. Above is a view from the southern entrance of the park.

Along the promenade, large concrete "benches" occur, though they aren't particularly inviting to me.  Concrete stays damp for so long, they aren't very usable in wet weather, plus they are a little...blocky or monolithic looking.  Though no doubt, the budget was friendly!

To the left of the promenade, a large stair leads to the sports fields.

While to the right of the promenade, people are actively enjoying views of the water and Reagan Airport.

Further down the promenade, a look to the left shows the rain garden.  I'm looking forward to seeing the plants in the summer.

While little kids happily look to the right at the passing train.

Another shot of the rain garden.

Finally, above, lighting at the sports fields.

Progress at Long Bridge Park

In early May, I wrote a post about Arlington's Long Bridge Park, which is currently under construction.  Then a reader sent me a photo of his view of the park from his office window.  Today, he sends an update:

On another note, apologies for the scant posts lately.  This week things will be back on track!

The Yards Park, Errata

I can't write about The Yards, without commenting on the planting plan and a few other items I would have liked to have seen different.  First up, the plant list -- I can't understand why the palette would be azaleas and barberries.  They're just very...suburban.  I would have loved to see a palette similar to Hudson River Park -- grasses and native plants that will thrive in full sun.   I can only imagine how quickly the azaleas will get lacebug  in this site.

Equally odd, the placement of Yucca beneath river birches.  Eventually they will be shaded out.

I loved the steel trellis work on the concrete walls.  It was interesting to see how Clematis twines on it beautifully...

Whereas trumpet creeper has ignored the trellis altogether.

Of course I'm baffled as to what will grow on the trellis here, as there is no planting bed beneath it.

Finally, a good example of poor coordination between lighting design and planting design...

The Yards Park, Water Feature

The water feature at the Yards Park is one of the site's highlights.  It's a large pool recirculated by a waterfall that appears to feed the Anacostia River. 

The waterfall spills from a weir that doubles as a fountain. 

Walking behind the fall is lovely -- I can imagine how crowded this space will be in the summer.

 Below, the view of the weir. 

 

 The fountain is on a timed display -- a few minutes later the jets were quite tall.

The Yards Park, Furnishings

I thought I'd spend today's post sharing some photos of the furnishings at the Yards.  There was a fair amount of variety in benches and chairs in the park -- I'm not convinced there was a need for *so* much variety, but they are creative designs.

First up, this large wood disc with stone supports.  I would have liked to see some element of the wood or stone frame this seat a bit more --perhaps in an edge or back wall detail for the surrounding plantings -- but imagine that people are drawn to this unconventional seat.

These chaises were my favorites of all the furnishings.  Streamlined, facing south for sunning and broad enough that they can double as benches.

These wavy seat wall benches above are a nice twist on benches with armrests (when the armrests are obviously used to prevent sleeping).  They were also fairly comfy.  That said, there are long long runs of these benches with no interruptions.  I think people like to select a seat that is more "anchored." I would have probably would have wanted to break up the lines into shorter segments...?

There are also large runs of this smooth, curvy bench.  The wood is bent beautifully, though I can't figure out if there's a purpose to the slot in the concrete.

Finally, the individual bistro seats and tables are lovely.  It's almost like a more contemporary interpretation of the bistro seats that I bought for my balcony, so it's not a surprise I liked them.  The color does disappear into the paving a bit, but I'm not sure what color would be an improvement, perhaps just a darker stone color.

The Yards Park

Last week the US Green Building Council hosted an industry happy hour at the Yards Park in SE DC.  I had heard about the park -- it opened to the public last year after being an abandoned Navy shipyard that was last truly active during World War II.

Development on the site will continue for a few more years.  For example, the structure above -- an old lumber warehouse -- will eventually house restaurants and shops.

M. Paul Friedberg and Partners designed the site. I'll post a few more photos of details in the days to come.

Meridian Hill Park

So last week, I was teasing a post on Meridian Hill Park almost every day.  I kept threatening to post photos on Friday.  Sure enough, at around 7:30 Friday morning, blogger was shut down.  And by 9am that golden window for me to get a blog post done had closed.  So here, a few days later than planned, I'm finally making that post.

This shot above is the north entry of Meridian Hill Park -- at 15th and Euclid Streets.  It's a large mall space with the aforementioned Quercus macrocarpa aligning the walks.  It rises slightly uphill as one walks south.  To the right, the grade drops severely - two retaining walls, each 20'+ hold the park up.  On the left, the park is essentially at grade with 15th Street.

Evidently, this statue of Joan of Arc is the only statue of a woman on a horse.  Which is remarkable, since Washington DC could very well also be called "City of Many Equestrian Statues."  Joan looks south and beyond her the park drops in grade considerably.  One has a lovely lookout here of the main design gesture of the park -- the cascading water feature.

The park actually sits on the White House meridian line. L'Enfant planned Washington DC using triangles that connect various parts of DC.  The White House meridian is a line that connects the Jefferson Memorial, the Washington Monument, the White House and, further north, Meridian Hill Park.  The park itself is oriented almost exactly north-south.

Fountains at the head of the cascading pools fill a large upper pool then slowly descend through a series of smaller pools. 

As mentioned last week, Iris pseudacorus aligns the cascade.  Junipers are planted along the stepped walkway flanking the water.  A curious choice, though I suspect the absence of leaf litter was part of the reasoning.

The park was finished in 1936 though previously the site had been a bucolic campus for Columbian College, which was later renamed George Washington University.  At the time, the concrete aggregate forming all the structures was quite new.  Personally, I can't stand this look.  I would have much preferred all the walls to be stone, but it was pretty trendy at the moment and certainly less expensive than stone.

Paving "stones" were laid out with bluestone aggregate and larger pebble aggregate at the "joints."

The view back north at the cascade.  The park is having a series of renovations being performed -- right now the water cascade on the left is not functioning property and the large retaining walls on 16th Street are being repaired.  We were there on a Sunday morning and the park was pretty quiet, but it is a great landscape - a lovely beaux arts idyll, hidden in DC. 

Quercus macrocarpa

I took my design students last Sunday to Meridian Hill Park for a little tour.  I had them reverse engineer various construction details and grading plans, as I think that's a great way to really "get" design.  More on the park itself in the days to come but for now, let's feature a great native oak, Quercus macrocarpa or bur oak.

Bur oak is easy to spot - its leaves are fairly irregular in shape.  At the leaf tip, the lobes are shallow and the leaf almost looks deeply scalloped.  Closer to the base, the sinuses get deeper.  Overall, the leaf is paddle-shaped.

The bark is deeply fissured and somewhat flaky.  It's closely related to white oak and has a similar shaggy texture with a stony/silvery color to it. The fall color is not as scarlet as white oak, instead it's a dingy yellow.

The specimens in Meridian Hill Park are fantastic.  They're a bit big to use in a residential setting, but what a wonderful tree to appreciate in a park or a campus!

Macrocarpa as you should probably have guessed, means big fruit or big body.  Bur is also referring to the acorn which has a fuzzy cap on it that almost looks like a bur.  Another common name is mossycup oak.

More Long Bridge Park

I love validation -- particularly in the form of comments and emails from readers.  One reader, after reading Wednesday's post on Long Bridge Park, sent me this picture. 

 

They were pleased to finally learn more about the project via the post!

Long Bridge Park

Last Saturday, the National Building Museum arranged for a tour through the construction site of what will become Long Bridge Park.  The park is in Arlington County and is a brownfield site (for years this site was strictly industrial, serving as a whitegoods dump as well as a site for other industrial uses).  Today the 30-acre site is being converted to parkland, with three sports fields being developed and eventually (during phase II) the construction of a large aquatic sports and recreation center. 

The site represents a terrific grading challenge.  Above, to the far left, you see the ground rises up from the existing grade.  This is the site of an asphalt cap, which seals various metals and pollutants.  The asphalt cap will be topped with soil and be used as a playfield and the finished elevation of that field sets the upper baseline for the site as a whole.  Essentially, all the sports fields are meeting that elevation and parking is being placed beneath one of the fields.  The parking area you see above is a Phase I parking.  In Phase II, a fourth field will be built above the parking deck in this location.  In the foreground of this picture the grade stays the same -- this is the site of a rain garden which will collect runoff from much of the site.

The top photo was taken from the esplanade - a large wall that meets the top-of-field elevation and connects the length of the whole site.  It also buffers the noise from the immediately adjacent train rails (right). 

Above, one looks up to the esplanade from the rain garden.   The project is being led by Hughes Group Architects with Hargreaves Associates being the lead landscape architect and LSG Landscape Architecture functioning as project landscape architect. 

The photo above tells an interesting story.  In addition to the CSX train line, the park is in the shadow of Reagan Airport (you can see a plane ascending in the background).  This relationship posed a special challenge in designing the photometrics for lights in the sports fields.  The posts had to meet a maximum height limitation that was much lower than normal and as a result, the lamps were specially arranged to flood light on the field and avoid shadows.

Millennium Park Crown Fountain

Since I already posted some of my folks' pics from Millennium Park yesterday, I thought I would keep up the theme for this afternoon.  Today I'm sharing some of their photos of the Crown Fountain, designed by artist Jaume Plensa in collaboration with Krueck and Sexton Architects.

 

Water is a wonderful feature in any park where the summers are hot and Chicago is no exception.  97% of the water in this fountain is successfully recycled as well.  The fountain is comprised of two 50' glass towers on each side of the pool.  The towers collectively consist of 22,500 glass blocks. 

 

Video portraits of 1000 Chicagoans appear on the towers.  They are modern-day interpretations of the gargoyles that acted as downspouts on gothic cathedrals and at the end of each cameo, a spout of water streams out of one's "mouth" and into the pool.