PUBLIC ART INSTALLATION/INTERIM PARK | PROVIDENCE RI | ON-GOING/ANNUAL

2022 NATIONAL ASLA HONOR AWARD

RIASLA HONOR AWARD

PROVIDENCE PRESERVATION SOCIETY HONOR AWARD

Ten Thousand Suns is a summer-long botanical performance started in the Summer of 2016 in which over 10,000 sunflower seeds were planted and nurtured over the course of the summer months on land that until recently sat under a highway, with high compaction, low-organic material, and embedded with toxicity. A portion of the performance is simply the presence of the community members who volunteered to care for the field, with no other motive than “developing” a garden/park for everyone to enjoy.

In Urban development planning and political efforts often focus around large-scale building as either a generator of revenue for the city and or an effort to attract tourists and new residents/businesses to spur growth. With the relocation of I-195 Highway there emerged a large swath of land in downtown Providence where we have seen a myriad of proposals from baseball stadiums to skyscrapers, all accompanied with a promise to recover and propel the city’s economy. These proposals, however, are often backed by out of state developers, and seeking millions in tax subsidies with no clear return of investment to the city and it’s citizens.

As a landscape architect, I believe in the transformative potential of urban landscape initiatives as a necessary and critical component to a city’s infrastructure. A component that is sometimes not considered above mere beautification, but can provide both economic and ecological benefits necessary to the health of a growing city, and most often, at fractions of the cost of large scale building development.

In the spring of 2011, while a graduate student at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) I watched (and heard) from my studio window the final demolition of the I-195 highway that bisected the city through the heart of the jewelry district. Though I was a fairly new resident to Providence the removal of this large piece of abandoned and foreboding infrastructure (it remained a great spot for a beer(s) and setting off of fireworks I should mention) immediately left a spatial impact on that section of the Providence Riverfront. Access to the water, both physically and visually was easily available as one approached from the east side, also opening clear views to downtown and the Jewelry District.

In the years following I walked by two particular parcels created by the removed highway, now in the direction of the I-195 District Commission, nearly everyday, and like many other spatially driven people wondered about the fate of this no doubt valuable open space.

I began to explore some of the underutilized riverfront and initiated an experiment in the summer of 2015, and a seemingly simple one at that. Not dissimilar to the “The Lupine Lady” as was often referred to me, I sowed approximately one-thousand sunflowers seeds along and near the river’s edge to see not only what the soil would allow to grow, but also people. Would the periodic visit of maintenance crews embrace the guerrilla grown seedlings? Or would they simply be mowed down as “weeds”? If they were to survive long enough to bloom, would passer-bys allow them to remain, or would they be quickly plucked from the ground?

 In the end, of the thousand planted, only four or five survived to bloom. But the botanical experiment planted the seed for a bigger idea, that of planting 10,000 sunflowers in this vacant land with the city skyline as its background, creating an iconic image for the city, and stirring possibilities of the transformative capabilities of landscape.

The sunflower is an incredible plant. For one it’s bloom is striking, easily visible from a great distance, and given the right conditions, can grow ten feet tall in only sixty days. It’s heliotropic, meaning it changes position with the path of the sun. It’s a great pollinator and food source, actively attracting bees and birds. And, it is a phytoremediator, having the capability of sucking toxins out of the ground. It was these qualities that I sought to deploy the sunflower onto this vacant (and polluted) land in what I referred to as a “summer long botanical performance.” After creating some ambitious drawings of the proposed outcome I received permission from the I-195 Commission, and along with a team of volunteers and students of mine from RISD began work.

Reflecting back on two seasons of the project The visible transformation of the land has been remarkable. Most noticeable by the hundreds of people it draws during the bloom on a weekend afternoon, visiting to capture a family photo, or simply to experience the magical moment of seeing the setting sun behind the city skyline amongst a sea of sunflowers. Less noticeable is the ecological transformation, as the sunflowers work to clean toxins present in the soil on site, they also bring a variety of bee species by the thousands, ground plovers who have found refuge in the protection of the sunflower stalks, and feeding frenzy for a variety of bird species when the seeds appear.

It is clear people from all around the state are attracted to the striking bloom, demonstrated by a Instagram search of #10000suns. However, I have received many notes and letters from people who have expressed the impact this simple field has had on their lives that I could not have anticipated, and certainly did not plan for. A woman visiting with her mother with severe dementia, told me the story of how the sunflowers somehow sparked a moment of clarity in her mother. She stopped, grabbed her daughter’s hand and said: “Sunflowers! You held sunflowers in your wedding!”  A touching moment as she told me the story with tears in her eyes and thanked me for the project.

Another woman, a victim of a hit and run accident the year before, used the growing sunflower field as her inspirational location for walking rehabilitation.

A man returning to Providence for his father’s funeral, expressed he found great comfort and peace in the field during a difficult time.

These are but a few of many examples of the potential impact the 10,000 Suns can bring to people’s lives, but at a larger scale it has brought the attention of development possibilities, and that landscape is not merely land waiting for a building. Through many interactions with people in the field I believe it has at least cultivated a greater understanding of landscape initiatives and increased the likelihood that landscape architects will have share a place at the table when further urban development in Providence is planned.

RISD Adjunct Prof. Adam E. Anderson, but made possible by a team of volunteer artists, architects, students, friends, neighbors, and passer-byers.  Permission and funding was granted by the I-195 District Commission and through crowdsourcing. 

Press:

The Return of 10,000 Suns

Landscape Architect Explore's Nature's Role in Urban Development

2016 Rhode Islanders of the Year

Sunflower Project Taking Root on 195-Land

Sunflower Field Project Beginning to Bloom in Downtown Providence

Sunflower Project on Riverfront

Sunflower Field Project Blooms Downtown - Channel 12 Interview

Comments:

"Thank you for the beautiful sunflowers, still going strong! What a wonderful gift to all of us."

"Just want to say thank you for the happiness when driving home.   Makes me smile."

"Beautiful surprise."

"I am back in RI to bury my father and seeing your installation of 10,000 suns this morning brought cheer."

"Every time I walk past 10,000 Suns it makes me so happy - thanks for making it come to life."

PROVIDENCE, RI | COMPLETION: FALL 2024

Client: Providence Office of Sustainability

Team: CIVIC

Designated as permanent public access to the shoreline by the CRMC in July 2021, Public St. is adjacent to Washington Park and South Providence, two waterfront neighborhoods with high levels of industrial land use, air pollution, and childhood asthma. Washington Park is a designated Green Justice Zone, identified by the Racial and Economic Justice Coalition based on the EPA’s Environmental Screening and Mapping Tool.

Transforming this site to offer meaningful public gathering space enhances one of the few waterfront access points in South Providence and Washington Park. Measures to enhance safety and access for all ages, mitigate pollution, and restore ecological diversity on the street are connected to goals for racial justice and climate justice outlined in the City of Providence’s Climate Justice Plan. Redesigning Public St. and the waterfront are an opportunity to create community space and a safe, ecologically rich connection between the city and the river.

Some beginning concept sketches of our Public Street Waterfront access project in an environmental justice zone in South Providence with @designcivic. Here we are exploring different pavement treatments water’s edge conditions to allow for a range of recreational and programmatic conditions, all while allowing existing abutters to maintain business operations.

We are also studying coastal restoration, and how this project can contribute to a larger PVD Port coastline effort. All design efforts will go through a rigorous community led engagement process.

#providence #environmentaljustice #rhodeisland #landscapearchitecture #coastalresilience #waterfronlandscapes #narragansettbay @design.under.sky

PROVIDENCE, RI | COMPLETION: SPRING 2021

RI ASLA HONOR AWARD WINNER

Client: Private

Program/Size: Residential Garden/1,000 SF

Status: Completed Spring 2021

Budget: $60,000

In the heart of the Jewelry District in Downtown Providence, a small unused and unkept space was transformed into a simple modern garden designed for outdoor living. The garden is unified by custom concrete paving/pea gravel ground plane that also integrates a small heated parking space.

The space is framed by a combination of a cedar fence, concrete bench and back rest, a custom automatic security entry gate, as well as European Hornbeams providing a lush and tall thin green wall. The garden is anchored by a precast gas firepit and a specimen Acer griseum provides a living sculptural element.

PROVIDENCE, RI | COMPLETED: SUMMER 2019

RIASLA AWARD WINNER

Client: Downcity Design/PVD Parks

Program/Size: Waterfront Public Park. 5,000 SF

Status: Completed Summer 2019

Note: Design/Build

Budget: $15,000

The waterfront of Providence has been reshaped throughout history, from a coastal salt marsh, industrial port, to its current state; neither fully working, civic, or ecological,  and ill-equipped to handle climate change effects such as storm surges. This problem presents an opportunity.

“The Living Edge” is a small landscape installation demonstrative of a strategy to continue this evolution and create a hybrid of both a culturally and ecologically resilient waterfront, with the intent that this strategy, in conjunction with variations, could be implemented at the city scale to build a unified public realm from downcity to the bay. Its chosen location, adjacent to the kayak ramp and terraced seating on S. Water Street, complements the access to the river this area already affords, and increases its presence as a public space.

The strategy is told in an artful and completely biodegradable landscape allegory. Native forests in Rhode Island have been and continue to be lost. Encroaching seas increase the salinity of soils. Rising temperatures cause heat stress on native plants accustomed to cooler climates. These temperatures fail to kill off pest larvae in winter.  All of this can be attributed to in part to the destruction of the carbon sequestering power of our forests due to urbanization. 

In the “Living Edge” these trees are first memorialized by “fallen log” seating, allowing visitors to occupy the Providence River’s edge. These “fallen trees” transition into native grasslands and meadow, recalling the intertidal marsh estuarine that once existed here. The meadow will provide a spontaneity of biodiversity, with a variety of native flowers and grasses with new species blooming throughout the seasons. Emerging from the grasses are a mix of pioneer species of a young forest (Birch species) and a successional follower of Elm, Oak, and the rare Gymnocladus. The presence of both the young and old forest symbolizing the resiliency of natural systems, and the necessity of trees for the formation of a healthy city. Paths of tree mulch, representing the growth and decay of the forest floor provide access and texture to the landscape mosaic.

What was once an energy intensive and eroded lawn becomes an occupiable wildlife habitat capable of withstanding increased coastal forces of climate change. This project demonstrates the necessity of a coexistence of natural and cultural systems within our city, and the importance of landscape as a critical component of our urban infrastructure.

Living Edge was the winning project of “Imagine Us Here”, a design challenge presented by Down City Design’s CityWorks Fellows in Spring 2019.

PROVIDENCE, RI | COMPLETION: FALL 2022

Client: Providence Planning Department

Architects: InFORM Studio

The Roger Williams Gateway Landscape is a microcosm of the "People's Pleasure Ground", a welcoming pedagogic garden to the surrounding neighborhoods that leads visitors through a transition of landscape spaces from the "Urban to Wild".

Entering through the gateway into the "Urban" portion of the garden, an open permeable hardscape space creates a flexible field for the variety of outdoor programs and events tied to Roger Williams Park and the Gateway. This seamlessly transitions into a "Stormwater Play Garden" that functions both as the primary collector of water for the site but also as a natural play area.

Sculpted grass landforms and log bridges allow visitors to playfully explore the native meadow like planting of the central rain garden. Raised planters intended as demonstration gardens for community education and participation as well heavily planted "eco-edges" inform and engage visitors while creating a beautiful frame for the space.

Leaving the Stormwater Garden, visitors will find themselves entering a forest ecology in which a meandering path leads one through a landscape of densely planted young native trees and a low understory ground plane planting, only to discover at the end of the path a "Treetop Tower" that provides a unique vista back into the garden.

BOSTON, MA | UNDER CONSTRUCTION/COMPLETION 2022

Architect: Payette

The new Beth Israel Deaconess inpatient hospital, their first in twenty years, is a 140 bed state of the art hospital in which the healing potential of nature was integrated throughout the building. Located in the Longwood medical area in Boston, it also rests adjacent to Olmsted’s Riverway. The location of public spaces within the building were oriented to take full advantage of this vista.

At ground level the landscape adds a series of public pocket gardens and a unified streetscape to assist in the hospital’s identity, as well as communicate the healing nature of the hospital. Honey Locust trees and a permeable paving edge were added throughout the Brookline Ave. block to create a dappled shade corridor. A custom sculptural granite planter bench defines the corner and signals the main entry and drop-off for the hospital. Rain garden planters on Francis Ave. collect sidewalk runoff during storm events.

The sixth floor healing garden is an 11,000 sf dedicated space for patients and staff to escape the stressful hospital environment and gain respite and relaxation. The garden is designed to create a “hyper-nature”, with a variety of atmospheric experiences to accommodate the different moods and conditions of its visitors. A meandering, but smooth and accessible path leads to a variety of scaled spaces for both social interaction, or to simply reflect in a nature-like environment in privacy.

Client: Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital

Location:Boston, MA

Program: Streetscape/11,000 sf Roof Healing Garden

Status: Under Construction

Note: Adam E. Anderson was lead Landscape Architect with Payette

WILLIAMSTOWN, MA | COMPLETION 2019 | LEAD LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT

Architect: Payette

Williams College rests In the rural and idyllic New England town of Williamstown Massachusetts, surrounded by the Berkshires and rolling hills of farm pasture and meadow. 

For the landscape of a new Science Center that is to house Geology, Psychology, and Math departments, we sought to bring these iconic vernacular landscape typologies into the campus as a functioning hyper-ecosystem.

Three unique entry spaces relate to the three departments. At the main entry and Psych dept. custom schist stone seat walls and platform planter frame and illuminate the entry, while providing ample seating and viewing of the adjacent quad.

To the South of the building at the Geology dept. entry, a striated paving pattern and schist "rock table" brings the interior programming out into the landscape. This is further extended into a "Geo Storm Garden", with drumlin like landform, "geologic rift" benches, and stone storm water weirs demonstrate the fluidity of geology, while simultaneosuly providing key sustainable stormwater infrastructure.

Native regional plantings and locally quarried stone were used to define miniature eco-tones throughout the site.

Completed as Manager of Landscape Architecture Department at Payette 

LAFAYETTE, PA | COMPLETION 2019 | LEAD DESIGN LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT

At Lafayette College a new LEED-Platinum Science Building is emerging from a complex topography and site conditions. Located at a missing corner of the campus, the project seeks to energize Anderson Courtyard with a dynamic facade and entry courtyard. A pattern of white and grey precast pavers and linear bands project out into the campus.

Adjacent to plaza a grove of honeylocust's create a dappled canopy for reading on movable red chaise lounges and precast benches. At night, the canopy is illuminated by linear in-ground led lighting in a bed of decomposed granite.

On the second floor an double-height atrium wraps around a on structure courtyard of sculptural precast seat planters and an articulated ground plane. The energy of a common space and cafe spill out onto the courtyard diminishing the sense of indoors and out.

With Payette Architects

WALTHAM, MA | COMPLETION 2020 | LEAD LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT

Architect: Payette

Boston Children’s Hospital is expanding clinical services at their Waltham campus by adding a new clinical building and phased renovations to the existing facilities. The new clinical building will provide space for inpatient beds, outpatient clinics and operation rooms, as well as miscellaneous support services and amenities.

The new inpatient building will grow out of a steeply sloping topography to dramatically redefine the identity of Boston Children’s Waltham campus. Highly visible from three directions, it will singularly create a new image for the hospital. A series of eight roof gardens, all with a distinct character and relationship to the interior program, are arranged throughout the building providing patients and staff access to natural elements, air, and light.

A key feature of the campus is the way it sits on the hill. This creates natural challenges in the way the campus physically relates to the adjacent neighborhood. A new series of green spaces can be created between the existing and the new tower, creating a hospital that finds not only new spaces and connections, but also a new heart. Beyond offering new outdoor amenities, these new green spaces in the heart of the campus represent an opportunity for this intervention to fundamentally transform the Waltham campus.

With Payette Architects

HENGQIN ISLAND, CHINA | COMPLETION: 2025

Architects: Payette

The two distinct program elements of the Hengqin Innovation Center – the Conference Center and the Innovation Research Center – are expressed as two complementary architectural forms: the Jewel and the Mountain. A dynamic linear park to the east of the project site and a gently sculpted series of landforms to the north knit together the ground plane between the buildings of the district; they come together to form the dramatic, sculptural figure of the Innovation Research Center tower – the Mountain. The light and soft form of the floating Jewel draws the eye, while the solid strength of the Mountain grounds the complex and connects it back to the earth. The rich beauty and unique character of the complex highlights the importance of the Innovation Center as the heart of Science City.

The landscape for the Hengqin Innovation Center builds upon the concept of the stone and the “Jewel,” extending this idea to both a human and urban scale as complementary landscape forms reach out into the larger context. In the central plaza, textured and sculptural stone form the foundation for rich and colorful native plantings, which perform as botanical gardens. The plantings become the “jewel,” celebrating the native flora of the region. The coarse textured stone of the planter walls meets the ground with a gradient of textured paving surfaces from rough to smooth as it extends out into the plaza, beautifully defining seating areas from pedestrian flow.

Completed while Manager of Landscape Architecture at Payette

PITTSBURGH, PA | COMPLETION: FALL 2022

Client: University of Pittsburgh

Architects: Payette

Construction progress from our project for a new medical education building at UPitt with @payettepeople . Taking inspiration from the unique geology of Pittsburgh, the main entry and terrace is conceptually "carved" from the bedrock, creating a solid and unified landscape/building foundation. Terracing limestone stormwater planters reflect interior terracing social spaces. Designed in collaboration with @yu27pei and @cgar____

Completed while Manager of Landscape Architecture at Payette.

HARTFORD, CT | COMPLETED FALL 2021

Client: University of Hartford

Architects: PAYETTE

Beautifully landscaped with grassy expanses and wooded areas, the University of Hartford’s 350-acre campus is bisected by the Park River into a northern residential sector and a southern academic zone. The academic precinct consists of 15 buildings arranged informally around a large open space known as the Main Academic Green. Over 1,200 feet in length, the Main Green is the campus’ primary unifying element. The buildings that flank it are 2- to 3-stories in height featuring modern red brick and concrete façades with repetitive windows and flat roofs; most were constructed during building booms in the 1960’s and 1980’s and are of relatively inconsistent character. Halfway along its length, the Main Green slopes gently from south to north, dropping about a story in height.

Driven by the University’s desire to create “a destination and activity hub” in the center of campus, the Hursey Center sits prominently in the middle of the Main Green. This unusual approach disrupts the campus’ existing organization, reducing the amount of primary open space but replacing it with several smaller open areas. This siting strategy is noteworthy for two reasons: it gives the building symbolic meaning that is consistent with the client’s goals for the project; and it recalibrates the scale and form of the campus, improving its character, spatial structure and hierarchy.

The building is anchored to the North and South by a custom brick paving pattern plazas developed from desire lines to entry doors and create welcoming outdoor hubs for students and faculty. The southern plaza is nestled by a large rain garden that absorbs an extra water from the 30,000 sf room meadow, which was seeded with native meadow plantings that provide a seasonal shift in color and texture throughout the year, while providing a bio-diverse habitat.

*Lead Landscape Architect while Manager of Landscape Architecture at Payette

CAMBRIDGE, MA | COMPLETION 2024 | LEAD LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT

Architect: Payette

Now under construction is the urban landscape for The Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT, and Harvard. A triangle parcel leads to a “backless” building, with all sides creating strong streetscapes. Particularly on Main Street, where a series of integrated urban spaces provide a generous offering to the public realm of the MIT/Kendell Square area of Cambridge MA. An grove of Linden trees were added to the only two existing trees on-site that were protected. Arched paths lined with custom benches welcome pedestrians and lead them to a covered sculptural fountain/seating area.

Continuous paving patterns stretch across the site, and lead to a covered space with a custom sculptural planter with trees reaching towards the Sky through a 2nd floor oculus and roof garden. At the opposite corner on Main st, arched paths appear again with the addition of public artwork to welcome the local community into the space.

Planting for the project consists of canopy trees that thrive in urban conditions, and textural groundcovers allowing for clear sitelines. An array of bulb plantings offer seasonal dynamics.

At the SW corner, a children’s playground is secured with a custom perforated corten fence that will display and artful image.

Lead Landscape Architect while Manager of Landscape Architecture at Payette

#landscapearchitecture #landscapedesign #urbanlandscape #urbanplaza #fountain #trees #publicrealm #pavingdesign #roofgarden

PROVIDENCE | RI

Providence Gateway Park is an unsolicited proposal that looks to celebrate the historic importance of the Providence River and its evolution over time from naturally occurring salt marsh to industrial waterfront, and suggests that the time has come for a mutual civic/ecological/industrial hybrid be formed. The conceptual design links disconnected parks and public space with a unified language that proposes a true pedestrian corridor to re-imagined “fox-point”.

Planned dredging of the river will be used to create barrier islands at the mouth of the river, diverting storm surge into reclaimed “sponge” water-front parks and ecosystems. Park edges are designed to embrace rising waters and to relieve over-burdened storm-water systems. This is all in addition to providing multiple spaces for cultural events that continuously bring people to enjoy the water’s edge.

SAG HARBOR, NY | COMPLETION: SUMMER 2022

Client: Private

The Sag Harbor Garden in Sag Harbor New York, is a gradient of "wildness" extending to the edges of the adjacent woodlands and the landscape settles into modern lines as you approach the residence. Railway tie "stepping stones" meander you through the woodland edge to find secret spaces including a natural play area.

A partly shaded “blue-lagoon” pool edge will be gently taken over with chartreuse forest grass and transitions into lower creeping ground covers into lawn as you move into the sun. The planting palette was selected and each plant location determined on site.

BOSTON, MA | COMPLETED: FALL 2022

Client: MASSACHUSSETTS OFFICE OF VICTIMS ASSISTANCE

The memorial for the MOVA (Mass. Office for Victims Assistance) Peace Garden in Downtown Boston that is now under construction was both a difficult but rewarding process. Unfortunately, the current space for memorial stones in the garden dedicated to homicide victims has run out, and we were tasked to design a new memorial system while still honoring the current design.

Through several meetings with the organization and a panel of victim's family members we designed a series of stainless steel plaques that will line the current walkway, and create a sculptural edge and feeling of movement as one travels through.

Accessibility was a strong consideration as well the ability to light candles for lost loved ones. Co-designed with @yu27pei with @payettepeople and metal fabrication by @pmacdowell.

Completed while Manager of Landscape Architecture at Payette

PROVIDENCE, RI | DESIGN /BUILD

Client: Community Libraries of Providence

The Providence Community Library at Rochambeau is a special place, and we’re so excited to be designing a new outdoor classroom/garden for them in a small but full of latent potential space. The garden will include a space for small performances, chalkboard, musical instruments, raised garden beds, insects hotels, and quiet reading areas. The design anticipates the heavy involvement of the local community to help build many components of the garden. More to come soon!

NEW LONDON, CT | COMPLETION: PENDING

Client: National Coast Guard Museum

Architects: Payette

The landscape design with Payette for National Coast Guard Museum in New London CT, creating a new urban active waterfront plaza that celebrates the Coast Guard, the museum, and its context. The site is a complex one: the property half on terra firma and half on dock, in a high velocity FEMA storm surge zone, and adjacent to a historic Amtrak station.

The design also seamlessly defines pedestrian and vehicular movement, creating a safe, accessible, and flexible public waterfront space.

Completed while Manager of Landscape Architecture at Payette

PROVIDENCE, RI | COMPLETION: FALL 2017

RIASLA AWARD WINNER

2023 RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY BEST OUTDOOR DINING SPOT

“THE SHACK” is a new seafood shack/biergarten in the heart of former I-195 land, and adjacent to the Wexford Innovation Center under construction. A small transportable "shack" will be set in a garden of three distinct zones, diminishing in constructed materiality and recalling the coastal context of the project .

The “patio” is the main eating area, fed by a path of dark charcoal pavers contrasted by re-purposed granite curbs and crushed sea shell paving. Festoon lighting hangs above classic wood picnic tables creating a backyard bbq feel.

The “stage” is a simple slightly elevated wood platform that will act as the cultural heart of the garden and host a range of planned hip-hop and various other performances. The north portion of the project features the “lawn” where sculpted landforms allow for simple play and the open space allows for a myriad of activities.

All of these components are wrapped in a thick green edge of meadow plantings and native grasses, River Birch and Dawn Redwood trees. The planted edge also acts as a stormwater collection garden, keeping all water on site.  A meandering custom cedar and blue construction fabric fence with integrated lighting artfully cradle the project from neighboring construction that will be taking place in the district. 

The project was designed in close collaboration with the Dune Brothers (the restaurant operators) Stay Silent PVD (Event Planners), JP Murton (Developing Partner), Fuss and O'neil Engineers, and the I-195 District Commission.

HENGQIN, CHINA | COMPLETION: 2021

Seamlessly integrated into the life of the hospital, the landscape design nurtures the well-being of patients, family, visitors, and staff using ecological devices composed in an artful way. The healing nature of water becomes the connective thread throughout the landscape, continuously moving and transforming. Native plantings rich in the colors, textures, and fragrances embed the uniqueness of the local flora, creating a home away from home. These plantings, arranged in accompaniment to a diverse variety of meandering paths and topography unveil a range of spatial experiences to accommodate every level of the healing process. Collectively, these not only reveal a beautiful experiential landscape, but one that functions as an ecological machine by cleaning water, cooling spaces, and reducing energy consumption of the building.

The Landscape is comprised of these primary zones:

The Green Heart:

At the center of the hospital is the Green Heart Garden, a lushly planted green space easily accessible from the hospital. A series of green spaces for shaded seating, tai-chi, walking paths, terraced river access, and a variety of other activities are arranged around a tree covered “mountain” to be enjoyed within close proximity to the hospital.

The Healing Plaza

The healing plaza, an artful and smoothly paved pedestrian area surrounds the green heart garden, and provides patients and staff an accessible space to enjoy the outdoors, with wonderful views down to the central waterfall. This paved area also seamlessly accommodates necessary fire staging dimensions.

The Riverwalk

The riverwalk is a carefully sculpted riverfront promenade which acts the main pedestrian spine in and beyond the hospital site. Following the main riverway, all other pedestrian paths connect and diverge, establishing a easily navigable walking network.

The Rejuvenation Garden

The rejuvenation garden is meandering garden walk robustly planted with fruiting and flowering trees, shrubs, and groundcovers meant to distract and stimulate the senses. The lawn and stone path is green and soft on the feet, and a continuously curving sculptural bench provides ample seating and lighting along the way. A variety of regional birds and butterflies will be attracted to the native flora, and provide an additional layer of sensorial delight.

The Inpatient Garden

The inpatient garden directly adjacent to the inpatient tower is designed to create two widely different outdoor opportunities to engage with nature. The first is a vibrant vegetable garden and orchard, which feels more like a neighboring village than a hospital. Here patients can practise therapeutic gardening activities and enjoy the beauty of the developing garden. The second is a contemplative garden, lush and intimate in feel, small water features arranged within a series of smaller spaces around a smooth walking path provide all one would need for outdoor respite.

Interior Courtyards

Composed of water, stone, and lush understory planting, a myriad of interior courtyard find their way throughout the hospital, embedding nature integratively.

XIANGYA, CHINA | COMPLETION 2020 | LEAD LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT

Architect: Payette

The Fifth XiangYa Hospital will provide a new world class model for the delivery of healthcare in an integrated, efficient and uplifting environment. The Hospital is a 40 acre campus, consisting of a series of interconnected structures, organized in two main groups — the General Hospital and the VIP Hospital — that surround a special central Healing Garden, axially aligned with the Xianguling Park.

The landscape design is inspired by the robust vernacular landscapes of the Hunan Province, with rice and flower terraces, fields of yellow seed flowers, and the karst geography of the mountains, covered in vegetation and mist.

These qualities were embraced within the site and abstracted to respond to site, program, and architecture. Given the scale of the hospital, the tree canopy plays a fundamental role, and acts as a architectural typology, with different tree species identifying different program areas while also providing a human scale to the central courtyards and respite from the hot summer sun.

PROVIDENCE, RI | COMPLETION: FALL 2024

Client: Crossroads RI

Team: KITE Architects

Developed for people with multiple chronic health conditions making them high users of subsidized health care and emergency rooms, the design employs multiple techniques to support healing and well-being, as well as to accommodate a variety of physical and cognitive disabilities. Additionally, the design is fully compliant with the City of Providence’s Transit Oriented Development zoning overlay.

BOSTON, MA | UNDER CONSTRUCTION/COMPLETION 2023

Architect: Studio Luz

Design development drawings for the design of outdoor gathering and workout spaces for a growing fitness gear company headquarters in Boston now under construction.

HOLYOKE, MA | COMPLETION: 2025

Client: DCAMM

Architects: Payette

The Holyoke Soldiers’ Home is a Long-Term Care Facility envisioned as an iconic landmark rising atop a hill – a dynamic form visible from 360 degrees. Sited within a park-like setting, reaching outwards to frame views across the site into the surrounding landscape, the three curved masonry shells define the dynamic form and unique Tricorn geometry. The shells enclose three houses of varying heights, clustered around a shared neighborhood core in the interior, and become the main façades for the three outdoor spaces.

The gardens are a direct program response to the building, providing easily accessible outdoor rooms that offer the veterans fresh air, exercise, sweeping vistas, and social gathering.

Schematic Landscape Master-Plan completed while Manager of Landscape Architecture at Payette

LITTLE COMPTON, RI | SCHEMATIC DESIGN PHASE

On a seven-acre property of former farmland in Little Compton Rhode Island, we are in schematic work for a landscape master plan and residential design to accompany renovations to a family retreat.

The masterplan looks create a landscape that is productive from both an agricultural and ecological perspective. The client's interest in tree propagation will lead to an accumulative orchard and tree nursery to be developed over time. Simple mowed paths between native meadow mixes will provide clean edges and keep maintenance manageable. The majority of the acreage will be managed as a variety of restored meadows and native woodlands.

Along with modern renovations to the home, the landscape is tamed as you approached the homestead. Simple lines and geometries will define outdoor rooms as an extension of the interior. Low groundcovers, Paper Birches, and crush stone, slate, and cedar elements with modern detailing integrate to both the home and the rustic character of landscape context.

SALEM, MA | UNDER CONSTRUCTION/COMPLETION 2017

Architect: Leers Weinzapfel Associates

The Mainstage Theatre at Salem State University is a renovation of their existing theatre both internally and externally. The landscape concept was to bring the energy of performances into the public realm with the creation of an outdoor stage, amphitheater seating, and a spill out plaza from interior performances. Accessibility issues were addressed with a sloped vegetated walkway and backlit perforated screen that ties the landscape back to the building.

Completed while an Associate at Ground, Inc.

This project was a collaboration with Architects Jim Bogle and Jacob Miller.

We have observed two existing conditions that the House of Fairytales must navigate: the Global context of Hans Christian Andersen’s work and the Local context of Odense.  This is our launching point, and in an attempt to realize its form we can discuss our proposal in two parts:  The Anti-Icon and the Icon, or the ugly duckling and the swan, or the Icon.  The anti-icon (ugly ducking) acts in favor of the local, it is completely respectful of the physical and ephemeral characteristics of its physical surroundings.  Its architecture may not be extreme yet it goes out of its way to establish itself as something which “belongs”.  Through the use of a Mat Building Typology, the House of Fairytales can maximize its use of site by scattering galleries (the bulk of the program) throughout its eastern side while remaining low and out of sight.  Bright and transparent corridors take the visitor on a journey which has been conceived as a narrative between the work on display and the Fairytale Garden.  The two are constantly in dialogue with one another, whether looking on to one of the three centripetal gardens within the Museum, performing in the new “tinderbox”, or admiring “Lotze’s Garden”.  The museum remains one story tall, respecting the property of the neighbors.  Our strategy seeks to fully engage the public at the ground level through the weaving of museum program and garden.

Located on the sites west side one encounters the Swan (Icon).  Here, “Lotze’s Garden” raises dramatically from the ground.  An iconic gesture offering a unique formal engagement with Odense’s developing urban fabric, and serves as the gateway into the universe of Hans Christian Andersen, as well as the historic district of OdenseLotze’s Garden offers open space, an outdoor performance space and easily accessible views both outward and inward.  Beneath this garden canopy, visitors are quite literally greeted as they enter by favorite Hans Christian Andersen characters; stone sculptures of some most recognizable function as the canopy’s structure.  This arrival hopes to be a spectacle that would attract the attention of a global audience.  At the museums center, Hans Christian Andersen Tower rises above the city.  At the museums center, Hans Christian Andersen Tower rises above the city.  At its top is the man himself, dipped in gold.  An elevator allows visitors to access the towers top, where accompanied by a statue of Hans Christian Andersen, they are treated to panoramic views of the city. The tower and the glowing statue of the man himself serves as an iconic beacon seen from near and far, an orientation, and foretelling of the inner beauty of the museum and garden below.

We can only project as to how much of a global presence this, or any proposal will have. Yet, because of the nature of Hans Christian Andersen’s work, the House of Fairytales will be an inevitable link between Odense and the world.  Therefore, its success as a potential must see attraction relies on the dialogue between the work on display and its dialogue with the museums more active program; such as public gardens, performance space, cafes, and shops.  Our proposal attempts to rearrange the existing program in a way that allows for the possibility of discovery at the home Hans Christian Andersen.