Top Technically Innovative Projects

Teardrop Park – 2009 General Design Honor Award Winner image: Elizabeth Felicella — Teardrop Park – 2009 General Design Honor Award Winner
image: Elizabeth Felicella

When PPN members were asked to name technically innovative projects, we received many unique ideas and suggestions, with projects from across the country and around the world. The following were the only ones mentioned more than once:

Central Park, New York City
The High Line, New York City
Jefferson National Expansion Memorial and the Gateway Arch, St. Louis
Millennium Park, Chicago
National 9/11 Memorial, New York City
Teardrop Park, New York City

High Line, Section 2 - 2013 General Design Honor Award Winner Aerial View of The Woodland Flyover. A metal walkway rises eight feet above the High Line, allowing groundcover plants to blanket the undulating terrain below, and carrying visitors upward, into a canopy of sumac and magnolia trees. image: Iwan Baan — High Line, Section 2 – 2013 General Design Honor Award Winner
Aerial View of The Woodland Flyover. A metal walkway rises eight feet above the High Line, allowing groundcover plants to blanket the undulating terrain below, and carrying visitors upward, into a canopy of sumac and magnolia trees.
image: Iwan Baan

The Lurie Garden, Millennium Park - 2008 General Design Award of Excellence Winner The Lurie Garden is prominently sited at the southern edge of Chicago's Millennium Park, adjacent to the Great Lawn with bandshell and trellis designed by Frank O. Gehry & Associates. Chicago's skyline and Lake Michigan are visible on the horizon. image: Linda Oyama Bryan — The Lurie Garden, Millennium Park – 2008 General Design Award of Excellence Winner
The Lurie Garden is prominently sited at the southern edge of Chicago’s Millennium Park, adjacent to the Great Lawn with bandshell and trellis designed by Frank O. Gehry & Associates. Chicago’s skyline and Lake Michigan are visible on the horizon.
image: Linda Oyama Bryan

Sometimes the least mentioned places are the ones that should be most shared, so we can learn about new places and innovations in the field. Here are a few of the many projects mentioned:

Biltmore Estate – Asheville, NC
Center for Sustainable Landscapes, Phipps Conservatory – Pittsburgh, PA
Crissy Field, Golden Gate National Recreation Area – San Francisco, CA
Dilworth Park – Philadelphia, PA
Ford Rouge Center Landscape – Dearborn, MI
Bellagio Fountains – Las Vegas, NV
Freshkills Park – Staten Island, NY
Gene Leahy Mall – Omaha, NE
Green Roofs: Chicago City Hall – Chicago, IL and ASLA Headquarters – Washington, D.C.
Hidcote Manor Gardens – Cotswolds, UK
Lafayette Park – Detroit, MI
Main Street Garden – Dallas, TX
Morton Arboretum – Lisle, IL
Orange County Great Park – Irvine, CA
Tanner Springs Park – Portland, OR
The Yards Park – Washington, D.C.

Adding Green to Urban Design - 2011 Analysis and Planning Honor Award Winner Chicago City Hall’s green roof, installed in 2000, has become a symbol of a commitment to sustainability. The building is shared with the county, where no green roof exists, providing a research laboratory for measuring impacts on temperature and air quality. image: City of Chicago and Hitchcock Design Group — Adding Green to Urban Design – 2011 Analysis and Planning Honor Award Winner
Chicago City Hall’s green roof, installed in 2000, has become a symbol of a commitment to sustainability. The building is shared with the county, where no green roof exists, providing a research laboratory for measuring impacts on temperature and air quality.
image: City of Chicago and Hitchcock Design Group

The view from Freshkills Park image: Alexandra Hay — The view from Freshkills Park
image: Alexandra Hay

At the start of 2013, a questionnaire was sent out to members of ASLA’s Professional Practice Networks (PPNs). The theme: favorite spaces. As you can imagine, responses were varied, and included many insightful comments and suggestions. Synopses of the survey results were originally shared in LAND over the course of 2013, and we are now re-posting this information here on The Field. For the latest updates on the results of the annual PPN Survey, see LAND’s PPN News section.