DETAILS
A new office tower, theater and café pavilion known as Alameda is being built in the high end district of downtown Sao Paulo; the centerpiece of the site design is the Alameda civic plaza. Lifted gently above the street level, four generous steps invite visitors to enter and explore the plaza while branded light pylons at all major entrances serve as place markers defining the boundary of the new development. An illuminated water feature of fountain jets and fog erupts from the organic patterned “Art Carpet” at the center of the plaza. Set in a field of mottled grey granite pavers, the dramatic pattern of deep blue and white tiles evokes the rich history of Brazil’s mosaic art tradition. For plaza events, the water feature can be diminished or turned off for additional gathering space.
An illuminated “Runnel of Light” weaves through the Art Carpet, past the theater, along the length of the Alameda, emulating Brazil’s ecology in abstracted form. This light stream guides visitors through the plaza and serves as an interpretive element, drawing from the site’s natural past. The terminus of the Runnel of Light is Memorial Wall, honoring those who worked on the plaza.
A raised lawn plateau bordered by granite steps and illuminated seat walls provides elevated views from among a grove of palms. An adjacent shade pavilion acts as both a beacon to enter the plaza and a shelter for refreshments. Seating areas are provided among ornamental gardens located throughout the site. Wood decks shaded by trees and containing cafe style seating are accessible at the ground floor of the buildings and feature installations of sculpture. Throughout the site a one-meter-high illuminated red wall provides dramatic framing of the gardens and conceals undesirable views.
Naftzger Park
Naftzger Park offers a contemporary and communal gathering space in downtown Wichita with enough variety to appeal to everyone. Designed to activate an area of town between Old Town and a burgeoning new entertainment district, the park is at once an urban foye...
Chelsea Waterside Park
In 1986, Thomas Balsley Associates was asked by the Chelsea Waterside Park Association to translate this community’s vision for a waterfront park into a design document that would be used to plan the new Route 9-A and the proposed Hudson River Park. Ten years later, when funding for the Chelsea Waterside Park was identified, Thomas Balsley Associates won an in...
SIPG Harbor City Parks
This new riverfront development is located on the Yangtze River in the Baoshan District of Shanghai. This area boasts some of the highest shipping activity in the world. However, in recent years this single-function industrial zone has given way, allowing for waterfront parks to develop. Within this historically layered water front the Baoshan Park and Open Sp...
Jinbocho Redevelopment
Situated in central Tokyo’s university and publishing district, this new mixed-use project brought urban streetscape character to its immediate neighborhood through the introduction of plazas whose fountains, seating areas, cafes and sculptures serve residents, workers, and the community as a refuge from the busy streets.
A diagram of pedestrian flows t...