A new residential tower has risen across the street from the Empire State Building. As a zoning incentive, a new public plaza was included to attract and accommodate the area’s tourists as well as its diverse office and residential neighborhood. The space is defined by a clean, contemporary design composition of spaces, elements, and custom furniture meant to foster social seating. With very little sunlight available, the design has embraced glass-enclosed light elements such as pylons, feature walls, wall coping,s and in-ground linear fixtures to enrich the environment. Given the dearth of open spaces in the area and the high demand that was predicted through extensive research, a strategy for public seating choices was employed. A long distinctive banquette and entrance path is an armature from which shaded gardens, picnic tables, and a raised seating overlook are arranged. The plaza has become an oasis of social activity throughout the day and brings tourists and hard-core New Yorkers together in a communal setting.
La Plaza Cultura Village
Located within El Pueblo, the birthplace of Los Angeles, La Plaza Cultura Village is a mixed-use, transit-oriented development totaling 425,000 square feet of retail, apartments (20 percent of which are low income units), cultural facilities, and public open space. Two large, surface parking lots have been transformed into a vibrant community that builds upon ...
Xiamen Air Headquarters
The Xiamen Airlines campus comprises three large buildings: the corporate headquarters, a business hotel, and a commercial center. To unify the site, the landscape spans across the campus as it transitions to express the distinct character of the various programs and patronage. Lush perimeter terraces adorn the stately Foster + Partners-designed buildings, med...
United Daily News Plaza
United Daily News Plaza is located on one of the busiest streets of Taipei – Chong Shao East Road. It is a 6,000-square-meter mixed-use project with two building sites. Site A consists of a mixed-use building with a bank and cafe on the first floor, and service apartments on all the floors above. Site B is a residential building. The main design concept ...
Poly Pazhou Mixed-Use
The iconic architecture and riverside context that characterize Poly Pazhou were inspirations in this SWA/SOM collaboration, which also took adjoining development in the burgeoning region into account. Broad, sweeping landscape, featuring diverse local plant species, embraces both the soaring buildings and the Pearl River corridor, extending its spatial charac...