“The cultural significance of the park—stretching over Interstate 35E, reconnecting neighborhoods in Oak Cliff that had been physically and economically separated for decades—cannot be overstated. This park has the potential to change Dallas for the better … Halperin Park represents Dallas at its best.”
– Dallas Morning News Editorial Board
In the 1950s, I-35E was routed through the South Dallas community of Oak Cliff, demolishing a thriving Black commercial corridor and one of the first Freedmen’s towns established after the Civil War. In the decades that followed, as in so many cities across the U.S., freeway construction severed long-standing social and economic ties and set in motion decades of disinvestment.
Halperin Park, opened in 2026 after nearly a decade of advocacy and engagement, begins to repair the divide, spanning the highway between Ewing and Marsalis Avenues and restoring a walkable connection along the original path of 12th Street. Designed by SWA and HKS, the park translates Oak Cliff’s cultural and environmental history into built form, with sculptural landforms recalling the limestone and shale geology beneath the neighborhood, shaping subtle grade changes that guide movement and frame views toward the downtown skyline.
Across the deck, a sequence of public spaces includes a walkable promenade and Oak Cliff Walk of Fame along the original path of 12th Street, mass-timber bandshell and multipurpose pavilion, flexible great lawn, treehouse-inspired playground, perennial gardens, shaded seating, and two water features that extend comfort through North Texas summers. Opened amid a nationwide reckoning with the damage caused by midcentury highway construction, Halperin Park is rooted in Oak Cliff history while joining a broader effort to reclaim freeway infrastructure as public ground.
Lin'an High Tech Park
Lin’an Qingshan Lake Forest Technology Park offers a premier destination for high-tech and green-tech businesses. Designed in harmony with nature, this mixed-use community will foster productivity and connections to its physical and cultural setting, providing a vibrant mix of uses and a business culture appealing to a wide range of international enterprises. ...
Shanghai EXPO UBPA (Urban Best Practice Area)
Shanghai EXPO’s Urban Best Practice Area surrounds the Plein Air Museum Park, which chronicles the unique and rich history of the site through objects of art, artifacts, and architecture. The landscape component of the museum park is expressed physically in the form of a Central Park: a gathering space and activity center for the community. The landscape was a...
Stanford University Terman Park
The removal of an existing building adjacent to the center of Stanford’s campus provided a unique opportunity to fashion an interim park space. The project emphasizes reuse and seeks to utilize salvaged materials as well as the existing grading and fountain as key features of the park. As a multifunctional performance and recreational space, the project ...
Dongguan Central Park Area
This new 32-hectare park is envisioned as a “livability magnet” in the ongoing renewal of the Dongguan’s Central Business District, intended to attract new talent to the reputed “world’s factory.” SWA conceptualized the park as a living system, inspired by the durable, growing roots of a banyan tree. The design leverages thoughtful soil, water, and planting st...