The Leading with Landscape II: The Houston Transformation conference explored how ambitious, large-scale landscape-architectural projects are taking the lead in shaping the nation’s 4th largest city. Held at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston Brown Auditorium on March 11, 2016, the conference brought together some of the leading thinkers and landscape architects who presented nationally significant projects. To learn more about the conference: http://tclf.org/sites/default/files/microsites/houston2016/index.html
Panelist, Chapter Two: Looking Forward
Chip Trageser, FASLA, Principal, The Office of James Burnett
Levy Park: Re-inventing The Upper Kirby District’s Green Space; A Public / Private Partnership
As more cities become aware of the benefits associated with the creation of well-programmed public open spaces, what improvements are being established for those in the less densely populated areas? How does the formation of a park become the center of a neighborhood and give validation to the mix of uses in areas between the urban core and suburbia?
Located in the Upper Kirby District of Houston, Texas, Levy Park was a veiled, underutilized green space within a medium density neighborhood along the Richmond office corridor, with a freeway edge and multi-family rentals at the perimeter. Through the formation of a public-private partnership, the transformation of a forgotten 11-acre site into the centerpiece of a district began to take form.
Formulating such an alteration to an unrecognized space requires a conscious effort to attune with the site’s existing conditions and potential as well as the adjacent community members’ aspirations for the area. An ensemble of considerations concerning culture, connectivity, and stewardship was orchestrated to produce a successful park plan that not only improves a neighborhood, but also invigorates it.
source
UCjigTej9Z12whLkAwgVgm8g
