Projects

How Midsize Cities Are Driving America’s Urban Transformation

Explore how American cities with populations under 1 million are reimagining themselves with bold projects and policies, and driving urban transformation and innovation.

Projects

Public Water Presents New York’s Complex Drinking Water System in Miniature

Located at the northern entrance to Brooklyn's Prospect Park, the newest work by artist Mary Mattingly emulates New York City's watershed.

Projects

Railyard Park Signifies a Small-Town Renaissance in Northwest Arkansas

Partially funded by the Walton Family Foundation’s Design Excellence Program, Ross Barney Architects’ five-acre project is part of a surprising public space boom in the region.

Projects

Arthur Erickson’s Decades-Old Vision for Vancouver’s Robson Square Is Finally Realized

The revised plazas, which encircle the Vancouver Art Gallery, streamline Robson Square as a continuous, pedestrianized public space with nods to local culture.

Projects

The New Betsy Head Park Is an Accessible, Pandemic-Friendly Retreat for Brooklynites

Abel Bainnson Butz led the expansive $30 million redesign of Brownsville’s biggest park, with a focus on serving diverse abilities and activities.

Projects

From a Complicated Present, Urban Reuse Parks Look to the Future

Metropolis catches up with the High Line Network, a consortium of North American reuse projects that has been sharing notes and best practices through the pandemic.

Projects

To Illuminate Raleigh’s Museum Park, Less is More

At the North Carolina Museum of Art's popular park, careful changes in color temperature follow the progression of outdoor spaces.

Projects

At Toronto’s Bentway, Lighting Is a Base Layer for Artistic Intervention

PUBLIC WORK and Tillett Lighting Design Associates conceived the strategy with hyper-flexibility in mind.

Projects

A Russian Parks Program Creates Over 350 Public Spaces and Nurtures Local Design Talent

Costing less than glitzier parks in Moscow, the Tatarstan initiative is revivifying the local design and manufacturing bases with a "teach a man to fish" approach.

Projects

NBBJ Reimagines a Piece of Seattle Infrastructure as a Sustainable Civic Landmark

The recently-completed Denny Substation includes an elevated path, dog park, open plazas, meeting rooms, and an art gallery.

Projects

A Brutalist Landmark and Skateboarding Mecca in London Is Restored

The Southbank Centre's famous Undercroft was a global destination for skateboarders, though it was threatened by closure and decay.

Projects

DS+R Designs Elevated Walkway for London’s Greenwich Peninsula

The first phase of the High Line–esque walkway, which features vaulted steel piers and multiple landscaped "islands," opened this week.

Projects

In Detroit, Empty Lots Become Parks, Helping to Rebuild Lost Social Equity

An ongoing plan by landscape architects Spackman Mossop Michaels (SMM) is tying together the neighborhood of Fitzgerald, which has been atomized by vacancy and foreclosure.

Projects

A Public Park in Montreal Aims to Right the Wrongs of Past Development Schemes

The city and local firm Groupe Rousseau Lefebvre turned a 1960s expressway into "a prestigious, functional, and user-friendly gateway to downtown."

Projects

Feilden Fowles’s New Visitor Center for the Yorkshire Sculpture Park Is a Quiet Triumph

A softly-spoken essay in subtle details, the new visitor center is less about itself and more about the dramatic landscape it inhabits.