City officials along with Newark Community Economic Development Corporation’s Acting CEO Scott Blow, and The Trust for Public Land State Director Anthony Cucchi held a press conference today to announce the appointment of James Corner Field Operations to serve as lead designer landscape architect for the next phase of Newark’s Riverfront Park.
Internationally-renowned architect James Corner and his firm will lead the design efforts for the next phases along the City’s award-winning Riverfront Park, which has so far been opened in the East Ward. The new portion will continue the park northward up the Passaic River.
James Corner projects include:
- The High Line (New York City)
- Santa Monica’s Tongva Park and Ken Gensler Square
- The Race Street Pier (Philadelphia)
- Freshkills Park (Staten Island)
- MGM Mirage City Center (Las Vegas)
- Shelby Farms Park (Memphis)
- Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park (London)
- Chicago’s Navy Pier
- Qianhai Water City (China)
- Seattle’s Central Waterfront
- Tsim Sha Tsui Waterfront (Hong Kong)
The Race Street Pier was one of the first public spaces to be realized as part of the
ambitious Civic Vision for Philadelphia’s Central Delaware Riverfront. For the Delaware
River Waterfront Corporation, Field Operations’ design creates a strong physical
experience that reconnects the City to the River, activates the water’s edge and
establishes a distinctive new public park for the people of Philadelphia. The physical
design of the pier is split into two levels – a sky promenade on the upper level and a
lower level for passive recreation. A ramp rises along the north face of the pier below
the Ben Franklin Bridge, dramatizing the sense of arriving into the space of the river with
iconic views back to the Philadelphia skyline. The lower level supports a multi-purpose
lawn, rich and layered planting beds and generous seating. It is enormously popular,
attracting a diverse range of people for events both large and small.
“This is an incredible opportunity for the City of Newark to transform and re-focus itself around one of its greatest assets – the Passaic River,” said James Corner, Founder and Director of James Corner Field Operations.
“Newark is undergoing a major revitalization that we want everyone to enjoy,” said Newark Mayor Ras J. Baraka. “First impressions matter and we want everyone’s first impression of our City, our gateways and our parks to be a positive one. Working with James Corner Field Operations on Riverfront Park will help give Newark the design-world credibility that we deserve. Our continued work on Riverfront Park will allow the Passaic River to serve as another front-door into the City.”
“Redevelopment and economic revitalization of a major metropolitan city require developers, financiers, architects, designers, artists, builders and the like to work together in concert, ” said Deputy Mayor Baye Adofo-Wilson. “It’s when we work together for the good of the City, as we are doing here on the Riverfront Park project, that we are able to re-build a Newark for everyone.”
