Lakeside Center & Music Island open to the public

I began working at the Prospect Park Alliance in February of 2007 when the Lakeside Center was just beginning concept design with Todd Williams and Billie Tsein's office.  This 26 acre site included the demolition of the Kate Wollman Ice Rink, the restoration of Olmsted and Vaux's Music Island and a new 21st century ice rink designed my award winning TWBTA and their wonderful staff lead by Andy Kim and Elisa Testa.  I was the lead designer in the Prospect Park Alliance, guided by Christian Zimmerman and supported by Laura Evans, fresh out of the University of Georgia's landscape architecture program.  Construction began three years ago and this Christmas it was opened to the public for the first time.  I can't explain how wonderful it is to see people walk through a landscape you helped to create.  It becomes real, and all those years of construction seem a dream.

Beautiful snowy pictures below were taken by Christian Zimmerman

Diana Reily, me and the volunteers and the ribbon cutting.  A happy day. Photo by volunteer coordinator Jessica Jamhoury

Looking from the north building green roof, skaters testing it out. Photo by Crystal Gaudio

New Natural Exploration Area in Prospect Park

I was reading From the Forest: A Search for the Hidden Roots of our Fairytales by Sara Maitland when this project came into the office.  A couple wanted to create a place for children in the park and liked the idea of movable play pieces.  We pitched "natural play," and began researching wood, water and sand play environments.  Laura Evans did the research and shaped the concept, Christian pitched it to the clients Donald and Barbara Zucker, and Michy McCreary and I worked with Curtis Barnhart, a craftsman and contractor in the field.

I didn't question the idea of "natural play," it seemed obvious that kids would like wood sculpture and stepping stumps through the woods, but now I think: why?  Sara Maitland would say it is obvious because fairy tales have a special relationship to woods and woods inspire fairy tale thinking.  Watching parents and children romp through the woods in this new exploration area makes me think Maitland might be right.