Paris / Parc des Buttes Chaumont on Street View

View Larger Map 

The Parc des Buttes-Chaumont  is a public park situated in northeast of Paris, in the 19th arrondissement. Occupying 24.7 hectares, it is the fifth-largest park in Paris, after the Bois de Vincennes, the Bois de Boulogne, the Parc de la Villette, and the Tuileries Garden. It was opened in 1867, late in the regime of Emperor Napoleon III, and was built by Jean-Charles Alphand, who created all the major parks of Napoleon III. The most famous feature of the park is the Temple de la Sibylle, inspired by the Temple of Vesta in Tivoli, Italy, perched at the top of a cliff thirty metres above the waters of the artificial lake.

Madrid Rio Project

Photo by Pete Carr

The Madrid Río project originated when the section of the M-30 ring road running parallel to the Manzanares River was moved underground, resulting in an area of parkland 10 kilometres long. The river bank has thus become an integral part of the city centre, and now offers Madrilenians and visitors an area surrounded by vegetation and filled with wide a range of sports, leisure and cultural facilities. The redeveloped area covers 649 hectares in six districts: Moncloa-Aravaca, Centro, Arganzuela, Latina, Carabanchel and Usera. The Madrid Río project will create a large area of environmental, sporting, leisure and cultural interest.

The restoration process has affected the course of the river itself, both banks and nearby streets. Now that the area has been freed from traffic coming from the M-30, Madrid residents and visitors to the city can once again start enjoying the Manzanares. Moreover, the project has meant removing an obstacle which has separated the districts from the centre and south-east of the city for so long. To achieve this, 17 new walkways have been built, among them the Matadero and Invernadero walkways, whose arches are decorated with mosaics by Daniel Canogar, the Puente del Principado de Andorra bridge, and the bridge designed by Dominique Perrault, which crosses over the new Arganzuela Park and links Paseo de Yeserías with Avenida del Manzanares. Some of these walkways are destined to become new landmarks in the city. Other existing pedestrian bridges have also been rehabilitated, including the Puente de Segovia bridge, which has recovered the splendour of Juan de Herrera's 16th-century design, and the old dams have been transformed into walkways.

http://www.esmadrid.com/en/madridrio

UN Studio - The New Amsterdam Plein and Pavilion, New York

The New Amsterdam Plein and Pavilion is a gift from the Netherlands to New York in honour of 400 years of friendship. The project was conceived by the Battery Conservancy to create an extraordinary 'outdoor living room' for spontaneous and scheduled activities, public markets, seating and shade, and a gleaming white, state-of-the-art pavilion for visitor information and delicious locally grown gourmet food. UNStudio's design creates a 5,000 square-foot, carefully programmed space located within Peter Minuit Plaza. This highly sculptural pavilion stands as a gateway to the park and waterfront, with an expressive, undulating roofline and curving walls; a compact building with the authority of a major landmark, evoking a flower opening to its surroundings.

 Today the park is the largest and most dynamic public place in Lower Manhattan. The New Amsterdam Plein & Pavilion is made possible by a grant from the government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to The Battery Conservancy and was developed in collaboration with the Parks Department and the Department of Transportation. The pavilion was designed by UNStudio, with Handel Architects LLP (New York) serving as associate architect. The Peter Minuit Plaza forms a rare park/transit meeting ground and defines a new era in public space design and construction. It weaves together trees, gardens, art, sculpture, food, and information with ferries, subways, buses, bikes, and pedestrians and forms an iconic, recognizable spot for residents and visitors alike. The new pavilion forms the centerpiece of the plaza.

UN Studio