Seattle-based landscape architect Gustafson Guthrie Nichol (GGN) has been selected to design Hemisfair’s Civic Park in San Antonio, Texas. The contract to move forward with the design for the 8+ acre downtown park was approved by the San Antonio City Council on the 20th of May.
From the Architects:
The park will be an uncommonly beautiful urban green space offering enriching and captivating experiences that strengthen our community. It will be part of a series of three parks on the Hemisfair site, all of which will be embraced by a vibrant and walkable district. The civic park at Hemisfair is scheduled to open to the public in 2018 to celebrate San Antonio’s Tricentennial and the 50th Anniversary of the World’s Fair. Design will be based on the community’s vision for this park.
GGN will work closely with local firm Alamo Architects to lead a team of local and national design and engineering experts. GGN’s design effort will be led by founding principal Kathryn Gustafson and principal Keith McPeters. Gustafson’s work includes the Lurie Garden at Millennium Park in Chicago, Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial at Hyde Park in London, Cultuurpark Westergasfabriek in Amsterdam, Seattle City Hall Plaza, Valencia Parque Central in Spain, and the Robert and Arlene Kogod Courtyard at the Smithsonian American Art Museum and National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC.
“We were immediately drawn to the Hemisfair project as a rare opportunity to create one of the world’s great public spaces," said Kathryn Gustafson. "We are excited by the design potential inherent in the cross-cultural influences that define and propel San Antonio – a city with a rich history and a growing urban population,” said Kathryn Gustafson.
The non-profit Hemisfair Park Area Redevelopment Corporation (HPARC) is leading the transformation of the Hemisfair site into an urban oasis beloved by the whole community. Located at one of the busiest pedestrian intersections in the city – Market Street and Alamo Street – the civic park will serve as the new front porch of San Antonio and replace the outdated portion of the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center.
“The Hemisfair civic park will be the centerpiece of the Decade of Downtown,” said San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro.
In addition to GGN and Alamo Architects, other project consultants include Magnusson Klemencic Associates, Vickrey & Associates, CNG Engineering, Ximenes & Associates, Jaster-Quintanilla, Tillett Lighting Design, Drew Collaborative Works, Toole Design Group, CMS Collaborative, Theatre Projects Consultants, and ETM Consultants.
A name for the civic park has not yet been determined.
Project: Hemisfair’s Civic Park
Designed by Gustafson Guthrie Nichol
Location: San Antonio, TX, USA
Website: www.ggnltd.com
