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Located on the Hudson River at the southwestern edge
of Manhattan adjacent Battery Park, Wagner Park is the
final and southernmost park to be developed in accordance
with the 1978 Battery Park City Master Plan. As such,
it serves as an important link connecting the riverside
open spaces of Battery Park City to Battery Park. Panoramic
views to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island give
Wagner Park the potential to become both a civic space
of national significance, and a gateway to the city.
Because of the Olin Partnership's previous involvement
with the creation of the Battery Park City Master Plan,
and with the detail design and construction of Phases
I and II of the waterside Esplanade, we were familiar
with many of the Wagner Park site constraints such as
high winds, tidal fluctuations, poor soils, and engineering
restrictions on construction over the seventy-foot wide,
dock like structure which underlies the park's riverside
edge. As prime consultant for the park's design and
construction, Olin Partnership coordinated all the other
design and engineering consultants, and was responsible
for the contract documentation and construction observation
for the park.
The 3.5 acre site is relatively small, but the design
team has been able to create a variety of spaces and
focal points. These are dominated by a civic viewing
terrace which is flanked by intimate perennial gardens
and a broad lawn to the North. Low seatwalls, topography
and planting are used to create vertical variation on
the original flat, sandy landfill. |
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