The Park, as the most recognizable landscape typology within the civic realm, positions the designed landscape within the public imagination: it is at once neutral territory and layered with personal and collective histories. It is also a place where highly engineered natural systems are integrated to perform ecological functions. This interplay of cultural meaning and regional ecology makes the Park fertile ground for transformative design.
Nelson Byrd Woltz challenges the traditional paradigm of the public park. Rather than treating the park as an object of nature in opposition to the built environment, NBW integrates the social and ecological functions of the adjacent context. Thus, the design language is embedded with the cultural narratives and natural histories of the cities and towns where these parks are situated. Civic plazas, botanic gardens, arboreta, and parks become immersive experiences of regional ecology and community engagement.
