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July 19, 2005
Capitol Plaza Award
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Tom Balsley, whose firm is responsible for two of our favorite public spaces, Gantry Plaza State Park in Queens and Balsley Park on 9th Avenue and 56th street in Manhattan, has just won an ASLA (American Society of Landscape Architecture) award for Capitol Plaza. The plaza- more of a passageway between buildings than an open square-runs between 26th and 27th streets just east of 6th Avenue. Like all of Balsley's best work it's playful and bright. An orange painted corrugated metal wall with large decorative perforations masks the brick wall of the neighboring building. There are four discrete seating areas and lots of tables for eating lunch. Our only reservation is about the planting, which is pretty spotty. There are a few grasses and a lot of bamboo - some of it already dead. Who knows whether that's more of a maintenance problem than a design flaw. At any rate, the plaza is full of people./p>
Posted by gardenguidenyc at July 19, 2005 03:27 PM