Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates

Office In Focus, Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, recognised with the LILA Honour Award 2024! Excerpt from the award statement: “MVVA was established in 1982 in New York City by Michael Van Valkenburgh and today comprises over 100 people in four offices. Their portfolio features an astounding number of dramatically diverse works of all scales, from complex waterfronts, flood infrastructure, long-term developments, parks, plazas, and campuses to tiny courtyards. A subtle and particular MVVA’s touch is tangible throughout the portfolio. It is a quiet, yet recognizable presence, unconcerned with the passing trendy aesthetic regimes and introduced so diligently, it always positively complements landscape’s performative functions and ultimately deepens the experience. MVVA’s design approach reflects a respectful yet confident and playful conversation between expression, function, and the dynamics of natural processes.” #landschaftsarchitektur #landschaftsarchitekten #landskapsarkitektur #landscapearchitecture #landscapearchitect #publicspace #socialspace #landscapedesign #urbanism #urbanplanning #urbandesign #landscape #landscapephotography #paisage #landschaft #paisaje #paysage #landskap #landskapsarkitekter #usadesign #usaarchitecture #usalandscape #usalandscapedesign #usalandscapearchitecture

Something big IS on its way! The stunning Ralph Wilson Park bridge is heading to Buffalo, NY via the Erie Canal. It will take off from the Port of Coeymans early on Friday, July 5th, land in Buffalo by July 16th, and be installed across the 190 later this fall, providing a grand entrance from the lower West Side to a transformed Ralph Wilson Park. Follow along @RalphWilsonParkBridge on Instagram to find out how you can see the boat along the Erie Canal AND buy your tickets TODAY to our very first fundraiser boat cruise on July 16th (yes - it's 716 day!) so you can be one of the first people to see the bridge in Buffalo! ⛴ https://bit.ly/4eJu3q9 schlaich bergermann partner sbp Gilbane Building Company Carver Companies Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates Katie Campos Mark McGovern Kari Root Bonaro

I’ve had the pleasure of documenting the construction site at Ralph C Wilson, Jr. Centennial Park for my friends at the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy since ground broke in 2022. Here’s a quick video showing progress at the new children’s playground, featuring this awesome bear playscape created by MONSTRUM. I can’t wait to take my 2 boys here to play. More of my work can be found on my instagram account: instagram.com/3andathird Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates

Join us on Saturday, June 15th for a day in Brooklyn Bridge Park to celebrate MVVA’s new monograph! We will be meeting at the Pier 3 Greenway Terrace at 11:00, where there will be signed books for sale by Head Hi and bites courtesy of Fornino and La Newyorkina MVVA partners Michael Van Valkenburgh, Matthew Urbanski, and Gullivar Shepard will lead free tours to discuss the design process behind key moments in the landscape, while Brooklyn Bridge Park Corporation horticulturalists Rashid Poulson and Evelyn Manlove will share an inside look at the stewardship practices that sustain the park’s 85 acres. This event is FREE and open to the public. Please sign up for a tour at the link below. https://lnkd.in/eWyzu6hF

🚧 CONSTRUCTION UPDATE 🚧 On Friday, May 24, #WaterlooGreenway welcomed a new 142-foot truss bridge over Waller Creek as part of phase two of the park project, The Confluence. The lightweight lattice bridge is the first of three to be installed south of Cesar Chavez St. that will provide new east-west access over lower Waller Creek. Learn more about the work we’re doing to restore Waller Creek and build new connections at waterloogreenway.org/news. 📸 Suzanne Cordeiro

After two years of construction, the 26-acre Commons at Hermann Park in Houston opened to the public last month with a ribbon cutting at the restored Wortham Pavilion. The Commons was designed by MVVA as one of three projects funded by the Hermann Park Conservancy’s $56 million Play Your Park campaign. The Commons reinvigorates an underutilized corner of the Park and creates a more inviting gateway and asset for the community. Once a flat, open area dominated by busy roads and its boundary with the Zoo, the Commons embeds a range of activity in a lush and varied landscape oriented inward toward its rolling central lawn. The anchor of the project is a two-acre destination Play Garden, which invites adventurous exploration with engaging sensory play to create a wide variety of accessible play spaces for children of all ages, including equipment designed by Richter Spielgerate and Monstrum. The Commons is just the beginning of MVVA’s, and the Conservancy's 20-year Master Plan commissioned in 2015. The master plan aims to stitch the fragmented Park’s 445 acres back together and reinvent its underutilized areas to better welcome Houstonians. 

We are honored to share that Brooklyn Botanic Garden has received the @asla_ny 2024 Award of Excellence. Brooklyn Botanic Garden (BBG) is a historic community resource located at the center of Brooklyn that is driven by its mission for growth—in horticultural practices, climate adaptation, and visitor experience. A suite of recent projects has expanded ecology and horticulture programming for children, improved the garden’s accessibility, and reduced the site’s reliance on freshwater while easing the burden on the city’s aging stormwater infrastructure. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/eXTAJDbi Photography by: Lexi Van Valkenburgh Alex MacLean Liz Ligon

In honor of World Water Day, we are highlighting the enormous transformation of the Don River’s mouth at Toronto’s Port Lands. The project reached a major milestone in February when the constructed one-kilometer river valley was filled with water up to the same elevation as Lake Ontario. Both ends remain plugged in order to give the aquatic plants time to adapt before allowing water to freely flow through the waterway. The value of access to public waterfronts and restoring water systems compatible with nature is at the core of what we do, and it has been our privilege to improve the safety and quality of life for the people of Toronto and to enable the growth of a new, sustainable urban district with a living, working landscape at its heart. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/egFQ5DHx

Check out the latest progress in the Port Lands. The river is now full of water, and you can see the parks starting to take shape. https://lnkd.in/gGAYVu5a

Michael Van Valkenburgh recently spoke with Bloomberg CityLab about Brooklyn Bridge Park to mark the arrival of our new book spanning more than two decades of the project's realization. Michael and CityLab contributor Mark Byrnes cover several other projects underway, including Ralph Wilson Park in Buffalo and Detroit, the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago's Jackson Park, and the Rijnhavenpark in Rotterdam, Netherlands.