When is a public plaza not just a place to pause? When it’s also a water-filtration system, a noise-pollution buffer and a de facto green roof atop an underground parking garage. These days, it’s a given that civic spaces – be they public, private or a combination of both – need to be flexible, resilient and responsive to their surroundings, but First Avenue Water Plaza, recently completed by Scape Landscape Architecture on the East Side of Manhattan, sets a new adaptability standard for a project of its size.
Located over a parking structure at the American Copper Buildings, a pair of riverside apartment towers designed by SHoP Architects, the 1,791-square-metre plaza not only creates a new connection to the East...
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A welcoming public space, First Avenue Water Plaza conceals impressive storm surge protection