Contemporary Urban Waterscapes
designing
public spaces in concert with nature
In the fall of 2004, GGN and Atelier Dreiseitl (along with Hood Design and Sasaki Associates) participated an invited design competition that yielded the two park designs discussed below. The competition was funded through the National Endowment for the Arts and the park itself will be paid for by contributions from the surrounding landowners and a grant from the Environmental Protection Agency dedicated to demonstration projects for decentralized wastewater infrastructure. Therefore, the park's design and program criteria include distinctive water features, innovative stormwater management, public safety, and opportunities for public art and education. The 1.8 acre Canal Park site runs along three narrow blocks in the Near Southeast neighborhood of Washington D.C., at the center of an area considered to be largest waterfront transformation in the country. Adjacent to the site are new office buildings, including a new headquarters for the U.S. Department of Transportation, the emerging M Street commercial corridor and a 1,500 unit mixed-income Hope VI redevelopment. The Canal Park is central to the waterfront's open space network as it can provide a gathering place for the Near Southeast and can establish a connection between the Anacostia River to the south and the Capitol Hill neighborhood to the north. The Canal Blocks site is named after the Washington Canal that ran through the area in the 19th century. Part of the L'Enfant Plan, it was intended to connect the Anacostia River across the city through the National Mall to the Potomac River. Because of the tidal nature of the Anacostia River, however, the Washington Canal did not function effectively, became an open sewer and was eventually covered up. But the form of the original canal remains in the three narrow blocks. Comparing GGN and Atelier Dreiseitl's approach to the same site can provide us with different interpretations of how to engage water and the hydrologic cycle in urban spaces.
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