The Hills at Governors Island
For the last weekend of access to Governors Island this season, the ongoing construction of the Hills was opened up to the public for a preview. Part of the multi phase landscape design by West 8, the project includes four hills at the south end of the island that range in height from 28 to 82 feet. Visitors were able to climb to the top of the highest hill to experience the spectacular views of the park and the skylines of New Jersey and New York. The $36 million project has been funded in part by Google's CEO Eric Schmidt and his wife, Wendy. Completion of the project is slated for sometime next year.
Landscape Architect: West 8; Program: Park; Location: Governors Island, New York, NY; Completion: 2016.
Field Update: Governors Island
West 8 recently led a weekend hard hat tour of phase one of their transformation of Governors Island into a world class park. This first phase focuses on the southern portion of the island starting from the Liggett Arch which will be the gateway into the Liggett Terrace and Hammock Grove. West 8's guiding principle has been to transform the flat terrain of the southern half of the island, constructed of fill from past subway excavation, through the creation of topography. To highlight this new constructed topography, multi-functioning precast concrete elements have been installed, providing planting edging and seating. Most of those elements have been installed and will soon contain the multitude of plants when the first phase opens sometime in late fall.