West 8 Urban Design and Landscape Architecture

On July 19th the Hills on Governors Island, New York were officially opened by The de Blasio Administration, Former Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, and the Trust for Governors Island. Set in ten newly designed acres of park, the Hills designed by West 8, provide art, recreation and spectacular New York Harbor views. The Hills are the culmination of West 8's 2007 award-winning Governors Island Park and Public Space Master Plan.

The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies have awarded over 130 new buildings and urban planning projects from 43 nations for the 2016 International Architecture Awards, including Phase 1 of West 8's newly completed Governors Island Park and Public Space Project.

West 8 has been involved in the design of the Kremlin Embankment and Tverskaya Street revitalisation projects with local partner Strelka KB since the spring of 2016. The projects are now entering the peak of its execution phase and will approach completion in November 2016.

The ideas competition will further the process of urban renewal and port-city integration that is currently taking place in the waterfront city of Santander. West 8 is one of five teams selected by the Procurement Committee for their local and international experience.

On 23rd June 2016, the Waterliniemuseum at Fort Vechten, a project that embodies natural, cultural and economic interests in a museum concept, was awarded the 2016 NRP Gulden Feniks Award in the category Area Transformation. West 8 and Rapp+Rapp Architecten in collaboration with Jonathan Penne Architecten produced the 2004 competition winning master plan and completed works on the project in 2015. 

The City of Toronto and The 519 have announced that MJMA, along with West 8, LGA Architectural Partners, and Public Studio, will make up the premier design team and architects for the Moss Park Consultation Process in Toronto, Canada.

Queens Quay Revitalization Central Waterfront designed by West 8 + DTAH in joint venture has received an honourable mention in the 2016 Canadian Society of Landscape Architects (CSLA) Awards of Excellence. The awards will be presented at the 2016 CSLA Congress in June, where West 8 will also be presenting “Cottage Country? Experiencing the Lakefront in Downtown Toronto.”

The Tverskoy District is the Central Administrative Okrug of Moscow, and is currently undergoing a major transformation. Adriaan Geuze has been invited to join the jury panel for the Tverskaya Streetscape International Competition organised by the Strelka Institute. Architects from Russia and around the world can submit proposals until 27 June 2016. Winners will be announced on 7 July 2016.

Madrid Río been awarded the 2016 Hispania Nostra Prize, in the category of ‘Heritage preservation as a factor for economic and social development’. The jury commended Madrid Río for its its success in "highlighting cultural and natural heritage, promoting the social and economic development, and transforming the area into a public agora."

Almost the whole town of Den Helder turned up to celebrate the opening party of the new library building ‘School 7’ on Saturday May 23, 2016. Under the urban design supervision of West 8, architect Evelien van Veen has redesigned the monumental building ‘School 7’ to accommodate the Den Helder City Library, the School of Adult Education, and the Den Helder Historical Society.

West 8 Director Adriaan Geuze hosts the third masterclass and final workshop session for the advanced urbanism program at the Universidad Antonio Nebrija in Madrid. This is the third year that West 8 has directed this workshop, which is tasked with generating innovative ideas around integrated urban planning and landscape architecture for the City of Madrid.

West 8 New York's Principal Claire Agre, presents a lecture on May 17, 2016 about the design work at Longwood's Main Fountain Garden, as well as an investigation into the themes and details of great gardens'- including Italian, Baroque, American and the imagined.

The Urban Design Forum has announced its first-ever class of Forefront Fellows for 2016, including West 8’s New York Studio Director Daniel Vasini. Forefront is a new initiative dedicated to promoting the next generation of urban leaders.

This year, the jury of the NRP Golden Phoenix Awards received 83 entries, from these eight projects have been nominated for the NRP Golden Phoenix Awards 2016. Two finalists were selected in the Area Transformation category including West 8's Fort Vechten project. West 8 has been privileged to win this award twice before for Strijp-S in 2013 and Rotterdam Central District in 2014.   

Adriaan Geuze and West 8 are profiled in the May 16, 2016 issue of The New Yorker, the Innovator Issue. "Play Ground" by Alexandra Lange explores ''how a Dutch landscape architect is reinventing the park.'' The article showcases West 8’s work at Madrid Río, Máximapark and almost the completed Governors Island project, among others. Image ©Timothy Schenck Photography

Astronaut André Kuipers and West 8’s Adriaan Geuze are invited to speak at the lecture series ‘Landscape, a triptych – 2: Landscape and Changes’ on the 25th of May 2016. The event is organized by Dutch WNF, a branch of international World Wide Fund for Nature, in collaboration with the Publisher Trouw.

On Tuesday May 24, 2016, NYC Parks, the Center for New York City Affairs, and the Tishman Environment and Design Center at The New School will bring together thought leaders from a range of disciplines to explore the future of parks and public space.  West 8 Partner, Jamie Maslyn Larson will be speaking in the afternoon panel on “Design Innovation for Civic Spaces.”

The Queens Quay Revitalization project has received a merit award in the transportation category at the Consulting Engineers of Ontario 2016 Awards. Selected by a panel of five independent judges, the project was one of fourteen engineering projects recognized for its contribution to improving Ontario’s social, economic and environmental well-being.

Stakeholders, interested parties and the public were in abundance for the public presentation of the design development of Rotterdam City centre’s new public realm. On April 15, 2016, the Municipal Executive Committee (het College) of Rotterdam together with West 8 discussed the proposal for the Revitalization of the Coolsingel with citizens, entrepreneurs and and local business owners from the area. 

West 8's Adriaan Geuze will deliver a keynote lecture at the seventh edition of the International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam IABR–2016–THE NEXT ECONOMY, as part of the Sustainable Urban Deltas Conference on Monday May 9, 2016. The presentation will explore the role that design can play in guiding development by anchoring it in resilient urban landscapes.