Urbanscape proposed a public park conceived as civic infrastructure—designed to support cultural activity, social mixity, and projected urban densification. By extending and intensifying activity along both banks of the Providence River, the project framed landscape as an operative system rather than a scenic backdrop.
Existing foundations from the former I-195 were repurposed to form an inhabitable bridge, reconnecting the waterfront while creating new spaces for occupation. At the park’s edges, the landscape was folded upward to embed pavilions and social amphitheaters, concentrating public life at the interface between city and river. Promenades, gridded tree lines, and gathering spaces reinterpreted historic park typologies through contemporary urban and ecological conditions.
Following a public exhibition at the Roger Williams Park Casino, a press conference, and extensive civic debate, Urbanscape was awarded second place in the Providence Waterfront Competition.
2006
Providence, Rhode Island
Scale:
8 acres
Principals:
Anya Sirota, Jean Louis Farges
Collaboration:
Steven Christensen, Christian Stayner
Consultants:
Transsolar KilmaEngineering
Production:
Peter Borgemeister, Murray Scott, Andrew Spingarn
Award:
Second Place, Providence Waterfront Park Competition