The Hills Governor Island
New York US
West 8
2016
Type
Public Space
Tags
public spaces, colaboration with artists , renaturation, green lungs
Visitability
Allowed
Description
The Hills project is the culmination of the process of transforming Governors Island from an island for military use to a public space for the enjoyment of local people and visitors. Inspired by the artificial topography created by Olmsted for Central Park, West 8’s landscape design is based on a series of interconnected hills that offer splendid views of New York Bay from their tops. The hills have been designed as places where relaxation and play are combined. They include elements such as a slide, the largest in the city, or a site-specific sculpture by British artist Rachel Whiteread. The park was designed with climate change consequences in mind, which will include episodes of sea level rise and an increased frequency of major storms. As a result of this, almost the entire surface of the park is situated at a suitable height to remain usable in the future and adopts a vegetation strategy to reduce the impact of storm overflow.