Designed by Kongjian Yu with SvR Design Company (now MIG) beginning in 2013, this .64-acre rectilinear park occupies half-a-block in the city’s Chinatown International District. Framed by city streets on three sides, the park slopes toward the west and features two integrated sections. The park, which was doubled in size, incorporates an earlier 1970s design by Sakuma, James, and Paterson.
The park’s design features an asymmetrical, perforated, red metal gateway inspired by Asian paper cutting and folding traditions. The gateway, positioned at an oblique angle at the park’s southeast corner, serves as a counter to two nearby traditional Chinese structures: the Historic Chinatown Gate located one block to the west and a covered pagoda situated in the park’s eastern section. The contemporary gateway frames concrete steps that ascend to meet the first of three, curvilinear concrete terraces. The terraces collectively form a theater, meant to evoke a terraced rice paddy field. Each tier is separated by biomorphically shaped beds planted with native Chinese species, including crape myrtle and lacebark pine; and integrated seating embellished with perforated red steel panels. The beds are framed by bench-like concrete walls that also provide seating. Minimalist, light fixtures illuminate each terrace without obscuring views. Red is a visual contrast throughout the park, used for railings and staircases that illuminate and glow in the evenings. The uppermost terrace is edged to the north by a linear row of red dragon bamboo and a remnant wall of the former post office, painted yellow and adapted to shield views of the adjacent property.
