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Designer Bio

M. Paul Friedberg (b.1931) was a leading designer of new public spaces including diminutive vest-pocket parks, municipal and corporate plazas and main street malls. Beginning with Riis Plaza in 1965 which served as a watershed event for the 34-year old designer, and through his subsequent designs in the 1970s and 80s, like Peavey Plaza in downtown Minneapolis and the Fulton County Government Plaza in Atlanta Georgia, Friedberg continually adapted and reworked the elements one finds at Peavey. For example, paths are interspersed among pools, water features immerse visitors in the landscape, and year-round use is encouraged, like skating at Peavey, Pershing Park in Washington D.C., or Calgary's 1987 Olympic Plaza in the winter. This flexibility was carried over from Friedberg’s earlier revolutionary playground designs as well as his continued observations of what made public spaces successful allowed for the interconnection of park features as a means to encourage discovery and initiate an active engagement with the urban environment.

Site

Peavey Plaza
Nicollet Mall, between Eleventh and Twelfth Streets
Minneapolis, MN 55403

Online

M. Paul Friedberg Letter regarding Peavey Plaza

Print

Process Architecture 82: M. Paul Friedberg: Landscape Design Process Architecture Publishing Company, Ltd., Tokyo, Japan, 1989.

Archives

Minnesota Orchestra Archives
Elmer L. Andersen Library
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis

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education partners

Additional Sponsors

American Society of Landscape Architects’ Indiana, Pennsylvania/Delaware, Minnesota, Northern California, Texas, Upstate New York, and Washington Chapters • Astorino • Charles Butt • Design Within Reach • Topher Delaney • Sandy Donnell & Justin Faggioli • Fathom • Tom Fox • Hillman Foundation • Indianapolis Museum of Art • Lorraine Osmundson • Richard T. Murphy • National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Northeast, Southwest, and Western Offices- with funds from the Charles Evans Hughes Memorial Foundation of New York, Dodge Jones Foundation Intervention Fund, and Eastern Massachusetts Preservation Fund • James Richards • Seibert & Rice • Diana & Bruce Shuman • Ann Stack • SWA Group • TBG Partners • Michal and Jeffrey William Tincup • Unilock Inc. • The Woltz Charitable Trust


Nicollet Mall Minneapolis, Minnesota Peavey Plaza Intro history threat help learn Learn Designer Bio M. Paul Friedberg (b.1931) was a leading designer of new public spaces including diminutive vest-pocket parks, municipal and corporate plazas and main street malls. Beginning with Riis Plaza in 1965 which served as a watershed event for the 34-year old designer, and through his subsequent designs in the 1970s and 80s, like Peavey Plaza in downtown Minneapolis and the Fulton County Government Plaza in Atlanta Georgia, Friedberg continually adapted and reworked the elements one finds at Peavey. For example, paths are interspersed among pools, water features immerse visitors in the landscape, and year-round use is encouraged, like skating at Peavey, Pershing Park in Washington D.C., or Calgary's 1987 Olympic Plaza in the winter. This flexibility was carried over from Friedberg’s earlier revolutionary playground designs as well as his continued observations of what made public spaces successful allowed for the interconnection of park features as a means to encourage discovery and initiate an active engagement with the urban environment. Site Peavey Plaza Nicollet Mall, between Eleventh and Twelfth Streets Minneapolis, MN 55403 Online M. Paul Friedberg Letter regarding Peavey Plaza Print Process Architecture 82: M. Paul Friedberg: Landscape Design Process Architecture Publishing Company, Ltd., Tokyo, Japan, 1989. Archives Minnesota Orchestra Archives Elmer L. Andersen Library University of Minnesota, Minneapolis back \| next	Boston City Hall Plaza Boston, Massachusetts Estates Drive Reservoir Oakland, California Heritage Plaza Heritage Park Fort Worth, Texas Kaiser Roof Garden Kaiser Center Oakland, California Lake Elizabeth Allegheny Commons Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Manhattan Square Park Rochester, New York Mill Creek Canyon Earthworks Kent, Washington Miller Garden Columbus, Indiana El Monte Hato Rey, Puerto Rico Pacific Science Center Courtyard Seattle, Washington Parkmerced San Francisco, California Peavey Plaza Nicollet Mall Minneapolis, Minnesota Home \| Map \| Exhibit \| Artists \| Press
education partners Additional Sponsors American Society of Landscape Architects’ Indiana, Pennsylvania/Delaware, Minnesota, Northern California, Texas, Upstate New York, and Washington Chapters • Astorino • Charles Butt • Design Within Reach • Topher Delaney • Sandy Donnell & Justin Faggioli • Fathom • Tom Fox • Hillman Foundation • Indianapolis Museum of Art • Lorraine Osmundson • Richard T. Murphy • National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Northeast, Southwest, and Western Offices- with funds from the Charles Evans Hughes Memorial Foundation of New York, Dodge Jones Foundation Intervention Fund, and Eastern Massachusetts Preservation Fund • James Richards • Seibert & Rice • Diana & Bruce Shuman • Ann Stack • SWA Group • TBG Partners • Michal and Jeffrey William Tincup • Unilock Inc. • The Woltz Charitable Trust