Waterfront areas in cities offer valuable and unique real estate, ideal for the creation of beautiful public gathering spaces and parks. Unfortunately, they are far too often overrun by luxury apartment complexes and upscale dining destinations, which appeal primarily to the upper classes and drive away lower income families and residents who are not able to use the space. One such waterfront site which fell victim to this sort of gentrification is the Seaport district in South Boston, which has become home to countless expensive housing and shopping complexes and patronizes a primarily wealthy, white customer base.
This proposal for a waterfront park in East Boston transforms a now-abandoned area along the Chelsea Creek into an open, green space for the local community. The design of this park features large circular ‘pods’ of greenery, which transition from open fields for recreation to waterlogged terraces, beneath a system of elevated pathways arranged in relation to the streets of the adjacent neighborhood. A base of saltmarsh cordgrass provides an even coating of greenery allowing the circular forms to stand out, while pockets of seaside goldenrod add color to the arrangement. In the spaces between these pods, many underwater plants and algae are grown, assisting in filtering the notoriously dirty Boston waterways.
AERIAL VIEW OF PROPOSED PARK
