Brooklyn Bridge Park

Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates' 23-year story of transforming 85 acres of Brooklyn waterfront into parkland that reconnects New Yorkers to the East River

Reclaimed from 1.3 miles of New York's postindustrial waterfront, Brooklyn Bridge Park is a place for escape, recreation, and immersion in the natural world. Transforming parking lots and crumbling piers into a living ecosystem, the project is an exemplar of climate resilience, fiscal innovation, and joyful public space. This book examines Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates's process of designing a park that went from a remote possibility to an essential part of the city around it.

About the Authors:

Michael Van Valkenburgh is the founder of Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, a leading landscape architecture firm with award-winning parks, urban spaces, and campus landscapes across North America. He is the Charles Eliot Emeritus Professor in Landscape Architecture at Harvard GSD.

Julie Bargmann is Professor of Landscape Architecture at the University of Virginia School of Architecture and founding principal of D.I.R.T. Studio.

Amanda Hesser, well-known food writer, editor, and entrepreneur, is founder and CEO of Food52.