Top Story
Lincoln Common – ULI Americas Awards for Excellence Finalist
Learn more about 2023 ULI Americas Awards for Excellence Finalist, Lincoln Common (Chicago, Illinois).
Little Island – ULI Americas Awards for Excellence Finalist
April 28, 2023
Photo By Michael Grimm
Little Island park features a lush, seasonal, landscape with rolling hills, walking paths and open lawns, a range of performance spaces and dazzling views of New York City
Photo By Elizabeth Felicella
Barry Diller, in partnership with Hudson River Park Trust leadership, embarked on the unique opportunity to envision a solution for the repair and reactivation of Pier 54. A collaboration between the Heatherwick studio and landscape architecture firm MNLA lead to the park’s imaginative design offering visitors a new public space that is whimsical, captivating, and restorative
Location: New York, New York
Developers: Hudson River Park Trust and the Diller-von Furstenberg Family Foundation
Designers: Heatherwick Studio; MNLA
Site Size: 2.4 Acres
Photo By Liz Ligon
The Southwest Overlook provides a scenic vantage point that provides iconic views of Lower Manhattan, The Statue of Liberty, the Verrazano Bridge, and the New Jersey skyline. It stands more than 60’ above the river
In 2012, Hurricane Sandy hit New York City’s coastline, heavily damaging several piers along the Hudson, including Pier 54. In 2013, Barry Diller of the Diller-von Furstenberg Family Foundation, in partnership with Hudson River Park Trust leadership, embarked on the opportunity to envision a solution for the repair and reactivation of Pier 54. Construction began on May 9, 2016. The first of the 132 pots that make up our structure were installed on May 4, 2018, The Amph was completed on August 7, 2020, and landscape and soil began being installed in March of 2020. We reached substantial completion on March 23, 2021, and opened to the public on May 21, 2021.
Photo By Rebecca J. Michaelson
The Amph at Little Island is a performance space with a thrust stage that seats 687. From circus performances to full-scale concerts, the amphitheater provides an unforgettable setting for artists with its dazzling river views
The Amph is Little Island’s largest and most traditional performance space features a thrust stage with 687 seats (8 accessible seats) and an additional 50 standing room locations, with dressing rooms and artist amenities below the theater. The Glade is our most intimate performance space that has a small stage, benches built in for seating, and a sloping lawn. All of the plants in this space were selected for their white blooms. This design was chosen to make you feel like you are entering a secret garden. The Play Ground is our open plaza that features two food trailers, tables and chairs, a small stage, and rolling lawns that you may lounge on.
Photo By Elizabeth Felicella
Whether visitors are enjoying a live performance, relaxing on the lawn, or wandering through the pathways and gardens, Little Island offers a one-of-a-kind restorative experience, that provides a respite from the fast-paced energy of the big city
Little Island was designed with winding pathways that give you new views each way you turn. These pathways guide you to our three distinctive overlooks and performance spaces as well as immerse you in our 35 species of trees, 65 species of shrubs, and 290 varieties of grasses, vines, and perennials. Throughout the park, you will also notice weathering steel sheet piling selected for the retaining walls to continue the warm materials palette used throughout the pier and their crenelated form creates opportunities to tuck in vines and make spaces for cascading shrubs and perennials. The Southeast Overlook is our highest spot in the park with views of downtown Manhattan. The Northwest overlook features views of The Amph and the Hudson River. The Southwest overlook features views of the West Side Highway and the old Cunard Arch.