Gustafson Guthrie Nichol and Allied Works won a design competition to create a park that will span an Interstate and connect a two-block section of Washington State’s Fort Vancouver national historic site with the City of Vancouver’s downtown. The design will include a ”landscape cap” that will extend south from the existing “Evergreen Boulevard” span over the interstate.
According to The Oregonian, “a central walkway would connect downtown to the historic area. Smaller wood pathways would branch out to various pockets of the park, such as the Northwest Meadow and the reflective pond. Native plants would fill the park, basalt stone paving would create the paths, and recycled auto glass would form transparent fissure walls.” The Columbian added that the design will include “a water wall and ‘Sound Grove’ artwork. Curved steel boughs would swivel on steel posts as wind passes through the artwork. As the boughs move, they would emit low tones and create a harmonic sound.”
The Daily Journal of Commerce Oregon writes that the design is part of the broader plan to replace an Interstate-5 bridge, a “multibillion-dollar Columbia River Crossing project whose future is unclear.” If the bridge does get built, federal rules require the additional landscape cap.
Kathryn Gustafson, ASLA, researched the geology to create a plan for rebuilding what I-5 had destroyed. Gustafson told the Daily Journal of Commerce: “It’s all about the land. When you look at the land of Washington state, it has one of the most diverse geologies in the world.” According to Daily Journal of Commerce, Gustafson examined the “Mount St. Helens lava tubes, violent acts of simultaneous creation and destruction, for inspiration. In the winning concept, the freeway below becomes a grotto, with the forces of nature reshaping the landscape above.”
The design competition jurors said of the winning design: “The design by Gustafson Guthrie Nichol/Allied Works Architecture Team best responds to the vision of the Community Connector. It appropriately respects and celebrates the cultural history of Vancouver, truly connecting the Fort Vancouver National Site to the City. The design concept shows an understanding of the cultural history and significance of this Site. An adaptable design, it enhances the amenities on both sides as they are currently and as they could evolve into the future. The design concept provides a clarity and richness worthy of the vision of the project. It shows a spirit of place that is specific and appropriate for the Northwest. It honors the seasons and biology of the Pacific Northwest landscape and includes an elegant, yet practical, use of water.”
The mayor of Vancouver, Washington State, Royce Pollard, said the design would reconnect the historic site and local community, and undo the damage caused by the highway. “They cut a hole right through the heart of our community. They disconnected our history.”
Image credit: Fort Vancouver, Washington State. Wikipedia Commons
