Freshkills Park Master Plan

To take advantage of the potential for the adaptive end use of this unique site, in 2001 the City of New York conducted a two-stage International Design Competition to foster the development of a master plan for Fresh Kills. At nearly three times the size of New York City’s Central Park and only a stone’s throw away, Fresh Kills Park comprises over 1,000 acres of closed landfill and 450 acres of important wetland framed by spectacular views of downtown Manhattan.  This award-winning Master Plan vision for this 2,200 acre park designed by Field Operations will guide the transformation from landfill to parklands over the next 30 years.

The lighting concept aims to retain as much of the vast scale of darkness as possible. In a surrounding sea of urban glow, Fresh Kills is reminiscent of a dark void, but one full of spectral effects. Screens around flare stations will glow from the ground up. Scattered elsewhere, like wildflowers in a meadow, very small points of colored light create a sense of expanse. Carefully controlled and environmentally reactive white light on roadways and pathways highlight lines of movement.