Heather Hilson
Celebration Park
UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY
SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE, PLANNING, AND LANDSCAPE
MLA M1
EVDL 668 | LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE STUDIO II
INSTRUCTORS: MARY-ELLEN TYLER + JAMIE JOHNSON
Landscapes can not only be physically abandoned, but also rendered obsolete and forgotten in the public consciousness. The site for this studio project is surrounded by human activity and built forms, yet the land itself has been rendered an irrelevant and degraded reminder of a once pristine riparian corridor. Nose Creek, which flows through the area, has been so spatially infringed upon and physically distorted that it no longer serves a viable ecological or recreational purpose. This project proposes a radical transformation of the existing land use on-site to capitalize on the potential of the creek to stimulate new development and a major expansion of the public realm. This proposal is a highly urban park intended to serve the dense, multi-cultural population of Calgary 25 years in the future. The park serves not only to restore ecological structure and function by reclaiming the floodplain and removing the most egregious spatial impositions, but it is also designed to provide a rich tapestry of diverse passive and active recreational opportunities to greatly improve the user experience of the site. The Creek serves as the glistening centerpiece of the park, and the programming elements are thematically united by their desire to invoke a sense of celebration and admiration for the Creek and its context within the parkland environment of the greater Calgary area. The proposal is founded on the belief that this site, now abandoned and degraded, still maintains a promising potential to flourish as a highly desirable urban green space rooted by a thriving new community. Welcome to Celebration Park.