Beautiful sites with stunning views along the waterfront of major cities often go unused due to the industrial remains of a past economy based on shipping and manufacturing. The move away from these economic sectors and the potential of these sites has contributed to a move to adapt these spaces into public amenities. While some cities' approach has been to demolish and start from scratch completely, the thirteen-year transformation of the Brooklyn Bridge Park in New York City's waterfront included keeping some of its industrial character. In their upcoming book "Brooklyn Bridge Park," Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates discuss their design process, including using the existing materiality and structures along the piers to embed the site's history in the park.
Once a desolate port in the 1980s, the Port Authority donated Brooklyn Bridge Park's eighty-five acres and six piers to the city after a decade of grassroots efforts. This would begin a decades-long design and phased construction process that would conclude in December 2021.
