Realizing an artist’s vision through the creation of a specialized landscape

LGBT Memorial

In 2016—in response to the attack on the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida—New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo determined that a monument recognizing the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community should be erected in New York. His goal? To honor the fight for equal rights and victims of hate, intolerance, and violence.

We worked with our client the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation (OPRHP) and Anthony Goicolea—the artist chosen to create the monument through a memorial competition—as well as the Hudson River Park Trust to realize the artist’s vision. Our New York City landscape architecture studio produced a series of concept layouts that considered existing site conditions and various pavement, planting, and lighting opportunities. The final plans set out an intimate design that uses custom granite plank pavers, a stabilized gravel system, mass plantings of ornamental grasses, and panels of turf.

In addition to site design services (project management, landscape architecture, and civil/structural/electrical engineering), we provided extensive assistance to New York State Parks and the Hudson River Park Trust throughout the construction phase, up until the formal unveiling of the finished monument during Pride Week.