The Cooper Hewitt Museum has announced its 2009 design awards, and the top honor for landscape architecture goes to Hood Design of Oakland, California, founded by Walter Hood in 1992.
The firm was cited for its commitment to "issues that address the re-construction of urban landscapes within towns and cities." The jury noted that Hood's approach is "multidimensional, exploring the role of specific landscape typologies and topologies that together reinforce and re-make landscapes that are specific to place and people."
Shown here is Hood's design for Splash Pad Park in Oakland, which connects the park to the nearby commercial district through a series of walkways under the freeway -- and through visual elements that link it to Lake Merritt.
Hood is the former chair of the Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning program at the University of California, Berkeley.
Andrea Cochran Landscape Architecture of San Francisco was a finalist in the landscape design category.
Shown here is a photo of the Brookvale residence in Hillsborough, CA, typically spare, with a limited plant palette and clean lines that emphasize geometry, light, texture and color.
Rios Clementi Hale Studios of Los Angeles, CA was the second finalist. And isn't it interesting that all of this year's winners are based in California ... perhaps that says something about leading-edge design and where it's really happening.
Rios Clementi Hale covers a lot of ground in its multi-disciplinary studio: landscape design, architecture, graphic and interior design, and much more. This photo shows Chess Park in Glendale, CA, a pocket park that accommodates the city's large chess playing community and serves as well as a public performance space for theater and literary groups.
Couldn't ask for much more in a public park.
For complete information on the design awards, check the Cooper Hewitt website here.
(photos top to bottom: Tom Bonner, Marion Brenner, Marion Brenner courtesy Cooper Hewitt)
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