Philadelphia political, civic and cultural leaders break ground on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.

On June 7, a large press conference was held to announce several projects that will significantly improve the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, the site of Philadelphia’s premiere cultural institutions. The Parkway, which never fully realized its original vision as a tree-lined, civic boulevard due to lack of development and vehicular congestion, will soon possess a landscape befitting its national cultural importance.

Part of this revitalization is OLIN’s rejuvenated landscape for the Rodin Museum, housing one of the largest collections of Rodin’s work in the world. While honoring the spirit of the original garden, OLIN’s design creates a stunning new entry sequence and an engaging, seasonal garden within. New paving, trees and native plantings provide a vibrant ensemble in which to experience the iconic artwork. The garden will not only serve the Museum but provide a restored urban oasis along the Parkway. Extending from City Hall’s Dilworth Plaza, currently under design by OLIN, to the vast Fairmount Park system, the Parkway’s new vision will create new opportunities for social interaction, increase the amount of trees and plantings, and greatly improve pedestrain and bicycle circulation.

OLIN is proud to announce that Partner Susan Weiler has been inducted into the Fox Valley Arts Hall of fame, the first landscape architect to receive the honor. The Fox Valley native, having grown up in Aurora, Illinois, was recognized for her contributions to the field of landscape architecture, from her dedication to educating generations of new designers to her pioneering work on green roof technology, as seen in her book Green Roof Systems. In becoming a member of the Fox Valley Arts Hall of Fame, Susan joins an elite cast of individuals who, through association with the Fox Valley by birth, education, residence or service, have achieved great success in the pursuit of their craft.

OLIN Partner Susan Weiler is lead-author of Green Roof Systems: A Guide to the Planning, Design, and Construction of Landscapes over Structure, the definitive new book on the environmental, social, and economic benefits associated with transforming roofs into floors. The OLIN studio has championed the benefits of roof as floor in sustainable design since the 1970s, inventing new construction and planting technologies for dozens of projects. Merging landscape and architecture, these projects create valuable social space while replenishing our world’s diminishing resources.

A snapshot of OLIN green roofs…

OLIN’s team was recently selected for the Babylon, New York Transit Oriented Development Master Plan in Wyandanch, New York. By leveraging the tremendous value of the forthcoming Wyandanch Long Island Rail Road Transit Station, this master plan will redevelop an existing brownfield site into a new active corridor. The project will advance development on strategic sites in Wyandanch and contribute to the overall revitalization within the area. The end result will provide a vision of growth for this diverse community, and establish a pedestrian-friendly environment with new public squares and parks for its residents. We are teamed with Torti Gallas, who is leading the project.

OLIN and Cooper Robertson & Partners have been selected to develop a master plan for the Central Delaware Waterfront in Philadelphia. The project involves the creation of a continuous open space system throughout seven miles of waterfront. The master plan will address land use; utilities and infrastructure investment; street plans; provisions for public transit; pedestrian and bicycle trail alignment; neighborhood connections; public access to the river’s edge; and urban design guidelines. The full master plan team also includes architects Kieran Timberlake and subconsultants in the fields of transportation, traffic engineering, ecology, historic preservation and economic analysis. OLIN has developed master plans for many thriving waterfronts including Battery Park City Esplanade in New York, San Francisco’s Mission Bay and Canary Wharf in London.

Credit: Art and Design Studios

The Philadelphia Museum of Art is a beloved city landmark drawing over one million visitors each year. OLIN has designed a vibrant sculpture garden on the roof of a new underground parking facility, designed by Atkin Olshin Schade Architects, seamlessly integrating the structure into the existing landscape. Seen as an outdoor extension of the museum’s vast art collection, the garden will serve to further connect the institution to the city. The garden is designed to be versatile, creating a variety of spaces for art pieces, while maintaining an open, park-like experience. Native plantings will create additional attraction and provide a sustaining habitat for local wildlife. The relocated surface parking lot adjacent to the garden will employ permeable paving to absorb stormwater, as well as to filter excess into a bio-swale for use on-site.

OLIN’s Susan Weiler is co-author of Green Roof Systems: A Guide to the Planning, Design, and Construction of Landscapes over Structure, the definitive new book on green roofs. The book offers substantive and technical information on living green roofs, going beyond a mere overview of the green roof movement by providing reliable advice on building ecologically practical, accessible, and useful open spaces over structures. From planning and collaboration to successfully handling the technical aspects of green roof systems, components, and applications, the book explains the environmental, social and economic benefits of turning the underutilized surfaces of roofs into multifunctional systems, and deals with issues surrounding urban design and planning, engineering, architectural and landscape architectural considerations, and stormwater management. OLIN began working on projects responding to the need and opportunity to build landscape over structure in the 1970s. After 30 years, we have successfully invented green roof construction and planting technologies for dozens of projects where landsacpe and architecture have been merged to create usable, comfortable urban space. Susan’s co-author, Katrin Scholz-Barth is currently working to help establish green roofs in the Middle East. Green Roof Systems: A guide to the Planning, Design and Construction of Landscapes over Structure is published by Wiley and available at Amazon.

L to R: OLIN Partners Susan Weiler, David Rubin, Robert Bedell, Laurie Olin, Dennis McGlade, Lucinda Sanders

OLIN is the recipient of the 2008 National Design Award for Landscape Design from the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum. The award, presented by the Commissioner of NYC’s Department of Parks and Recreation Adrian Benepe at a ceremony held at the Museum, was bestowed to the partners of OLIN for creating timeless places that enhance life and promote social interaction among diverse members of communities. OLIN was also recognized for being an early proponent of sustainability and green design.