James Corner Field Operations' renderings for the Domino Sugar Factory’s waterfront park and esplanade

James Corner's new High Line and Japanese garden for NY

The co-creator of The High Line revisits his old creation and draws on new inspirations for the Domino Sugar site

The acclaimed public park designers and landscape architecture firm James Corner Field Operations has released new renderings for Domino Park, an 11-acre riverside public space in Williamsbrug, New York, which will occupy the city's Domino Sugar Factory site.

Corner worked with Diller Scofidio + Renfro to create Manhattan's High Line, the world's most famous linear park, and, as you'd expect from so prominent a practitioner, this new spot includes lots of contemporary urban attractions. There's a dog run, a picnic area, a playground inspired by the sugar refining process, and, given the site's riverside location, there's also an urban beach. 

 

James Corner Field Operations' renderings for the Domino Sugar Factory’s waterfront park and esplanade
James Corner Field Operations' renderings for the Domino Sugar Factory’s waterfront park and esplanade

However, Corner is also drawing on old and new influences. His success with the High Line – which turned a disused railway into an incredibly popular public space – has moved him to  revisit the idea of an elevated strip of land with the Artifact Walk, an above-ground promenade spanning five blocks and featuring salvaged machinery from the Domino refinery. 

 

James Corner Field Operations' renderings for the Domino Sugar Factory’s waterfront park and esplanade
James Corner Field Operations' renderings for the Domino Sugar Factory’s waterfront park and esplanade

And if that all sounds a bit too industrial Corner is also digging into East Asian horticulture by including a Japanese pine garden - that's refinement of a very different sort. 

 

James Corner Field Operations' renderings for the Domino Sugar Factory’s waterfront park and esplanade
James Corner Field Operations' renderings for the Domino Sugar Factory’s waterfront park and esplanade

For more on the High Line get this book; for more on new public spaces, take a look at this one; and for more on Japanese gardens get The Japanese Garden.