American Society of Landscape Architects

  2004 ASLA Professional Awards


Design Award of Merit

Lever House Landscape Restoration, New York, NY
Ken Smith Landscape Architect, New York, NY
Client: Aby Rosen, RFR Realty LLC

It's great to see Noguchi and Lever House come back—an important part of NYC history. . . Powerful restoration!
           2004 Professional Awards Jury Comments

The landscape restoration design for Lever House began with many months of historical research into landscape restoration issues relative to the original designs, as-built 1953 conditions, and current conditions of the landscape. Several important findings become clear as part of this process. Foremost is how clearly the landscape has been degraded and altered over the past 50 years. All of the original as-built plantings had been replaced or modified with plantings out of keeping with the original design intentions. These modifications were corrected as part of this project to bring back the crispness, clarity and strength of the original planting design.

 

Elevation of the Lever House. (Image: Ken Smith Landscape Architect)

Noguchi Design as documented by SOM, 1953. Noguchi and the Lever House model, 1953. (Design: Courtesy of SOM Collection [Skidmore Owings & Merrill], Avery Library, Columbia University; Photo: Courtesy of The Isamu Noguchi Foundation)

View of large planter at the courtyard plaza, 1952-1953. (Photo: ESTO: Ezra Stoller)

View of restoration of large planter at the courtyard plaza, including the Noguchi sculptures, 2004. (Photo: Ken Smith, ASLA)

View of large planter at the lobby of the Lever House, 1952-1953. (Photo: ESTO: Ezra Stoller)

View of restoration of large planter at the courtyard plaza, including the Noguchi sculptures, 2003. (Photo: Ken Smith, ASLA)

View of Noguchi's second scheme at the courtyard plaza, 1952-1953. (Photo: Courtesy of The Isamu Noguchi Foundation)

View of restoration of courtyard plaza, including the Noguchi's seating elements and sculpture, 2003. (Photo: Ken Smith, ASLA)
View of the Lever House, including the podium level, 2004. (Photo: Ken Smith, ASLA)
View of the azalea and honeylocust grove at the podium level, 2003. (Photo: Ken Smith Landscape Architect)

Rendered site plan: Ken Smith Landscape Architect
 

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