In the beginning...

Long before NYC's High Line became the poster child for the field of landscape architecture, urban renewal and brownfields around the world... there was Gas Works Park. As an abandoned gas processing plant along the shores of Lake Union, it was rehabilitated to become one of Seattle's best public open spaces. The chemically compromised soil was remediated and the dangerous and toxic "guts" of the plant were removed. Green grass was sown and the plant's body was impregnated with a colorful children's playground.
The awesome scale of the remaining shell of the plant is absurdly fantastic as any grown adult standing by it feels instantly minute. If only more public open spaces had the ability to make us all feel like kids again.

A Panel Discussion

When Phillip Johnson designed the Sculpture Garden at the MOMA, he looked to the Museum's fringe to bring contextual continuity to the commission. In this case, he shunned the Vitruvian Man's inference of scale and culled proportional significance from the fenestration on the Rockefeller brownstone across the street. The effect is awesome. Harnessing the Modernist didactic of using panes to craft building facades, he applied this gesture to the ground using stone slabs scaled after the Rockefeller residence. At once, the occupier of the space is slowed by the stone tartan (to better consume the sculpture) while they are delighted with an engaging carpet true to the integrity of the Modern Movement.

Heavy Rotation

Oscar de la Renta's Connecticut garden has bedded many a glossy but, it never loses stamina.  This image is top rank.  A boar sculpture was selected from the litter to herd the eye along the stunning allee of blossoming pears.