By Brad Leibin

With good friends and project co-lead CMG Landscape Architecture, Public was delighted to receive word earlier this week that our team has advanced to the third and final stage of the ‘Design Waller Creek’ competition in Austin, Texas. We will now be competing against the three other finalist teams: Michael Van Valkenberg Associates, Inc. and Thomas Phifer & Partners; Turenscape and Lake|Flato, Architects; as well as Workshop: Ken Smith Landscape Architect, Ten Eyck Landscape Architects, and Rogers Marvel Architects.

The site is the lower 1.5 miles of Waller Creek, which meanders through downtown Austin and touches a diverse array of neighborhoods as well as social, cultural, and economic conditions. There are many fascinating challenges as well as enormous potentials associated with the site. For instance, the creek runs along a major dividing line in the City, between Central and East Austin, and it is in an area that is currently undervalued. The revitalization of Waller Creek offers an opportunity to stitch together fragmented portions of the city in a way that strengthens the adjacent neighborhoods as well as the larger City of Austin.

Public Architecture will lead the Culture & Community component of our project team’s approach. For the third stage of competition, we are very excited to spend the coming months developing a design concept with our talented team of collaborators! Our team includes the following organizations and individuals:

Biohabitats
ARUP
Urban Design Group
Hicks and Company
Scott and Lauren Ogden
Enotech Engineering
Kimley-Horn
Dan Cheetham
Community Land Use and Economics Group
ETM Associates
Capitol Market Research
Art Alliance Austin
Cheryl Haines and For-Site
Austin Community Design and Development Center
Media and Place
Pentagram

To learn more about the competition, visit http://www.wallercreek.org/competition.