James Corner (born 1961) is a
landscape architect
A landscape architect is a person who is educated in the field of landscape architecture. The practice of landscape architecture includes: site analysis, site inventory, site planning, land planning, planting design, grading, storm water manageme ...
and theorist whose works exhibit a focus on "developing innovative approaches toward landscape architectural design and urbanism." His designs of note include
Fresh Kills Park
Freshkills Park is a public park being built atop a former landfill on Staten Island. At about , it will be the largest park developed in New York City since the 19th century. Its construction began in October 2008 and is slated to continue in ...
on
Staten Island
Staten Island ( ) is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull an ...
and the
High Line
The High Line is a elevated park, elevated linear park, greenway (landscape), greenway and rail trail created on a former New York Central Railroad spur on the West Side (Manhattan), west side of Manhattan in New York City. The High Line's ...
in
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
, and
Domino Park
Domino Park is a public park in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York City. It spans a quarter mile along the East River near the Williamsburg Bridge, at the Domino Sugar Refinery site. Along the five-block riverside walk, variou ...
in
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
, all in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
.
Corner is a professionally registered landscape architect and the principal of James Corner Field Operations, a landscape architecture and urban design practice based in New York City.
Life and career
Born in 1961, Corner received a Bachelor's degree with first class honors in 1983 at
Manchester Metropolitan University
Manchester Metropolitan University is located in the centre of Manchester, England. The university has over 40,000 students and over 4,000 members of staff. It is home to four faculties (Arts and Humanities, Business and Law, Health and Educat ...
in England. He then received a Master's Degree in Landscape Architecture and Urban Design Certificate from the
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
in 1986. He was employed by
Wallace, Roberts and Todd on the New Jersey Hudson River Waterfront Development; for
Richard Rogers and Partners
RSHP is a British architectural firm, founded in 1977 and previously known as the Richard Rogers Partnership which became Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners. in 2007. The firm rebranded from Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners to simply RSHP on 30 Ju ...
on the redevelopment of the
Royal Docks
Royal Docks is an area and a ward in the London Borough of Newham in the London Docklands in East London, England.
The area is named after three docks – the Royal Albert Dock, the Royal Victoria Dock and the King George V Dock. They are ...
in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
; and for
William Gillespie and Partners on the design and implementation of the
International Garden Festival Park in
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
.
Corner began teaching at the University of Pennsylvania in 1988 where he taught courses in media and theory, as well as design studios. He was elected Chair of the Landscape Architecture Department the 2000. As a professor, Corner's landscape design and environmental research and teaching interests are based upon "developing innovative approaches toward landscape architectural design and urbanism." He has also served as a visiting professor at the
Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts
The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts ( da, Det Kongelige Danske Kunstakademi - Billedkunst Skolerne) has provided education in the arts for more than 250 years, playing its part in the development of the art of Denmark.
History
The Royal Dani ...
in
Copenhagen, Denmark
Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
in 1998 and at the KTH School of Architecture in
Stockholm, Sweden
Stockholm () is the capital and largest city of Sweden as well as the largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people live in the municipality, with 1.6 million in the urban area, and 2.4 million in the metropoli ...
in 1999.
Corner's practice, Field Operations, was initially formed in collaboration with architect
Stan Allen
Stan Allen (born 1956) is an American architect, theorist and former dean of Princeton University School of Architecture.
Biography
He received a B.A. from Brown University, a B.Arch. from Cooper Union and an M.Arch. from Princeton University ...
, but the partners chose to focus on their individual practices in 2005. The firm is at the forefront of the
landscape urbanism
Landscape urbanism is a theory of urban design arguing that the city is constructed of interconnected and ecologically rich horizontal field conditions, rather than the arrangement of objects and buildings. Landscape Urbanism, like Infrastructural ...
movement, an interdisciplinary approach that, in theory, amalgamates a wide range of disciplines including landscape architecture, urban design, landscape ecology, and engineering, among other subjects. Corner argues that it is an approach that focuses on process rather than a style and that it marks a productive attitude toward indeterminacy, open-endedness, inter-mixing, and cross-disciplinarity.
Works
Corner's designs bring back the open spaces of the natural wild with a rough, natural, and ecologically sound approach; this could be compared to the works of
Frederick Law Olmsted
Frederick Law Olmsted (April 26, 1822August 28, 1903) was an American landscape architect, journalist, social critic, and public administrator. He is considered to be the father of landscape architecture in the USA. Olmsted was famous for co- ...
, except more unbridled.
*The
High Line
The High Line is a elevated park, elevated linear park, greenway (landscape), greenway and rail trail created on a former New York Central Railroad spur on the West Side (Manhattan), west side of Manhattan in New York City. The High Line's ...
is a of abandoned railroad viaduct that runs from the Meatpacking district to
Hell's Kitchen
Hell's Kitchen, also known as Clinton, is a neighborhood on the West Side of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is considered to be bordered by 34th Street (or 41st Street) to the south, 59th Street to the north, Eighth Avenue to the eas ...
. The proposed design by Field Operations is meant to transform it into a . Corner envisioned "fantastic, mixed
perennial
A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...
landscape" interspersed by "event spaces." Since its completion,it has made an impact on the surrounding blocks with the addition of 27 new residential towers, hotels, offices, and museums.
*Corner's Field Operations headed up a team that won the international design competition with its "Lifescape" design for the redesign of
Freshkills Park
Freshkills Park is a public park being built atop a former landfill on Staten Island. At about , it will be the largest park developed in New York City since the 19th century. Its construction began in October 2008 and is slated to continue in p ...
, a project intended to salvage a massive landfill on Staten Island. The landfill is the largest in the country at , or three times the size of
Central Park
Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...
in Manhattan. The winning design incorporates a
World Trade Center
World Trade Centers are sites recognized by the World Trade Centers Association.
World Trade Center may refer to:
Buildings
* List of World Trade Centers
* World Trade Center (2001–present), a building complex that includes five skyscrapers, a ...
memorial, because the landfill was temporarily reopened to accommodate the remains of the towers, as well as a strong, central focus on programs, habitat, and circulation throughout the new park. Fresh Kills Park is reminiscent of Olmsted's massive design for Central Park as far as work load, scale, and project purpose and design. Fresh Kills Park is said to be "one of the most ambitious public works projects in the world," considering 45% of the area is landfill and the remaining land is wetlands and lowlands. The goal of Fresh Kills Park is to create a world class large-scale park which restores the ecological systems, yet allows New York to optimize its local and regional access while reducing traffic congestion. The park will be developed as a setting for a range of outdoor activities, programs, and recreation that are unique to New York.
*
Cornell NYC Tech
Cornell Tech is a technology, business, law, and design campus of Cornell University located on Roosevelt Island in Manhattan, New York City. It includes the Jacobs Technion-Cornell Institute, a joint academic venture between Cornell and the Tec ...
campus - Landscape design for the new high tech college campus on the site of the
Coler-Goldwater Specialty Hospital
Coler Specialty Hospital is a chronic care facility on New York City's Roosevelt Island that provides services such as rehabilitation and specialty nursing. The hospital was formed in 1996 by the merger of two separate chronic care hospitals ...
on
Roosevelt Island
Roosevelt Island is an island in New York City's East River, within the borough of Manhattan. It lies between Manhattan Island to the west, and the borough of Queens, on Long Island, to the east. Running from the equivalent of East 46th to 85 ...
*
The Underline
The Underline is a 10-mile linear park being developed in Miami-Dade County, Florida. When complete, it will run underneath the county's elevated Metrorail (Miami-Dade County), Metrorail system from the Miami River (Florida), Miami River near Bri ...
, a similar concept to the High Line, a linear park that would run for from
Brickell
Brickell ( ) is a neighborhood in Miami, Florida located directly east of Interstate 95, south of the historic CBD, and north of Coconut Grove. Brickell is known as the financial district in Miami, as well as South Florida.
Brickell was founded ...
to
Dadeland in
Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
,
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
.
*
Cleveland Public Square is a in downtown Cleveland originally conceived in 1796. Corner's renovation united the four previously divided quadrants into one, incorporating green space, a splash fountain, and the non-GMO, Warhol-inspired REBoL restaurant, while still prominently including the classic Soldiers' and Sailors' monument.
*
Newark Riverfront Park
Newark Riverfront Park is a park and promenade being developed in phases along the Passaic River in Newark, New Jersey, United States. The park, expected to be long and encompass , is being created from brownfield sites along the river, which its ...
(phase 4), in
Downtown Newark
Downtown Newark is the Central Business District of Newark in Essex County, New Jersey, United States.
Downtown is the site of the original Puritan settlement of Newark located at a bend in the Passaic River. The first settlers, led by Robert T ...
,
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
*Tunnel Tops, a to be built on top of a set of two tunnels that carry Doyle Drive (
U.S. Highway 101
U.S. Route 101, or U.S. Highway 101 (US 101), is a north–south United States Numbered Highway that runs through the states of California, Oregon, and Washington, on the West Coast of the United States. It is also known as (The Royal Roa ...
) through San Francisco's
Crissy Field
Crissy Field is a public recreation area on the northern shore of the San Francisco Peninsula in California, United States, located just east of the Golden Gate Bridge. It includes restored tidal marsh and beaches.
Crissy Field is a former Un ...
. It is designed to reconnect the Main Post of the
Presidio
A presidio ( en, jail, fortification) was a fortified base established by the Spanish Empire around between 16th century, 16th and 18th century, 18th centuries in areas in condition of their control or influence. The presidios of Captaincy Genera ...
to Crissy Field and the waterfront; these areas had long been separated by Doyle Drive, which formerly ran on an elevated viaduct before its demolition and reconstruction (2009-2015).
*
Tongva Park
Tongva Park is a park in Santa Monica, California. The park is named after the indigenous Tongva people, who have lived in the Los Angeles area for thousands of years. The park is located just south of Colorado Avenue, between Ocean Avenue and Ma ...
is a park in
Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...
named after the indigenous
Tongva people
The Tongva ( ) are an Indigenous peoples of California, Indigenous people of California from the Los Angeles Basin and the Channel Islands of California, Southern Channel Islands, an area covering approximately . Some descendants of the people p ...
, who have lived in the Los Angeles area for thousands of years.
*
West Harbor
West Harbor is a food hall and waterfront park under construction in San Pedro, Los Angeles, California, facing Terminal Island and the Port of Los Angeles. Formerly called the San Pedro Public Market, the development is being built on on th ...
is a
food hall and
waterfront park in
San Pedro, Los Angeles
San Pedro ( ; Spanish: " St. Peter") is a neighborhood within the City of Los Angeles, California. Formerly a separate city, it consolidated with Los Angeles in 1909. The Port of Los Angeles, a major international seaport, is partially located wi ...
, California.
Books
A new aspect of Corner's approach, one that was responsible for his receiving the Chrysler Design Institute Award in 2000, is his plan of working with graphic artists, photographers, and other artists from various fields. An example of this is the project Corner and photographer
Alex MacLean completed when they published their ''Taking Measures Across the American Landscape'' which is a journey to explore the types of landscapes in the United States through essays and map drawings by Corner and aerial photos taken by McLean.
* (with Alex McLean) ''Taking Measures Across the American Landscape'' (Yale, 1996) Received the AIA International Book of the Year Award and the ASLA Award of Honor.
* ''Recovering Landscape: Essays in Contemporary Landscape Architecture'' (
Princeton Architectural Press
Princeton Architectural Press is a small press publisher, specializing in books on architecture, design, photography, landscape, and visual culture, with over 1,000 titles on its backlist. In 2013, it added a line of stationery products, including ...
, 1999) , a book focused on the revitalization of landscape architecture as a critical cultural practice, it offers insight on how contemporary landscapes are "designed, constructed and culturally valued".
* (editor with
Lynn Margulis
Lynn Margulis (born Lynn Petra Alexander; March 5, 1938 – November 22, 2011) was an American evolutionary biologist, and was the primary modern proponent for the significance of symbiosis in evolution. Historian Jan Sapp has said that "Lynn Ma ...
and Brian Hawthorne) ''Ian McHarg: conversations with students: dwelling in nature'' (
Princeton Architectural Press
Princeton Architectural Press is a small press publisher, specializing in books on architecture, design, photography, landscape, and visual culture, with over 1,000 titles on its backlist. In 2013, it added a line of stationery products, including ...
, 2006)
* (with Michael Spens and Peter Latz) ''Landscapes Transformed'' (Academy Editions, 1996), 112 pages. . This book examines the condition of the modern landscape. It presents an international collection of projects which challenge old perceptions and give good cause for confidence in the future of landscape design.
* ''The Landscape Imagination: The Collected Essays of James Corner 1990—2010'' (
Princeton Architectural Press
Princeton Architectural Press is a small press publisher, specializing in books on architecture, design, photography, landscape, and visual culture, with over 1,000 titles on its backlist. In 2013, it added a line of stationery products, including ...
, 2014).
Awards and honors
Corner was the first landscape architect to receive many of the awards that he has won. In 1996, Corner received the G. Holmes Perkins Award for "distinguished and innovative teachings and methods of instruction in design". The following year, in 1997, he was the first recipient of the Jens Jensen Professorship in Landscape Architecture and Urbanism at the
University of Illinois at Chicago
The University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) is a Public university, public research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its campus is in the Near West Side, Chicago, Near West Side community area, adjacent to the Chicago Loop. The second campus esta ...
's School of Architecture and in 2000 he was the second landscape architect, after
Achva Benzinberg Stein Achva Benzinberg Stein is a landscape architect, a founding principal of the landscape architecture and design firm Benzinberg Stein Associates. She is also the founding director of the Graduate Program in Landscape Architecture at City College of N ...
, to be chosen for the
Daimler-Chrysler
The Mercedes-Benz Group AG (previously named Daimler-Benz, DaimlerChrysler and Daimler) is a German multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is one of the world's leading car manufactur ...
Award, which recognizes and promotes innovative design. In 2018, as the first landscape architect ever, James Corner received the honorary doctorate degree (
Dr.-Ing. e.h.) from the
Technical University of Munich
The Technical University of Munich (TUM or TU Munich; german: Technische Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It specializes in engineering, technology, medicine, and applied and natural sciences.
Establis ...
in Germany, Department of Architecture. In 2019, he received an honorary Doctorate of Design (DDes) from
Manchester Metropolitan University
Manchester Metropolitan University is located in the centre of Manchester, England. The university has over 40,000 students and over 4,000 members of staff. It is home to four faculties (Arts and Humanities, Business and Law, Health and Educat ...
.
References
External links
Chrysler Design Institute - Chrysler Design Awards - James Corner*
ttp://www.upenn.edu/almanac/v47/n04/corner.html University of Pennsylvania Almanac - James Corner: Landscape Architecture Chairbr>
"The High Line"on New York Architecture Images
"New York's Newest Parkland - Fresh Kills"on Wired New York
articles by James Corner
{{DEFAULTSORT:Corner, James
1961 births
American landscape architects
University of Pennsylvania faculty
Alumni of Manchester Metropolitan University
Living people