Thomas Balsley (born 1943), FASLA, is the founder and principal designer of Thomas Balsley Associates, a New York City-based design firm best known for its fusion of landscape and urbanism in public parks and plazas. Balsley's firm has been active for over 35 years.

Life and career

Thomas Balsley was born in 1943 and studied at Syracuse University and then the

SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry The State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF) is a public research university in Syracuse, New York focused on the environment and natural resources. It is part of the State University of New York (SUNY) sys ...

. He moved to New York City in 1970, and within a year founded his own firm, Thomas Balsley Associates. In New York City alone, Mr. Balsley has completed more than 100 parks and plazas, most notably Riverside Park South and Gantry Plaza State Park. In addition, to his above ground work, NYC MTA selected his bench design for its transit systems. In a gesture of recognition for his contribution to New York City's public spaces, Balsley Park, formerly known as Sheffield Plaza, on 9th Avenue between 56th and 57th Streets in New York City, has been renamed in honor of the landscape designer. About Gantry Plaza State Park, former architecture critic of ''The New York Times''

Herbert Muschamp Herbert Mitchell Muschamp (November 28, 1947 – October 2, 2007) was an American architecture critic. Early years Born in Philadelphia, Muschamp described his childhood home life as follows: "The living room was a secret. A forbidden zone. ...

wrote, “The evil spell is broken... The curse that reduced New York’s landscape architects to creating Disney versions of Central Park has been at least temporarily lifted.” Balsley's work can be seen in the United States in the downtown and waterfront parks of major cities like Dallas, Los Angeles, Portland, Detroit, Cleveland, Tampa, and Baltimore's

Inner Harbor The Inner Harbor is a historic seaport, tourist attraction, and landmark of the city of Baltimore, Maryland. It was described by the Urban Land Institute in 2009 as "the model for post-industrial waterfront redevelopment around the world". Th ...

. Recently-won international design competitions include the Magok Waterfront and the National Ecological Center in Korea and Kasumigaseki Plaza in Tokyo. He has given lectures at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, 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 ...

, the National Building Museum and Seoul National University. In addition he has received international recognition in the form of awards and citations from professional and civic organizations, including the

American Society of Landscape Architects The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) is a professional association for landscape architects in the United States. The ASLA's mission is to advance landscape architecture through advocacy, communication, education, and fellowship ...

, the

Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum is a design museum housed within the Andrew Carnegie Mansion in Manhattan, New York City, along the Upper East Side's Museum Mile. It is one of 19 museums that fall under the wing of the Smithsonian Inst ...

, the

American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to su ...

Environmental Design Research Association The Environmental Design Research Association (EDRA) is an international, interdisciplinary organization founded in 1968 by design professionals, social scientists, students, educators, and facility managers. The purpose of EDRA is the advancement ...

, the Institute for Urban Design and the Waterfront Center.

Projects

* Riverside Park South, New York, New York. * Hunter's Point South Waterfront Park, Queens, New York. * Gantry Plaza State Park, Long Island City, New York. *

SUNY Albany The State University of New York at Albany, commonly referred to as the University at Albany, UAlbany or SUNY Albany, is a Public university, public research university with campuses in Albany, New York, Albany, Rensselaer, New York, Rensselae ...

Masterplan (Phase 1 completed), Albany, New York. * Library Green, New Rochelle, New York. *West Shore Park,

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

, Maryland. * Curtis Hixon Park, Tampa, Florida. *Skyline Park,

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

, Colorado. * Gate City, Osaki,

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

, Japan * Kasumigaseki Plaza,

, Japan * Main Street Garden Park,

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

Pacific Design Center The Pacific Design Center, or PDC, is a multi-use facility for the design community located in West Hollywood, California. One of the buildings is often described as the ''Blue Whale'' because of its large size relative to surrounding buildings a ...

* Beaumont Quarter,

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New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

External links

Crain's New York Business Top Entrepreneurs 2007: Thomas Balsley

Thomas Balsley Associates website

Architizer Profile

Thomas Balsley's Urban Landscapes Article by Jim Wegener

Landscape Architecture Magazine April 2011 Article on Balsley

Interview with Thomas Balsley on Resilient Waterfront Benches

Thomas Balsley Reaches Destination with Landscape Forms

Las bancas de NY

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Balsley, Thomas 1943 births American landscape architects Syracuse University alumni State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry alumni Living people