Page 44 - Winter_2020

The 7th Street Pier as seen from its end,
with the “Torch” fire sculpture in the foreground.

Rollin’ on the River
Rollin’ on the River

Sensuous Curves Define

District Wharf Park and Pier

by Steven K. Dickens, AIA, LEED AP

Since the completion of Phase 1 in 2018, the waterfront For Michael Vergason, FASLA, of Michael
mega-development known as the District Wharf has Vergason Landscape Architects, Ltd. (MVLA),
enjoyed instant success as a major destination for commissioned to design the Seventh Street Park
locals and visitors of all stripes. A central goal of the and Recreation Pier, this forced a new approach.
developer, Hoffman-Madison Waterfront, and the “Usually, by my preference, our work is quite quiet,
master planner, Perkins Eastman, was to avoid a indistinguishable from the good qualities of the context
uniformity of character and user experience that can rather than stand-alone,” he said. “But in this case, Stan
happen when all the buildings of an entire precinct [Stanton Eckstut, FAIA, Perkins Eastman’s lead for the
are built simultaneously. Accordingly, many different Wharf] wanted something of a quilt and thus kept us
design firms—architects, landscape architects, and and the other landscape architects somewhat separate.
others—were hired. As a strategy to create authentic It forced us to focus on our part alone, more separated
differentiations, Perkins Eastman purposely kept each than usual.”
firm somewhat in the dark about the others’ design work.

42 ROLLIN’ ON THE RIVER