Cudahy Gardens, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
When approached by Santiago Calatrava, Dan's immediate design response was to find a suitable landscape counterpoint to the striking proposed architecture. "Contrapuntal" was soon the key word for the project and the landscape took on a structured armature likeness that's low and integrated into the earth to give a clear and uninterrupted views of the building while tied together by an extensive 500 feet long water wall.
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The armature created 5 equally sized parterres divided by hedges and paths while bookended by two vertical fountains of 35 feet in height and expansive plazas for each. The formality of the two plazas were places of celebration while the subtle subterranean intervention created visual interest while offering uninterrupted views of the building.
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To envision Dan's proposal, I created a 3-dimensional computer model in order to accurately depict the mass of the architecture and more importantly the scale of the space. With hand-graphics overlaying the digital computer lines, a soft landscape feel was made possible while the water wall was shown to bisect the garden and hedges and lightly obscuring the views of the base of the building. The sketch (1998) and photo (2023) shown above illustrate 25 years difference. Additional photography can be found here: Milwaukee Cudahy Garden Client: Milwaukee Art Museum Architect(s): Santiago Calatrava Architects & Engineers Year: 1999 Role: Landscape Designer while at Office of Dan Kiley Related Link(s): Milwaukee Art Museum (MAM) - Santiago Calatrava Architects & Engineers Cudahy Gardens - Milwaukee Art Museum Photos: Milwaukee Cudahy Gardens Project Location |
