Resilient Parks - Design Opportunities for Bushwick Inlet Park

Sea level rise, storm surges and cloudburst events. These threats are design challenges but also present an opportunity for innovative and engaging park design.

Join Friends of Bushwick Inlet Park for a panel discussion with :

Stephen Whitehouse, BIP 86 Kent Ave landscape designer, urban planner, principal, Starr Whitehouse Landscape Architects and Planners

Dr. Marcha Johnson, landscape architect and ecological restorationist, NYC Parks & Recreation

Both panelists have extensive experience in designing spaces within the public realm to help mitigate increasing threats from atmosphereic changes effecting human and landscape interaction with water. With them we will explore their work, including revisiting Stephen's concept for BIP's 86 Kent Ave, and design philosophy in considering future waterfront park manifestations in the face of these challenges.

Stephen Whitehouse is a landscape architect and urban planner whose diverse pursuits share a concern for the environmental quality and social vitality of places. He formerly served as Chief of Planning for the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation, where he managed the expansion of the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows and launched the City’s Greenway system. Since co-founding Starr Whitehouse with Laura Starr, he has worked with public and private clients to create dynamic urban districts and engaging landscapes that connect people to nature.

Rather than focusing on a single aspect of the work, he’s always been most fascinated by the juncture points. “Natural systems, patterns of settlement, infrastructure – seeing all these come together to make a place is interesting to me, not just as abstract concepts,” he says, “but in terms of seeing good results at the end.” He describes his role in terms of junctures as well. “I’m the translator,” he says. “I serve as the mediator between the specialists and the public. I like communicating with people, and seeing things shaped by the creative interactions of people and institutions.”

His list of project involvement is extensive.

Dr. Marcha Johnson is a landscape architect with New York City Parks & Recreation, specializing in ecological restoration and the design of Post-Industrial urban waterfront parks. She has been an Adjunct Professor at CCNY for the past twenty-two years. Dr Johnson earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology from the University of Illinois, a Master’s in Landscape Architecture from Louisiana State University, and her PhD in Regional and City Planning from the University of Pennsylvania. Her professional experience includes working at offices such as East R. Studio, Wallace Roberts & Todd, Hanna/Olin Ltd, Lee and Associates Inc, and Robert Shinbo Associates. She is a long-standing executive board member of the American Society of Landscape Architects’ New York Chapter where she is a former Trustee and she serves as a member of the Landscape Architecture Accreditation Teams at schools throughout the United States. She also serves on the executive board of The River Project.

Host or Publisher Friends of Bushwick Inlet Park