Through their annual program the BSLA seeks to recognize excellence in the diverse practices of landscape architecture. Submitted projects should demonstrate excellence and reflect the careful stewardship, wise planning, and artful design of our cultural and natural environment. Sasaki is honored to be among this year’s honorees.

Read on for more information about each project.

The Ellinikon Metropolitan Park and Coastal Front

Rarely does a city build a park that sets a new standard for ecological restoration and sparks a paradigm shift for the design, programming, and funding of future public parks across the world. The Ellinikon Metropolitan Park and Coastal Front is doing just that—striving to become the social heart of Athens, and Europe’s largest urban coastal park. The site contains traces of multiple histories—prehistoric settlements, once thriving agriculture, an obsolete international airport, and a dilapidated collection of former Olympic venues. After nearly two decades of work to establish a funding and governance mechanism and multiple rounds of master plans, the center of Europe’s largest urban redevelopment project is the 600 acre (243 hectare) park, which will be gifted back to the citizens of Athens with a private entity responsible for operating and maintaining the park for 99 years. The park’s design centers on ecological restoration, material reuse, and cultural programming that honors the site’s layered histories while introducing novel experiences in a city that does not have a public park at this scale.

Greenwood Community Park Master Plan

Prior to 2018, the East Baton Rouge Parks and Recreation Commission (BREC) had years of turmoil after some called for the Baton Rouge Zoo to be moved to the southern part of the parish. As BREC entertained the idea, public outcry came from North Baton Rouge, a lower income, predominantly Black area of the city. After decades of underrepresentation, this represented yet another blow that simply went too far. Solidified by support from local and state leadership, BREC decided that not only would the Zoo stay next to Greenwood Park, but they would also embark on an ambitious master plan that would heal the historic patterns of disinvestment that had harmed North Baton Rouge.