Freeway Park

Freeway Park in Seattle, Washington, extends from Downtown Seattle. The park bridges over Interstate 5 and a large city-owned parking lot. An unusual mixture of brutalist architecture and greenery, the 5.2-acre (21000 square metres) park, designed by Lawrence Halprin’s office under the supervision of Angela Danadjieva, opened to the public July 4, 1976. A series of crimes, notably a 2002 murder, briefly gave the park a reputation as a haven for crime and led to calls for a radical redesign. The strategy, only partly implemented as of summer 2005, seems to be succeeding: according to David Brewster of the FPNA, crime in the park is down 90% compared to that of 2002. The park is also a cultural landscape and a precedent setting park that defines a new land-use typology for American cities.