Bintondale Pioneer ParkThe 35-acre site in the coal country near Pittsburgh, completed in 2002, was extremely important. why?
It was the perfect interdisciplinary team of engineers, hydrogeologists, architects, artists, historians and landscape architects. We have learned everything about acid mine drainage to design a natural filtration system to deal with long-standing pollution from mine drainage. The excavator rebuilt the 19th-century honeycomb oven used to convert coal into coke to make steel. We pulled them out from behind the wire mesh and made science visibly beautiful. It is now a neighborhood park next to the historic bike path. In other words, the boom. It’s all together. People have begun to pay attention. At that time, there weren’t really any models in America. Since then, I’ve been able to point to something in the Pennsylvania countryside and say, “This is completely possible.”
Let’s talk more about the reuse of materials recovered on the site.
I am witty. Maybe that’s because I’m from a big family. So, because the landfill is closed in Massachusetts, I call for it when the construction industry sends debris to Maine as usual. I still can’t stand the word “sustainability” — it’s just a general sensibility. I especially love concrete. Some see it as a piece. You can see this wonderful patina. Imagine the person standing on it, look at the work on its surface, and wonder how beautiful it is.
You said that you gave the material a name.
I don’t know how to reference anything until I give it a name. At the construction site of the historic shipyard, now at the Urban Outfitters headquarters in Philadelphia, there were Bernie and Betty’s rubble, Wilma and Bang Bang. The crew loved it.
How did you react to becoming the first Overlander winner?
This award really made me proud and made me feel quite deep. It’s like saying, “Please do this.” I think the judges did a pretty good job not necessarily because of the number of works produced, but also the impact of someone’s work on design education and the fact that someone is trying to take risks. Cornelia Oberlander [a landscape architect who died in 2021] It was a pioneer. She was a risk taker. That doesn’t happen enough in our field.
Have you heard a personal anecdote about your job?
My brother Joe recently talked about meeting his grandmother on the Urban Outfitters site. She was watching her grandchildren play, and Joe asked her what, if any, her relationship with the abolished US Navy Yard. “I was a cook in the building,” she laughed. “I’m very happy to see it alive.”
