Although Penn Park will not open for two more years, the decision to hire Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, as the designer has set the wheels in motion.
Anne Papageorge, vice president for the Division of Facilities and Real Estate Services praised the firm's expertise and vision.
The firm "seemed to hit all the key elements" boasting a resume of designs in urban areas and waterfronts like Philadelphia, she said.
Yesterday, Valkenburgh visited the site - which will run along 31st Street between Walnut and South streets - for the first time since interviewing for the project in order to get a better idea of the surrounding area.
His design team will be working to resolve a variety of challenges
He called it a "fantastic project and a fantastic challenge because Penn is a University with a limited amount of open space" so designing the park to be as welcoming and open as possible will require enormous effort.
Like many of Penn's new structures, this project will be geared towards sustainable solutions, including strong water harvesting, using native plant material and collected rainwater to irrigate the greenery, said Papageorge.
The 24 acre park will have an athletic component as well.
"The athletic piece was very central to the designing and [Valkenburgh] has a comprehensive and unified vision for the park," University Architect David Hollenberg said.
Because Penn Park is a salient feature of the University's Penn Connects project that aims to connect the University with the rest of Philadelphia, increasing the scope of the project was important for FRES.
Hollenberg said Valkenburgh was concrete in making this an "iconic project to be seen not only from campus," but from the other side of the river as well.
Chosen from nine prospective designers, Valkenburgh will spend the next year working with the Office of the University Architect to create a series of documents that will be used by contractors during actual construction.
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