Rincon Park
Rincon Park
San Francisco, California
“Adding this great new park and wonderful sculpture to San Francisco’s waterfront is more evidence of our dedication to making this the world’s most beautiful city.”
Situated at the foot of Folsom Street, Rincon Park completes the open space edge on San Francisco’s central waterfront. The Park’s primary landform is a tilted plane of green, inclined toward the Bay—an amphitheater for spectacular views and a foil to the traffic of the Embarcadero Parkway. Long, arcing walls on the Park’s western edge establish an armature that enfolds two restaurants into the larger composition. A series of smaller tilting and arcing walls recalls the after images of advancing and receding waves on this former beach. An entry promenade continues the axis of Folsom Street to the water’s edge, maintaining the City-to-Bay view corridor. This ‘brownfield’ site — formerly used by railroad and shipping companies—was characterized by several areas of contamination. On-site remediation strategies isolated contaminated soils and reduced project costs. The Park has become a living room for downtown workers and residents as well as visitors to the City.
Project Team: Olin Partnership, URS Civil Engineers, Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen (Artists: Cupid’s Span)