Barbara Wilks was featured in the June issue of Urban Land Magazine, as part of a Regional Spotlight on New York and Massachusetts. The Edge in Williamsburg, one of our landscape projects in the city, was pictured as well (above). From the article by Micheal Sheridan:

On the residential side, Barbara Wilks, a principal of Archipelago and W Architecture and Landscape Architecture, both New York – based multidisciplinary design firms, adds that New York is only just discovering its identity as a waterfront city, noting that the waterfront will continue to be a strong force in the real estate market. “The trend is now to celebrate our location on the water and zoning has been changed to allow this in many areas,” she continues. “The design trend that complements this is the movement toward more ecologically aware structures and landscapes. In fact, there is a renewed focus on the importance of landscapes in the city and many new parks, especially waterfront public areas being developed.”

Archipelago designed the open space for the Edge, a 1,442-unit multifamily development on the East River in Brooklyn’s Williamsburg neighborhood, whose first phase will provide 575 market-rate residences and 347 affordable units as well as 60,000 square feet (5,574 sq m) of ground-level retail. “It will also provide over two acres [0.8 ha] of waterfront open space for the community, built by Douglaston Development for the public, including new piers and a waterfront promenade, streetscapes, and a park,” Wilks says. “Great care was taken to ensure access corridors through the development to the waterfront. The site plan becomes a reflection of the mixing of the forces of the city with the forces of nature, working toward a new balance that it is a hallmark of 21st-century design.”