Todos Juntos

PUBLIC PLAZA

Todos Juntos transforms an active but lackluster library plaza into a vibrant neighborhood gathering place. The design reconfigures the plaza to create a broad, direct path from the street corner to the library entrance. This broad path both clarifies the approach to the library and provides a space large enough for small gatherings and events, both formal and informal. The plaza design also includes a secondary path connecting the building entrance to an existing bus stop at the sidewalk; new planting areas; and new and relocated site furnishings such as benches, bicycle racks, and a book drop.

A cluster of sculptural pylons act as beacon within the plaza. Viewable from multiple vantage points along the adjacent streets, the dynamic forms of the colorful pylons mark the intersection as the ‘Civic Center’ of the neighborhood. Etched into the triangulated pylons are three stanzas in Spanish and English of the poem Blanco from the late Mexican poet laureate Octavio Paz. The animated pylons are envisioned as “la familia”: figures with limbs reaching out in an approachable and playful embrace of the public space.

In collaboration with Lyric Design & Planning