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25-600: The park officially opened to the public in May 2013, featuring the largest cherry tree grove in New England. Since then, it has continued to evolve with the addition of new amenities, including a carousel in 2017, an ice skating rink and fountain in 2018, and the Whittingham Discovery Center, an environmental education facility, in 2022. The park's history began in 1998, when landscape architecture firm Sasaki Associates

50-558: A grant of $ 100,000 from the National Endowment for the Arts . The winner, announced in May 1984, was Dean Abbott of the New York firm Clarke & Rapuano. The park was raised to street-level and a lawn and planting beds were added. The fountain, which had rarely functioned as intended, was re-configured. The updated park was dedicated on June 18, 1989, and received mixed reviews. By 2021

75-525: A large portfolio of work, which includes: Copley Square Copley Square / ˈ k ɒ p l i / is a public square in Boston's Back Bay neighborhood, bounded by Boylston Street , Clarendon Street, St. James Avenue, and Dartmouth Street. The square is named for painter John Singleton Copley . Prior to 1883 it was known as Art Square due to its many cultural institutions, some of which remain today. Several architectural landmarks are adjacent to

100-429: A native of Japan who had settled in the city in 1926, and in 1932 became the first Japanese man to own a restaurant in the state (K&J Three Decker Restaurant on Atlantic Street). Nojima gave the city 120 trees, and for three years he watered each one until they took root. He gave the city instructions on how to care for them, but when they were overlooked, he began tending the trees himself. On Arbor Day, April 27, 2007,

125-461: A second stage for the construction of programming elements and walkways, and a third stage for additional amenities. The width of the Mill River was to be narrowed to less than half of its then-expanse, which would expand the park's area and provide space for more amenities. The master plan outlined the construction of a carousel , fountain, ice rink , and a network of trails connecting a greenway with

150-526: A wide variety of project types, across its many disciplines. In 2000, in honor of the passing of the firm's founder, the family of Hideo Sasaki together with Sasaki and other financial supporters, established the Sasaki Foundation. The foundation, which is a separate entity from Sasaki, gives yearly grants, supporting community-led research at Sasaki. In 2012, Sasaki opened an office in Shanghai to support

175-510: Is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, but practices on an international scale, with offices in Shanghai, and Denver, Colorado, and clients and projects globally. Sasaki was founded in 1953 by landscape architect Hideo Sasaki while he served as a professor and landscape architecture chair at the Harvard Graduate School of Design . Sasaki was founded upon collaborative, interdisciplinary design, unprecedented in design practice at

200-624: The Boston Book Festival , and, for several years, the Boston Summer Arts Weekend. The park's central location also makes it a natural gathering place for protests and vigils. The water level in the fountain pool can be lowered, turning it into a stage for concerts and theatrical performances. A significant number of important Boston educational and cultural institutions were originally located adjacent to (or very near) Copley Square, reflecting 19th-century Boston's aspirations for

225-640: The Horace Mann School for the Deaf , Boston University , Emerson College , and Northeastern University . By 1876, with the completion of the Museum of Fine Arts, Walter Muir Whitehill noted that "Copley Square which — unlike the rest of the Back Bay — had never been properly or reasonably laid out, was beginning to stumble into shape". But the land comprising the current square, bisected diagonally by Huntington Avenue,

250-1248: The American Planning Association. In 2017, two of the five annual finalists for the Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence were Sasaki projects: the Bruce C. Bolling Municipal Building (Boston, MA) and the Chicago Riverwalk both were recognized as silver medalists. Sasaki has been named a top 50 firm by Architect Magazine numerous times. The firm has been recognized by the Boston Society of Landscape Architects (BSLA), Boston Society of Architects (BSA), American Planning Association (APA), American Institute of Architecture (AIA), Society for College and University Planning (SCUP), Urban Land Initiative (ULI), Dezeen , and Fast Company , among others. Notable Sasaki-sponsored research projects include Sea-Change Boston (2016 ASLA Honor Award), Shifting Gears: An Urbanist's take on autonomous vehicles (2019 Fast Company honorable mention), Understanding Homelessness, and Where Design Meets Play. Sasaki has

275-548: The Kosciuszko, Southfield, and Scalzi parks. Removing the dam will also allow fish to swim up from Long Island Sound. As of 2007, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had spent $ 800,000 on preliminary studies, planning, and design. In 2009, an $ 8 million restoration of the Mill River, $ 5 million of which was federally funded, began. It was followed by a second $ 12-million phase, which consisted primarily of installing infrastructure such as lighting, benches, and plantings. Mill River Park

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300-612: The city celebrated the 50th anniversary of the gift with a ceremony at the park. The cherry trees were removed in March 2009, as part of the renovations in the park's construction, but seeds from a select few were transferred to a nursery, and were planted in the fall of 2012. Sasaki (company) Sasaki is a design firm specializing in Architecture , Interior Design , Urban Design , Space Planning, Landscape Architecture , Ecology , Civil Engineering , and Place Branding . The firm

325-648: The firm's third physical studio location. Opening an office in Denver, a region where Sasaki has been working since the 1960s, positions Sasaki to deliver on projects across western North America. In 2007, Sasaki was honored as the American Society of Landscape Architects firm of the year. In 2012, Sasaki won the American Planning Association firm of the year award. Sasaki has earned numerous consecutive Pierre L'Enfant International Planning awards from

350-560: The firm's work in China and the larger Asia Pacific region. In 2018, Sasaki opened the Incubator, a coworking space designed by and located within the Sasaki campus, which houses the Sasaki Foundation as curator of programming. The 5,000 square-foot space is home to several like-minded non-profits, organizations, and individuals. In 2020, Sasaki established a new office in Denver, Colorado, marking

375-875: The location as a center of culture and progress. These included the Museum of Fine Arts , the Massachusetts Institute of Technology , Harvard Medical School , the New England Museum of Natural History (today's Museum of Science), Trinity Church , the New Old South Church , the Boston Public Library , the American Academy of Arts and Sciences , the Massachusetts Normal Art School (today's Massachusetts College of Art and Design ),

400-533: The park inaugurated the indoor carousel, and the ice skating rink and fountain were added in 2018. The Whittingham Discovery Center, a building for educational programming described by the Stamford Advocate as "part museum, part-classroom, part community space", opened in June 2022. The Mill River Park was formerly home to a grove of cherry trees , which were presented to the city on April 27, 1957, by Junzo Nojima,

425-461: The park, now heavily used, was again in need of redesign; requirements included alleviating stress on existing trees, adding more trees, making the fountain safer, and prioritizing ease of maintenance. After a series of public meetings, the final proposal by Sasaki Associates was presented to the city in May 2022. Renovations began on July 20, 2023, and are expected to take sixteen months. The non-profit membership organization Friends of Copley Square

450-481: The pedestrian from the noise and bustle of the surrounding streets, but it also isolated the square from the community. As the architecture critic Robert Campbell noted, "From the day it opened, it didn't work". In 1983 the Copley Square Centennial Committee, consisting of representatives of business, civic and residential interests, was formed. They announced a new design competition, funded by

475-627: The square: Notable buildings later demolished: One of the most popular attractions in Copley Square is the Farmers Market, held Tuesdays and Fridays from May through November. (During the 2023–2024 reconstruction of the park, the market is held in front of the Public Library on Dartmouth.) Annual events include First Night activities and ice sculpture competition, the Christmas tree lighting,

500-494: The time, and an emphasis on the integration of land, buildings, people, and their contexts. Through the mid to late 1900s, Sasaki designed plazas (including Copley Square ), corporate parks, college campuses, and master plans, among other projects. The firm includes a team of in house designers, software developers, and data analysts who support the practice. Today, Sasaki has over 300 employees across its diverse practice areas and between its two offices. The firm engages in

525-495: The triangle in 1885. Calls to close off Huntington between Dartmouth and Boylston streets began almost immediately, but that was not accomplished until 1968. In 1966, a proposal by the Watertown, Massachusetts, landscape design firm Sasaki, Dawson, DeMay was selected from 188 entrants in a national competition sponsored by the city and private development concerns. The design centered on a sunken terraced plaza, intended to separate

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550-462: Was commissioned to draft a plan to reclaim the area along a segment of the Rippowam River known as Mill River as a public park . In July 2007, the city government of Stamford released a master plan for the redevelopment of the area. The plan entailed three stages: the first stage, where the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers would remove a dam along the river and decrease the river's floodplain ,

575-466: Was expanded in an $ 8.5 million project, including $ 4 million in federal funding earmarked in 2007, with the city government financing the rest of the cost. The federal funding was to pay for removing the Mill River dam and dredging. As of 2013, the master plan for Mill River Park is projected to cost $ 60 million and to encompass 28 acres. 12 acres of the Mill River Park opened in May 2013. In 2017,

600-548: Was formed in 1992 as a successor to the Copley Square Centennial Committee. It raises funds for care of the square's plantings, fountain, and monuments, and also manages the Copley Square Charitable trust. The Boston Marathon foot race has finished at Copley Square since 1986. A memorial celebrating the race's 100th running in 1996 is located in the park, near the corner of Boylston and Dartmouth streets. On April 15, 2013, around 2:50 pm (about three hours after

625-486: Was still available for commercial development. The city purchased the larger triangle, then known as Art Square, in 1883 and dubbed it Copley Square. The smaller plot, known as Trinity Triangle, was the subject of several lawsuits against the property owner, who planned to put up a six-story apartment building directly in front of Trinity Church. Foundations were laid but further construction was delayed by various injunctions. The city council appropriated funds for purchase of

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