Architecture Firm Creates Prototype for a Vertical Park in Times Square

By Samantha Neudorf April 26, 2016

Parks may take up a lot of space, laterally, so this architecture firm is looking to make a park headed in a different direction: up.

100architects is an architecture firm based in Shanghai, China that has created a vertical park concept in Times Square called Vertical Times as a twist to what we would normally think of as an “urban park.”

The cylindrical, six-floor tower has a function for each platform. The first two floors would be dedicated to kids with a carousel playground and ball pit. The third floor would incorporate the greenery element of the park with a sky garden, and fourth floor is intended for relaxation purposes with a hammock plaza. The top two floors would generate revenue for Vertical Times with a restaurant and sky bar.

The thought process behind it is that space is a luxury for a packed city like New York, so this would compact public recreation into a single tower.

“It sets a different approach in the design of public space, no longer needing to be large horizontal extension of land, but rather a multilayered metabolism with a softer impact on land consumption, and mimicking better with its urban surroundings, while establishing a highly recognizable landmark in the city,” 100architects wrote on its website.

This is, of course, a prototype and is not actually being built just yet. What do you think of this idea?

Photo credit: 100architects
Main photo: Vertical Square would be a six-floor park in the middle of Times Square.