De(Centralised) Park

New York, USA

Winning the prestigious LA+ ICONOCLAST competition, this visionary concept de-centralises New York’s Central Park, reimagining car-dominated streets as an interconnected, city-wide public landscape network.

e8urban was selected as a joint winner of the international LA+ ICONOCLAST design competition, which challenged participants to redesign New York’s iconic Central Park from scratch. Selected by a jury chaired by Richard Weller, the scheme was recognised for moving beyond traditional picturesque park design to confront the spatial challenges of the 21st century. The competition asked how a contemporary vision could reframe Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux’s 19th-century masterpiece while anticipating the future of urban life.

Rather than altering the boundaries of the existing park, e8urban’s scheme radically proposals to de-centralise Central Park altogether. Capitalising on the spatial efficiencies promised by future autonomous transit and reduced vehicular reliance, the design reclaims asphalt and concrete road corridors across Manhattan. These asphalt-dominated streets are transformed into an extensive network of linear green spaces, effectively weaving natural systems, pedestrian movement, and public amenities directly into the everyday fabric of the city.

By shifting the park from a single, enclosed destination into an inclusive, distributed ecosystem, the proposal democratises access to green space for all New Yorkers. De(Centralised) Park demonstrates how forward-thinking master planning can dissolve the boundary between infrastructure and landscape, presenting a bold model for high-density metropolitan resilience and public domain equity.

Jury Chair, Richard Weller

“From megastructures to new ecologies and radical ideas for democratising public space, the LA+ ICONOCLAST winning entries show how designers can move beyond the status quo of picturesque large parks and embrace the challenges and opportunities of the 21st century.”