Brooklyn, NY

JPLA designed DUMBO Beach as pop-up park at the terminus of Jay Street. This project was especially meaningful to us, as it was located in our neighborhood, right down the street from our office, and was a collaboration with DUMBO Business Improvement District and other local businesses. JPLA designed wood slab benches that were built by local furniture maker, Mark Jupiter, out of reclaimed wood that was donated by Alloy Development.  The concept of the beach was to give this urban neighborhood an instant seashore hangout and to celebrate summer and the East River waterfront. JPLA selected native plants specific to the ecology of this riparian edge, working with Green Belt Native Plant Center, who germinated seeds collected from a 50-mile radius of NYC and donated them to the project. On a tight budget, JPLA developed a technology for constructing the mounds to minimize the movement of sand and water across a paved surface. We were out on-site dawn from to dusk helping with the installation.  When it was complete, it was so satisfying to see the Beach become a popular site for breakfast and lunch picnicking, kids birthday parties, and yoga classes. Ultimately, the materials of this temporary landscape went back to the neighborhood. The benches and umbrellas were re-used in the Pearl Street Triangle and the plants were transplanted into Brooklyn Bridge Park, where they continue to provide food and shelter for our local birds and insects.

CLIENT: DUMBO BID
CONTRIBUTORS: Mark Jupiter, Alloy Development, Green Belt Native Plants Center