GGN

We’re thrilled to announce that Hemisfair Civic Park in San Antonio, TX received an Honor Award in the General Design from the 2026 American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) Professional Awards and the Large Urban Parks Award (North America) from World Urban Parks World Urban Parks last week.

The Civic Park at Hemisfair uses landscape as a catalyst for reconnecting a part of San Antonio disconnected by the 1968 World’s Fair. Envisioned as “The place where San Antonio meets,” the Civic Park invites the daily life of the city back into Hemisfair while also expanding the city’s capacity for large events and celebrations.

The Springs, gardens, an event lawn and central promenade draw the city into the park while also reaching out to connect surrounding neighborhoods and projects.

We’re grateful to the city of San Antonio for continuing to support the transformation of Hemisfair and the many collaborators, who helped imagine, build, and continue to support the life of this important place.

GGN, Project Lead and Landscape Architect
Alamo Architects, Architect - Alamo Architects
Magnusson Klemencic Associates, Civil Engineer - Magnusson Klemencic Associates
Rialto Studios, Local Landscape Architect Rialto Studio, Inc.
Jeffrey Bruce & Company, Turf and Soil Engineering - JBC Landscape Architects
CMS Collaborative, Fountain Design - CMS Collaborative
Tillett Lighting, Lighting Design - Linnaea Tillett Lighting Design Associates
Intelligent Engineering Services, Structural Engineer - Intelligent Engineering Services
CNG Engineering, MEP - CNG ENGINEERING
Drew Collaborative Works, Cost Estimating – I can’t find an insta for DCW, but they do have LinkedIn
Skanska, General Contractor - Skanska USA | Construction & Development
Shadrock & Williams, Masonry Contractor - Shadrock & Williams
Toole Design Group, Traffic Engineer - Toole Design
ETM Associates, Operations & Maintenance
Theater DNA, Theater Design - TheatreDNA
Ximenes & Associates, Public Outreach
Image credits: Drew Reinartz (1), GGN (2,4-6,8), Kaylee Greenlee Beal (3), Voice of San Antonio (7)

Jill Fortuna captured an in-studio micro-mockup today, created by Patrick Nelligan using brick samples that were vetted and tonally mixed for a recent Texas project. Ben Nardi and Jordan Bell assisted in the layout and hard-soled-shoe / cuffed-pant testing of the surface.

Swipe to see the newly opened up views and restored public entry into the magnificent courtyards and arches!

Since 2019 GGN has been a creative and technical partner with PacSci and its diverse community, to study ways to preserve and celebrate this landmarked treasure of a space designed by Minoru Yamasaki, while welcoming more people, curiosity, and nature into the space.

At the South Entry, we are delighted to see the positive response from visitors who have come to watch the former gates and surrounding barriers (all added into the 1962 entrance plaza in the 1990s) come down!

construction performed the surgical work to remove the interconnected, dense layers of 1990s additions from this courtyard entry with minimum disturbance and maximal questions from curious passerby.

This was originally the main public entry to the US Science Pavilion (now PacSci).

At this (now restored and reopened) courtyard entry, guests crossed into the courtyard by ascending or descending stairs that lead to floating platforms that bring a person’s body through the air, light, and the ethereally inspiring Arches.

Mr. Yamasaki intended this entry as a communal ritual of civic crossing — leaving the regular ground of our days behind us — clearing distractions and opening our minds together, for taking in the new ideas and exhibits within the Pavilion.

Today, visitors to and can once again stroll freely into and through the magical, mind-clearing Arches to find a place of both inspiration and respite, community and contemplation. We suggest exploring the many beautiful and innovative details in this significantly intact work by Minoru Yamasaki, including original planters and benches!

Go check it out to see an example of the power of “doing less” in design and construction to reveal more for all of us to enjoy. Thank you to for welcoming curiosity and for being brave with experimenting in their own space.

We are pleased to share that the first phase of India Basin Waterfront Park@received an Honor Award at the recent 2026 Design Awards Ceremony. This honor is shared with our client and community partners and our architectural team members , who brought the unusually sited and locally programmed, small park buildings in the design plan into full and vibrant life that already activates Phase 1 of the park.

For over a decade, we’ve been honored to be entrusted with the overall planning and design of this special project, from the neighborhood-driven planning and programming, to community-inspired site design and detailing, to collaborating with a talented team of consultants and contractors on making concepts into reality, since winning a design competition in 2016.

Project client and design team:
Client: Trust for Public Land
San Francisco Recreation & Parks
Lead Design, Prime Consultant, Landscape Architect: GGN
Architect: Jensen Architects
Ecological Restoration / Planting Design: Rana Creek
Structural Engineering: JBSE Inc. (dba Jon Brody Structural Engineers)
Lighting: Niteo California
MEP & IT: Interface Engineering
ADA Consultant: Marx Okubo
Historic Consultant: Page & Turnbull
Geotechnical Engineer: AGS
Remediation Consultant: AnchorQEA

Situated along 1.5 miles of San Francisco Bay shoreline in the Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhood, this project transforms a historically industrial site into a resilient waterfront park that is connected to a long-isolated but vibrant neighborhood.

Restored tidal wetlands, native plantings, and marsh create a thriving ecosystem and climate resilience, while new walkways connect long-isolated neighborhoods to the water — reclaiming a polluted shoreline as an inclusive landscape bridging nature and community.

As the Tellima and Camas are in full bloom today at this Seattle garden of locally native plants, we are honored to share the inclusion of this special project in Phaidon’s The Contemporary Garden, from co-editors Victoria Clarke, Sorrel Everton, and Rosie Pickles.

It is heartening to our collaborative and mission-driven clients, as well as to our Meadowshop team (who focuses on continuing the approach using insights from this garden and our preceding years of test beds), to see this garden included in a global survey of gardens that look to the future.

Plants in this garden were mostly sourced from our friends at . Horticulture was shaped and established by