by Brent Johnson

One of the popular myths of corporate America is the so-called garage genesis. Talk to almost any silicon valley millionaire and you're likely to get a permutation of this story. "Well, I was working in my garage one day, and it occurred to me that if I simply created a computer networking system that was simple enough for a child to operate, I would be famous!"

Ted Alexander, of Alexander & Associates, has his own garage genesis story, but this one is different because rather than developing a new web browser or the ultimate celebrity screen saver, his brainstorm actually resulted in the creation of a new garage.

Interspaced between restaurant kiosks and connecting benches, Chinese Elms, Jacaranda and Ficus provide a protective canopy of shade against the scorching rays of the sun throughtout Patriot Park in Pheonix, Arizona

From the beginning, the project was unusual. Alexander is a structural engineer, and he had been contracted as a private consultant to consider the problem of creating a central park area on top of a large five-level underground parking structure in downtown Phoenix. Finding inspiration in the work of William White, the author of "The Life of Urban Spaces", Alexander chose to emphasize White's seven key elements in creating a successful landscape. To these seven, Alexander added two more of his own to make a list of nine essential that include, entertainment, food, seating, triangulation (for spontaneous meetings), sun, shade, flowers, color, and water.

Alexander's status as a private consultant gave him certain liberties when it came to designing this project. He didn't have to make competitive bids, he wasn't indentured to a committee, and he was blissfully unaware of any political wrangling that can often kill a big civic improvement project. Part of the reason for this is that Phoenix is currently experiencing a kind of renaissance. As one of the fastest growing cities in the United States, the city coffers are full to brimming over with available cash, which it has used to develop a number of exciting new projects including a museum and science park, a sports stadium, and a new convention center.

"Phoenix is organized along what is new and soon to be," commented Alexander, who has seen the city emerge as one of the important economies of the southwest.

The psycological impact of the rounded brick planters and fountains is intended to impress the visitor with a more yielding and relaxed environment, as they seem to orbit the central stage like an array of planets drifting through space.

There seems to be an innocence in the way things are done in Phoenix. Although it would be going too far to say that major public renovation projects are sealed with a promise and a handshake, compared to the big city machines of New York and Chicago that require everything but the Pope's decree, the small town attitude toward erecting civic monuments seems a far cry from east coast cronyism.

Free to express his design philosophy and unencumbered by political concerns, Alexander turned to the San Diego based landscape architectural firm Wimmer Yamada and Caughey to help in the design of the landscape overlay. The combination of Alexander's engineering master plan with Wimmer Yamada and Caughey's intuitive landscape made for a tour de force of urban design.

At the center of Patriot's Park is a remarkable system of shade sails that pirouette about a theatrical stage and central lattice sculpture decorated with small white orbs. The sails are a white teflon fabric that Alexander chose because they are self-cleaning and bleach to an even brighter white as they age. He also wanted the sails to be transparent so people could see through them as they stand directly underneath, looking up at the piercing blue Arizona sky. "It's uplifting," says Alexander. The trajectory of the sails forces ones attention irresistably skyward. However, the sails also serve a further purpose.

Alexander wanted to bring people into downtown Phoenix at night so he designed an ingenious laser system that projected images onto the teflon sails. Using a small CRT touchplate mounted on a pedestal, children were able to manipulate the images of snow flakes, boats, trains, and people, making them spin or change size and shape. The laser functioned successfully for years, but unfortunately the operating expense ($25,000 - $35,000 per year) became to great to sustain, and the laser light spectacle was turned off.

The central lighted tower of the stage provides both a shady spot during the day and beacon in the night.

After one returns to earth from the ethereal height of the shade sails, the visitor finds himself standing in a swirl of curvilinear forms. The smooth rounded geometry of the brickwork, manufactured by Davidson Brick, Inc., is a deliberate attempt to contrast with the sharp rectilinear forms of the surrounding business community. According to Alexander, the brick was rendered with the intentionality of an art object. "Brick is something we're all familiar with," he said. "It became an ideal hard surface."

Pat Caughey, ASLA, Principal of Wimmer Yamada and Caughey, was particularly fond of the curvilinear motif. "With a circle template you can do anything," he said. The placement of planters, lamp posts, and benches becomes much easier when you don't have to balance their shapes against a backdrop of squares and rectangles. When you draw a straight line, the mind instantly makes that a reference point, which serves as an axis for determining the symmetry of other elements in the landscape. Circles tend to obviate this tendency.

The soft, flowing appearance of the brickwork serves a dual purpose of conveying a relaxed and open environment while preventing trash from working its way into corners, thus making the park cleaner and easier to maimtain.

The psychological impact of the rounded brick planters and fountains is intended to impress the visitor with a more yielding and relaxed environment, as they seem to orbit the central stage like an array of planets drifting through space. The bricks consist primarily of two shapes. The capstones are 16 inches long with rounded corners and the toe bricks intersect the ground plane at the base of the planters. Aside from the soft flowing appearance of the brick work, the utilitarian benefit of the design is that garbage is unable to work itself into corners, resulting in a cleaner park that is easier to maintain.

Washing languidly over the edges of center stage, the water feature is the most dramatic pronouncement of nature in the midst of downtown. A thin sheet of water laps gently from the glistening red brick and collects in slender pools that encircle the theater. "It cools me psychologically," says Alexander. The element of water is fundamental, yet profound. During the summer, the park gets its highest use from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. The cooling effect of the water on visitors is immediate. The seemingly illicit use of water in this chronically sun drenched climate also gives one the sense of a forbidden extravagance.

Noted for its psychologically cooling impact, the strategic use of water (opposite) offers a sense of forbidden extravagance in the sun-drenched Arizona desert.

Caughey viewed the drainage system for this project as one of the important technical challenges. The park rests on five levels of parking, so it was critical that water be channeled away from the underground labyrinth to prevent the structure from becoming an aquifer. Four different layers of water-proof membranes were sandwiched in between the drylean concrete that was used to seal in the pipe and electrical conduit and form the base of the park structure. Wimmer Yamada and Caughey also employed an innovative drip irrigation system to limit the amount of casual water standing in the park. In fact, this was the first large-scale drip irrigation system of its kind, according to Caughey, who gives credit to Richard Sperber, President of Valley Crest, for the ground breaking installation.

Caughey's greatest challenge, however, was the 8'x 8' diameter floating tree wells. Although he had completed a number of overstructure projects in San Diego, such as the Bank of America building, San Diego City College, the Wells Fargo building, and Deck Park, the Patriot's Park project presented some unusual problems. Because of the intense heat and dry conditions in Phoenix, young trees often will not survive the trauma of being transplanted into the landscape. Caughey had to make the tree-wells much larger than normal to accommodate mature shade trees.

The smooth, rounded corners of the brickwork, manufactured by Davidson Brick, Inc., are designed to contrast the sharp, rectangular forms of the surrounding business community.

In order to make the park a suitable environment to rest and have lunch they chose to use a variety of semi-deciduous trees that would have a rest period during the winter months, and provide a broad protective canopy during the spring and summer. The dominant shade trees Caughey selected were Chinese Elms, Jacaranda and Ficus. Seating areas are also connected to the trees and restaurant kiosks where people can congregate. The perimeter of the park is comprised of Arizona Ash and color pockets that are changed seasonally.

While the choice to use lime-green, non-indigenous plants rather than native cactus serves as a contrast to the grey-green colors of the business district, and promotes Patriot Park as a place of rest and relaxation. The outer perimeter of the park is comprised of Arizona Ash and color pockets that are changed seasonally.

In the selection of plant materials, Alexander says that he favored a brighter lime-green citrus color as a contrast with the subdued grey-green colors of the business district. However, there was a minor controversy in the choice of these plant materials. According to Caughey, local Landscape Architects who promote the use of indigenous plants were disappointed when the park wasn't armored with cactus. However, both Alexander and Caughey believe that as a place of rest and meditation, the decision to go green was an appropriate one.

The park today fulfills an important niche in the life of the city. It is a place of quiet refuge for a multitude of people who must pass through the busy corridor on a daily basis. With the help of Wimmer Yamada and Caughey, Ted Alexander's vision has been fully realized. LASN

At the center of Patriot’s Park is a retractable system of white teflon-fabric shade sails that pirouette about a theatrical stage and central lattice sculpture adourned with smallish white orbs.