Design

Design Selection
In 2001 SAM selected New York-based WEISS / MANFREDI Architecture / Landscape / Urbanism  from an international pool of 52 applicants.  Their design vision expressed a dynamic integration of landscape, architecture and urban design, which they had successfully achieved in previous projects.

See Lead Designer and Design Team

Olympic Sculpture Park design accolades.

	Concept illustration submitted by Weiss/Manfredi for design competition.

Evolution of Site
The Seattle Art Museum resolved to return the site as much as possible to a functioning ecosystem, while providing a unique setting for outdoor sculpture and public recreation. This was no small task given a century of change amidst the state’s largest urban environment. The project’s lead designers, Weiss/Manfredi, developed an innovative Z-shaped configuration connecting three parcels into a series of four distinct landscapes. This design afforded a wide range of environmental restoration processes, including brownfield redevelopment, salmon habitat restoration, native plantings and sustainable design strategies.

Olympic Sculpture Park design features
Slideshow: aerial images from conception to completion

Design Vision
Weiss/Manfredi Architects designed a continuous and constructed landscape for art. Their vision was to transport art outside the museum walls and bring the park into a landscape of the city. This new topography offers environmentally diverse settings for viewing art, the city of Seattle and Puget Sound.

Slideshow: transformation of the park

Their design for the park grew out of a desire to embrace the city’s energy and create collaboration between art, landscape, architecture and infrastructure. Weiss/Manfredi transformed three separate sites, creating an unfolding landform sculpted to rise over existing road and train lines.

Lead designer's vision statement