A public park designed by Heatherwick Studio has won the landscape project of the year in the 2022 Dezeen Awards. 

The annual awards celebrate the world’s best architecture, interiors, and design, and this year attracted 5,400 entries from 90 countries across 11 categories.  

Little Island is a 2.4-acre public park on the Hudson River in New York, held above the water by 132 sculptural planters.  

The park features three performance venues, rolling hills and winding pathways. Visitors walk, climb and meander around 100 species of trees, leading up to a viewpoint that offers a stunning panorama of the river and Manhattan. 

Heatherwick Studio collaborated on the project with New York-based landscape architects MNLA and global engineering firm  Arup. 

Dezeen’s panel of judges said the project was a “striking and imaginative addition to New York, which adds to the social value of the city by creating a new gathering space for families to enjoy,” adding that, “the innovation of creating a completely new landscape that hitherto did not exist should be commended.” 

Heatherwick Studio Group Leader Mat Cash said the project was designed as a haven for people and wildlife. 

“By careful manipulation of the topography as well as routes and pathways, the park creates opportunities to take a stroll through a glade, scramble over rocky outcrops, have a picnic on a lawn, take in a performance, enjoy the views or simply sit on a bench and read a book all within just a couple of acres of newly created green space reaching out over the river.” 

The award win follows a string of recent accolades for the project, with Little Island also chosen as the winner in a Dezeen public vote in October. 
 
Little Island also received an award from  The Municipal Art Society of New York which honours projects that make a significant contribution to the city’s built environment. 

Discover more about the project here.