Humble Beginnings
Born 1943 one of five children raised in Endicott NY, Thomas Balsley is one of three brothers to graduate SUNY ESF BLA and the only ESF graduate with the distinct honour of being awarded both Outstanding Senior Award, a student award, and a professional award in 1968.
Knowing he was always destined for New York City, Balsley began working from his kitchen after graduation, founded his first firm in 1970, Balsley Balsley & Kuhl, but the Arab oil embargo of 1973 slowed growth in the city and the firm began doing pro bono work, learning New York City's public review process and "living the New York experience".
The New York Experience of the 1970s
Changing the face of a city ...
Balsley has designed more than 100 public parks, plazas and privately owned public spaces in New York City since the early 1970s, initially challenged by a city brought to its knees by economic uncertainty, the blight of drugs, violence and poverty. Throughout his career Balsley has been primarily concerned with improving urban life rather than peer acceptance and awards, preferring the pride and satisfaction of a job well done seeing a site is filled with people enjoying his work. Balsley's contribution to the softening of New York City's hard edges over the past four decades has earned him high praises from community boards all over the city as well as a park renamed in his honour.
Hunters Point South Waterfront Park
4-10 Center Boulevard, between 50th Avenue & 54th Avenue, Long Island City, Queens New York
30-acre waterfront site in western Queens, will accommodate 5,000 new units of mixed-income housing, sixty percent affordable units, more than 10 acres of landscaped waterfront parkland, new retail amenities and community facility space
30-acre waterfront site in western Queens, will accommodate 5,000 new units of mixed-income housing, sixty percent affordable units, more than 10 acres of landscaped waterfront parkland, new retail amenities and community facility space
Honours and acclaim
Honor Award – International Waterfront Center
Honor Award – National ASLA
Best Landscape Award – Architect’s Newspaper
Play Award – Architect Magazine
Honor Award – ASLA NY
Merit Award – ASLA NY
Merit Award – AIA NY
Finalist – World Architecture Festival
Finalist – International Architecture Award – The Chicago Atheneum
Green Good Design Award – The Chicago Atheneum
American Architecture Award – The Chicago Atheneum
Honor Award – National ASLA
Best Landscape Award – Architect’s Newspaper
Play Award – Architect Magazine
Honor Award – ASLA NY
Merit Award – ASLA NY
Merit Award – AIA NY
Finalist – World Architecture Festival
Finalist – International Architecture Award – The Chicago Atheneum
Green Good Design Award – The Chicago Atheneum
American Architecture Award – The Chicago Atheneum
"...my work must serve and have meaning. I believe that public open space is sacred ground and that we are obliged to honor the public's trust."
Riverside Park South
Riverside Drive between 59th Street & 72nd Street
Seven acres out of 27.5 to be developed along Hudson River
Seven acres out of 27.5 to be developed along Hudson River
Honours and acclaim
Honor Award – The Waterfront Center
NYC Public Design Commission 2012 Award for Design Excellence
Merit Award – ASLA NY
Honor Award – ASLA NY
NYS Governor’s Waterfront Rediscovery Award
NYC Public Design Commission 2012 Award for Design Excellence
Merit Award – ASLA NY
Honor Award – ASLA NY
NYS Governor’s Waterfront Rediscovery Award
Forward Momentum
Balsley believes that Landscape Architecture would benefit from a more urban centric focus, bettering cities with existing infrastructure such as those of the "Rust Belt", Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Cleveland, St Louis, which have lost as much as half of their populations in recent decades to suburban sprawl. Unlike China, the U.S. cannot mandate that businesses move to newly built sustainable cities, but we can redirect efforts to improving these existing environs and further protecting the environment.
Perk Park Cleveland OH
1120 Chester Avenue Cleveland OH
Built 2012 with Jim McKnight
Renovation budget 2.5 million dollars
Approximately 1 acre
Built 2012 with Jim McKnight
Renovation budget 2.5 million dollars
Approximately 1 acre
Honours and acclaim
Merit Award – International Downtown Association
Merit Award – ASLA OH
Downtown Achievement Merit Award – International Downtown Association
Merit Award – ASLA NY
Merit Award – ASLA OH
Downtown Achievement Merit Award – International Downtown Association
Merit Award – ASLA NY
“You can’t let these sorts of public spaces cower from the street,” says Balsley. “That was the old way, and it didn’t work.” 5
Reflections
One characteristic making Balsley’s work so significant over the past four decades is the way in which he finds the personality of a neighbourhood, translating it into an appealing space, transforming traits of existing architectural and surrounding environmental elements into elegant features, inviting diverse users and purposes. One of the most persuasive features of Balsley’s designs is the blurring of boundaries between park and street, enticing passersby to explore what’s inside. For me, the most exciting aspect of Balsley’s work is his use of line and geometry to delineate features, combine elements and create contrast between existing and implemented, hard and soft, old and new.
The remarkable evolution of public opinion regarding urban planning since the dark days of New York City in the 1970s through today reflect the influence Balsley has had, one small park, plaza and POPS at a time over the years on his home city and how his interest in the people that use these spaces every day has allowed him to translate relatable spaces to meet their needs and desires within their community.
The remarkable evolution of public opinion regarding urban planning since the dark days of New York City in the 1970s through today reflect the influence Balsley has had, one small park, plaza and POPS at a time over the years on his home city and how his interest in the people that use these spaces every day has allowed him to translate relatable spaces to meet their needs and desires within their community.
Citations
1. Balsley, Thomas, and Herbert Muschamp. Thomas Balsley, the Urban Landscape. Berkeley, Calif.: Spacemaker Press ;, 2000.
2. Ibid.
. Thomas Balsley, interview by L. R. Gracey, December 8, 2015
3. Thomas Balsley, e-mail message to author, December 4, 2015
4. "Thomas Balsley Associates : TBA." Thomas Balsley Associates : TBA. Accessed December 12, 2015. http://tbany.com/.
5. Balsley, Thomas, and Herbert Muschamp. Thomas Balsley, the Urban Landscape. Berkeley, Calif.: Spacemaker Press ;, 2000.
2. Ibid.
. Thomas Balsley, interview by L. R. Gracey, December 8, 2015
3. Thomas Balsley, e-mail message to author, December 4, 2015
4. "Thomas Balsley Associates : TBA." Thomas Balsley Associates : TBA. Accessed December 12, 2015. http://tbany.com/.
5. Balsley, Thomas, and Herbert Muschamp. Thomas Balsley, the Urban Landscape. Berkeley, Calif.: Spacemaker Press ;, 2000.
Photo Credits
Figure 1 http://tbany.com/projects/waterfront-parks/riverside-park-south/
Figure 2 http://www.srqmagazine.com/srq-daily/2015-06-17/2163_Balsley-Earns-ASLA-Design-Medal
Figure 3 https://www.facebook.com/groups/NYC1950/permalink/1034842286543747/?comment_id=1212179992143308¬if_t=group_comment_reply
Figure 4 http://www.flickriver.com/groups/nyc-vintage/pool/interesting/
Figure 5 http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?5156036-Vintage-photos-Awesome!&p=69460774&viewfull=1
Figure 6 http://flickrhivemind.net/Tags/1970snewyork/Interesting
Figure 6 http://tbany.com/projects/waterfront-parks/hunters-point-south-waterfront-parkhttp://tbany.com/projects/waterfront-parks/hunters-point-south-waterfront-park/
Figure 7 http://tbany.com/projects/waterfront-parks/hunters-point-south-waterfront-parkhttp://tbany.com/projects/waterfront-parks/hunters-point-south-waterfront-park/
Figures 8 - 10http://aasarchitecture.com/2013/08/hunters-point-south-waterfront-park-by-thomas-balsley-associates.html
Figure 11 - 14 http://tbany.com/projects/waterfront-parks/hunters-point-south-waterfront-park/
Figure 15 - 16 http://tbany.com/projects/waterfront-parks/riverside-park-south/
Figure 17 - http://tbany.com/projects/urban-design-and-planning/riverside-park-south-open-space-masterplan/
Figure 18 - 21 http://tbany.com/projects/waterfront-parks/riverside-park-south/
Figures 22 - 28 http://tbany.com/projects/parks/perk-park/
Figure 2 http://www.srqmagazine.com/srq-daily/2015-06-17/2163_Balsley-Earns-ASLA-Design-Medal
Figure 3 https://www.facebook.com/groups/NYC1950/permalink/1034842286543747/?comment_id=1212179992143308¬if_t=group_comment_reply
Figure 4 http://www.flickriver.com/groups/nyc-vintage/pool/interesting/
Figure 5 http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?5156036-Vintage-photos-Awesome!&p=69460774&viewfull=1
Figure 6 http://flickrhivemind.net/Tags/1970snewyork/Interesting
Figure 6 http://tbany.com/projects/waterfront-parks/hunters-point-south-waterfront-parkhttp://tbany.com/projects/waterfront-parks/hunters-point-south-waterfront-park/
Figure 7 http://tbany.com/projects/waterfront-parks/hunters-point-south-waterfront-parkhttp://tbany.com/projects/waterfront-parks/hunters-point-south-waterfront-park/
Figures 8 - 10http://aasarchitecture.com/2013/08/hunters-point-south-waterfront-park-by-thomas-balsley-associates.html
Figure 11 - 14 http://tbany.com/projects/waterfront-parks/hunters-point-south-waterfront-park/
Figure 15 - 16 http://tbany.com/projects/waterfront-parks/riverside-park-south/
Figure 17 - http://tbany.com/projects/urban-design-and-planning/riverside-park-south-open-space-masterplan/
Figure 18 - 21 http://tbany.com/projects/waterfront-parks/riverside-park-south/
Figures 22 - 28 http://tbany.com/projects/parks/perk-park/