Camden, NJ

The Rutgers Camden 4th Street Portal open space project evolved out of the Rutgers Master Plan. The project closes one block of 4th Street at the edge of the campus to create a gathering space for students and the surrounding community. Fountains replace roads; trees and walks replace parking spaces. The cross street between the new plaza and the body of the campus remains for service but becomes a pedestrian zone the majority of the time. The admissions office garden will extend and connect with the larger plaza, as will the backs of other adjacent academic buildings.

Landscape materials of paving, seating, lighting and plant material ripple through the site, evoking the nearby Delaware River and that of the pedestrians moving through the site. This undulation of forms weaves into the existing grid of the campus.

The project is also a collaboration between the landscape architects, the client and a sculptor, Clyde Lyons. Two curves of etched glass panels are located near the entry to the site with a pavilion located at the intersection of the two forms. The panels illustrate a concept of two worlds, one that is created and one that is learned from. The panels are designed to have overlapping layers of information, meaning and sub-context, both literally and figuratively. The project will be built in phases.

Completion: 2004
Size: 1.3 Acres
Cost: $1,080,000