The new visitor center for New York City’s Brooklyn Botanic Garden is conceived as an inhabitable topography defining a threshold between the city and the garden. To provoke curiosity and interest in the world-class collection, the new building will provide a legible point of arrival and orientation, an interface between garden and city, culture and cultivation.

The design of the visitor center is seen as a seamless extension of the landscape. Nested into an existing berm, the center is experienced as a three dimensional continuation of the garden path system, framing a series of views into and through the garden. Sited at Washington Avenue, the visitor center wanders from the city into the garden, providing clear orientation and access to the major precincts. The visitor center includes an orientation room, information lobby, gift shop, exhibition gallery, café, and an elliptical events space.

Image credits: Weiss/Manfredi

Client: Brooklyn Botanic Garden