multiple 3-D iterations for path and wall layouts. This analysis translated into the formation of a tightly bound material system with four key components: an expandable, modular paving system; large sloping meadows; vegetated infiltration basins; and low retaining walls that mediate between paving and planting areas. Using a single, meandering pathway to link public plazas, informal stages, bioretention gardens, gently sloping meadows, and a custom play structure with the surrounding neighborhood, the park ties together disparate functions and creates a space that offers diversity of use. Private Garden to Public Park South Park is located in the heart of the SOMA (South of Market) District of San Francisco, the city’s hub for business and culture, containing many museums, tech and design businesses, as well as the baseball stadium. The area is also home to an economically diverse population, with residential hotels adjacent to condos and high value commercial real estate. Given this diversity, the 1.2-acre park had to provide a variety of flexible and responsive spaces that met the unique needs of its visitors. South Park was originally constructed in 1855 as an English picturesque strolling park at the center of an exclusive residential community. At the end of the 19th century it was given over to the public and provided respite for immigrants who had moved to the area to work in the docks and warehouses. In the years following the 1906 earthquake and fire, the park served as a refugee camp, providing temporary housing for 648 people. As the neighborhood was rebuilt throughout the early 20th century, bonfires burned in the park as longshoremen kept warm, waiting for calls from the union hall. Towards the end of the 20th century, the park evolved quickly, reinventing itself to meet the needs of a quickly changing population: first families, then elderly and disabled homeless moving into residential hotels, and finally young professionals in the dot-com boom. Over the years, ad-hoc improvements had led South Park into disrepair. In 2011, The South Park Improvement Association appointed a landscape architecture firm to develop a design for the park. Working closely with neighbors and community leaders, the design team helped to facilitate more than 12 community outreach
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