A Civic/Institutional Design Award of Excellence is given for the rehabilitation of Peavey Plaza, originally designed by M. Paul Friedberg and Associates and completed in 1975. In 1967, Lawrence Halprin’s Nicollet Mall, a12-block pedestrian and transit mall, set the stage for the abutting site that would become Peavey Plaza. Landscape architect M. Paul Friedberg, a close contemporary of Halprin, conceived the space as the “living room” of downtown Minneapolis. The result was an iconic sunken plaza that balanced the tranquility of a central reflecting pool with a cascading concrete fountain and active programming that filled the plaza. Over the last decade, the Brutalist fountains had run dry and were slated for demolition. A consortium of local and national advocates, including M. Paul Friedberg himself, successfully convinced the city that the site was worth saving (this effort was recognized with a Docomomo US Advocacy Award of Excellence in 2014). Today, the plaza stands restored to its original splendor with issues of universal access resolved and infrastructure challenges addressed while still retaining the Plaza’s character defining features. One of the biggest changes, raising the basin of the sunken plaza from 10” to ¼”, not only created a more welcoming and flexible space, it also reduced water usage by tens of thousands of gallons. Additional improvements include a new, fully accessible entry experience placed along Nicollet Mall, with select terraces converted to permeable pavers. All this was accomplished through a consensus-building process while negotiating many layers of review. 

City of Minneapolis

Coen+Partners (Design Lead, Landscape Architecture): Shane Coen, Partner, Robin Ganser, Partner, and Laura Kamin-Lyndgaard, Project Manager; New History (Preservation Lead, Historic Preservation); Barr Engineering (Engineering); Fluidity Design Consultants (Water + Fountain Consultant); Tillett Lighting Design (Lighting Design); PPM (Cost Estimators); Aloha Landscaping (Irrigation Design); 106 Group (Interpretive Design) 

The Advocacy Award of Excellence is given to the coordinated efforts on behalf of Peavey Plaza in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Designed in 1975, Peavey Plaza is an extension of Minneapolis’s renowned Nicollet Mall. In 2011 the city looked to redesign the Plaza, paralleling the renovation of the adjacent Orchestra Hall. A consortium of local and national organizations came together to successfully communicate Peavey Plaza’s on-going importance and prevent its demolition. The Board of Directors of Docomomo US is impressed by the well-coordinated collective nature of these efforts; their outreach to a wide audience including local constituents and national interests; and their use of a combination of advocacy tools including the solicitation of pro bono design concepts by the plaza’s original landscape architect M. Paul Friedberg.

• Preservation Alliance of Minnesota (PAM)
• The Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF) 
• Docomomo US/Minnesota