Report To The Community 2022

designing toward
inclusivity
reimagining chambers plaza
There are fashions in
public institutions, as there
are in cars and clothes.
“Historically, institutions have
been put on pedestals, literally
and figuratively, with design
techniques that make people
feel in awe of their grandness,”
says David Seiter, design
director and founding principal
of Future Green Studio, a
Brooklyn-based landscape
design firm that has worked on
outdoor spaces from Rockefeller
Center to South Street Seaport.
“The current movement in
contemporary design looks
to create more spaces that
are warm and informal, so
people feel comfortable,” Seiter
continues. “We’re trying to
design toward inclusivity.”
That warmth and inclusivity is
what Seiter and his team are
aiming to infuse into NJPAC’s
“front yard,” Chambers Plaza,
as they redesign the space to
create an even more welcoming
entry to the Arts Center’s
campus — and to ensure that
this urban park space will be
perpetually useful for social
gatherings, markets, classes,
performances (like Horizon
Foundation Sounds of the City
outdoor concerts) and more.
The redesign will include new
trees and trellises covered
in vines, as well as benches
outside the rotunda that
houses NJPAC’s box office and
double-height amphitheater
seating for concerts.
“We’ve asked ourselves: How
do we bring life and energy
to this space that’s not just
about programmed events, but
about the 24/7 life that makes
cities tick?” Seiter explains.
There will be new lawn spaces
for picnicking, and an area with
moveable cafe tables and chairs,
under a canopy of trees carefully
selected to provide dappled
light and shade. Throughout,
the design will emphasize level
surfaces that are wheelchair
and stroller accessible.
The redesigned plaza will
“maximize ecological value,”
Seiter adds, with elements
like a rain garden that will
absorb rainwater running off
the plaza, and trees anchored
in structural soil that will
help them grow evenly in a
space that’s in use daily.
“When you’re designing for
the public realm, your design
needs to be rugged and
resilient — but at the same
time, we want to use natural
materials that evoke connections
to the landscape,” he says.
The revamping will include
a small “pocket park” in
front of NJPAC’s new eastern
facade, and improved street
crossings between Military
Park, NJPAC and the planned
extension of Riverfront Park.
In November, NJPAC announced
a $5 million grant from Essex
County, drawn from federal
funding created to defray
revenue lost during the
pandemic. In recognition of
Essex County’s work to sustain
the performing arts during the
health crisis, the new elements
of Chambers Plaza have been
named Essex County Green.
Throughout all the work Future
Green will do in Chambers
Plaza — which should have
its new design completed
by the end of 2023 — the
goal is to make the space
useful to the community.
“We want the landscape to
be a backdrop to the theater,”
says Seiter, “to imbue it with
identity and character, but
also get out of the way.”
“We want the performances
and the life of Newark to be
the stars of the show.” •
NJPAC’s redesigned “front
yard” will create an even
more welcoming entry
to the campus, including
new canopies of trees,
lawn spaces for picnicking
and amphitheater
seating for concerts
Essex County
Executive Joseph
N. DiVincenzo
Jr. and NJPAC
co-founder Ray
Chambers at the
event to announce
a $5 million grant
from Essex County.
When plans for
the redesign of
Chambers Plaza
were unveiled,
each attendee was
gifted a sapling, a
symbol of a greener
future for NJPAC’s
“front yard.”
NJPAC’s Chambers Plaza already
welcomes thousands of music
lovers each summer for the free
outdoor concert series, Horizon
Foundation Sounds of the City.
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njpac.org