Alumni In NYC’s Central Park, AAP Alum Leads a Stunning Transformation Stories You May Like Alum Still Lives in the House Frank Lloyd Wright Designed for Him Trailblazing Architect Kimberly Dowdell ’06 Aims to Inspire Others Better Living Through Landscape Architecture Susan Rodriguez ’81, BArch ’82, spearheaded design of a recreation center on the Harlem Meer—reconnecting it to its neighborhood By Joe Wilensky Wearing a hardhat and a fluorescent construction vest, Susan Rodriguez ’81, BArch ’82, is inspecting the landscape along a graceful curved pathway at the north end of Manhattan’s Central Park. The path, which traces the top of a hillside, is part of a $160 million effort that has reimagined this corner of the famous park and its northern body of water, the Harlem Meer. Joe Wilensky / Cornell UniversityOn a site visit in mid-April, Rodriguez checks on the progress of construction. “I feel like I’ve been preparing for this project my entire career,” Rodriguez says on an afternoon in mid-April 2025, “because it brings together the two things that I love: working in the city, and working in beautiful landscapes.” Formally known as the Davis Center at the Harlem Meer, the project was a collaboration between Rodriguez’s Manhattan-based architecture firm; Mitchell Giurgola Architects; and the Central Park Conservancy, the nonprofit public-private entity that oversees the park. I feel like I’ve been preparing for this project my entire career, because it brings together the two things that I love: working in the city, and working in beautiful landscapes. After an eight-year planning and construction process, the center opened in late April with a celebration attended by thousands. “Designing in incredible landscapes like Central Park requires a unique focus and awareness about the site’s tremendous history,” observes Rodriguez, who is the principal at Susan T. Rodriguez | Architecture • Design. “It means not only being able to see and understand the site today, but to appreciate its historical context and how that inspires the design.” Just a few years ago, the spot where Rodriguez is standing was the back wall of the concrete bleachers at the massive Lasker Pool and Rink complex. A 1960s-era recreation facility, it had effectively served more like a barrier to the community. ProvidedThe Lasker Pool in 1967, its opening year. It had cut off Harlem residents from the north end of the park; obliterated previous recreational pathways; masked the hilly landscape’s contours; and diverted a stream into an underground pipe beneath the building. Rodriguez’s new design has not just reconnected the park to its surrounding community. It has reclaimed a slice of the pastoral setting that famed landscape architects Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux originally envisioned in the mid-1800s—but with modern recreation and accessibility in mind. A signature feature will be the community swimming pool. It not only becomes a skating rink in the winter, but converts to turf in the spring and fall—making the area accessible year-round for the first time in decades. Richard BarnesA bird’s-eye view of the completed project, surrounded by Central Park and the Manhattan skyline. The new center also boasts an expansive glass-and-granite pavilion that’s tucked into the hillside, rendering it almost invisible from the pathway that crosses over its green roof. “The Davis Center building, unlike its Brutalist predecessor, is subtle and welcoming,” the Manhattan news site West Side Rag reports, noting the long wall of 14-foot-tall glass doors that can pivot open in warm weather. Susan T. Rodriguez | Architecture • DesignThe pavilion’s expansive interior. The southwest corner of the Meer, which Olmsted and Vaux created, has been restored and reconnected to the watercourse, with the surrounding vegetation enhanced and diversified. New accessible pathways have been added—extending over the building’s green roof and linking to existing paths that snake through the steep and rocky topography. Stories You May Like Alum Still Lives in the House Frank Lloyd Wright Designed for Him Trailblazing Architect Kimberly Dowdell ’06 Aims to Inspire Others Patricia BurmickyFun on the turf at the opening celebration. A boardwalk now meanders along the waterfront; where numerous paths used to end at steep stairways or service areas, today the byways lead to other trails. As the New York Times observes, the project “represents the final step in a long-term effort to restore dignity, beauty, and order to that area.” Rodriguez—a longtime member of AAP’s advisory council who served as a University trustee from 2013–17—has practiced in NYC since graduation. The Davis Center building, unlike its Brutalist predecessor, is subtle and welcoming. The West Side Rag After serving as a founding partner and design principal of Ennead Architects (formerly Polshek Partnership) for more than three decades, she started her own firm in 2017, continuing her work designing buildings and spaces for cultural, educational, scientific, and governmental institutions. Current or recently completed projects include the Colby College Center for Innovation in Maine; the Bard Graduate Center’s New Collections Studies Building in NYC; the Bicentennial Carillon at Indiana University; and new housing for the cast and crew of the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival in Garrison, NY. Joe Wilensky / Cornell UniversityRodriguez with a maquette (architectural scale model) of the project in her Chelsea studio. She and her firm have received numerous awards and honors for design excellence, and she has taught studios at Cornell, Columbia, and NYC’s City College. In collaborating with the Central Park Conservancy on the Harlem Meer project, Rodriguez worked closely with landscape architect and CALS alum Christopher Nolan ’89, as both a partner and client. Nolan spent three decades as Central Park’s chief landscape architect, and now works as a consultant for the Conservancy. Joe Wilensky / Cornell UniversityWith Central Park Conservancy consultant Christopher Nolan ’89. While it has shepherded numerous projects to restore the park’s northern portion over the past 40 years, he says, the Davis Center is by far the largest. Says Nolan: “Seeing the project to completion as the capstone to the Conservancy’s commitment to restore and sustain Central Park—as both an essential community resource and a defining element of the fabric of the city—has been the opportunity of a lifetime.” Seeing the project to completion—as both an essential community resource and a defining element of the fabric of the city—has been the opportunity of a lifetime. Christopher Nolan ’89, Central Park's former chief landscape architect As Rodriguez explains, a crucial element of the planning and design phases was soliciting feedback from the communities that the center and park would serve. Their input informed a wide variety of topics—from the pavilion’s bird-safe glass façade to the pool's shallow, sloped entry area, which allows people to go into the water without steps or ladders. Says Rodriguez: "This project is about renewing and enhancing the experience of being in the park, and making it welcoming and accessible to all throughout the year." Top: The Davis Center at the Harlem Meer, at twilight. (Richard Barnes) Published May 13, 2025 Comments Mark Gibian, Class of 1979 13 May, 2025 What an amazing project Susan!! I can’t wait to go see it! Congratulations!! Reply Jill Miller, Class of 1980 27 May, 2025 Thanks for making New York a more beautiful, efficient and joyful city. Your talent is inspirational and appreciated. Reply Marla Glanzer Curtis, Class of 1980 27 May, 2025 Congratulations Susie on a beautiful project! Reply Celia Rodee, Class of 1981 27 May, 2025 What an amazing project Suzie Rod! AND that Chris Nolan was your client partner. This is a BIG RED Cornell Win/Win. I cant wait to see this completed project in person Reply Leave a Comment Cancel replyOnce your comment is approved, your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *Comment * Name * Class Year Email * Save my name, email, and class year in this browser for the next time I comment. Δ Other stories You may like Chime In Recalling the ’50s on the Hill, an Era of ‘Gracious Living’ Students Identical Twin Mechanical Engineers Reach for the Stars Alumni Indie Drama Depicts Cornellian Couple’s Role in Web History