Images by Steven J. Magner

The approach to Hilltop Park, at the apex of Yerba Buena Island, is to create a new landscape, a cultural + ecological arboretum. The park will be a regional destination that also relates to adjacent planned development. The two high points of the park offer distinct landscape experiences in the middle of the San Francisco Bay. The east retains and reveals the site’s ecological history, fostering native flora, while the western hilltop cultivates an attention to the island’s cultural history. The new spaces create a palimpsest in which the layers of history can be read: trees echo the form of now demolished buildings, foundation fragments remind of the island’s built history, a water tower is transformed into an amphitheater overlook and pathways are inspired by the meanderings of once pasturing goats, and native flora gradates toward a more culturally focused landscape. A pedestrian spine connects these spaces, and curates views of the bay.