]This landscape renovation project transformed a forlorn public plaza into a showpiece of sustainable urban design. Our creative reuse of materials, comprehensive water management program, and use of solar power earned two stars in 2013 from the Sustainable Sites Initiative (SITES), the landscape equivalent of LEED certification. To put this plaza on the cutting edge of sustainability, we went back to ancient traditions. We removed water-intensive lawns and replaced them with plants that have survived for millennia in the Rio Grande Basin's unique climate and hydrology. We harvested rainwater for irrigation using a system based on Pueblo drainage canals called acequias. We borrowed another indigenous tradition, the chevron pattern of Pueblo blankets, to arrange plants according to how much water they need. Best of all, we returned this public space to the people, not to mention the birds and the butterflies. We dug up 21,000 square feet of charmless sidewalks, many of which prevented storm-water from replenishing the water table, and cut it into eight-inch-by-16-inch blocks. We stacked the blocks to make seat-walls, which divide program areas of the plaza and welcome visitors to sit where lawns used to forbid them. ADA-accessible pathways shaded by honey locusts encourage the public ...
]This landscape renovation project transformed a forlorn public plaza into a showpiece of sustainable urban design. Our creative reuse of materials, comprehensive water management program, and use of solar power earned two stars in 2013 from the Sustainable Sites Initiative (SITES), the landscape equivalent of LEED certification. To put this plaza on the cutting edge of sustainability, we went back to ancient traditions. We removed water-intensive lawns and replaced them with plants that have survived for millennia in the Rio Grande Basin's unique climate and hydrology. We harvested rainwater for irrigation using a system based on Pueblo drainage canals called acequias. We borrowed another indigenous tradition, the chevron pattern of Pueblo blankets, to arrange plants according to how much water they need. Best of all, we returned this public space to the people, not to mention the birds and the butterflies. We dug up 21,000 square feet of charmless sidewalks, many of which prevented storm-water from replenishing the water table, and cut it into eight-inch-by-16-inch blocks. We stacked the blocks to make seat-walls, which divide program areas of the plaza and welcome visitors to sit where lawns used to forbid them. ADA-accessible pathways shaded by honey locusts encourage the public ...