When San Diego Children’s Park was first conceived in the 1990s by Peter Walker, FASLA, and Martha Schwartz, FASLA, the two took a decidedly postmodern approach to the design. The area was a blank slate for redevelopment, and the designers were charged with creating a big gesture to connect downtown to the convention center, which was poised to host the 1996 Republican National Convention.
Children’s Park opened in 1995 with a poetic design that paired primary geometries with playful narrative, featuring the palm-ringed Civic Pond, a grid of circular grassy mounds, and a densely planted forest of Canary Island pine trees.