top of page

CONTINUUM    SAN    JOSE

Type Competition    

Location San Jose CA

Collaborators Hinterlands Urbanism and Landscape  

Date 2020

San Jose.jpg

Silicon Valley reinvents matter. 
Inspired by history, digital technology has transformed our collective vocabulary. The oldest things in the world become new again.


Continuum reveals and celebrates this culture. 
The core design element­­—a monumental, interactive ribbon—dematerializes from beginning to end, illustrating our long evolution from analog to digital technology. The design highlights Silicon Valley’s role in the larger history of communication, and the limitless potential of its future innovations.


A horizontal monument anticipates 
a more democratic future. 

American monuments are often vertical, architectural statements. Continuum embraces the horizontal landscape, creating a new ground plane for public engagement.

Closely integrating architecture and landscape, the design sparks a dialogue about the history and role of technology in our daily lives. The new park has urban-scale impact and creates an exciting and interactive public space that hybridizes physical and digital experiences.

San Jose2.jpg
San Jose4.jpg
San Jose4.jpg

Site plan and urban links

San Jose3.jpg
San Jose7.jpg
San Jose5.jpg
San Jose8.jpg

The design accentuates access to the riverfront while framing views and providing new interfaces for community activities. Throughout the ribbon, materials are linked with gradients of parametric patterning, evoking the “pixel” or the “byte” as the smallest unit of digital information.    

San Jose6.jpg

Embedded wood seating surfaces refer to the inventions of papyrus and paper, precursors to today’s interactive screens. Facing the Slow Forest, this public bench becomes a space of quiet reflection near the river. 

San Jose9.jpg

Mirrored surfaces facing the river marks the turn toward the self—and the selfie—in varying degrees of fragmentation. This reflective zone is complemented by the Touch Garden, planted with species that respond to human and animal touch. 

San Jose10.jpg

The Dissolve Garden is a designated “rewilded” area, where, like the open-endedness of artificial intelligence, ecological intelligence reigns supreme. Over time, plant communities form from seeds dispersed from the nearby riparian corridor by wind or from animals, such as the local and migratory bird population.
   

Chicago      design      office

Architecture for Social Progress.

bottom of page