Design Wild Creates Verdant Sanctuaries for Affordable Housing Residents

New York, NY, 540 West 53rd Street

All New Yorkers deserve a little nature and peace. This is what landscape design studio Design Wild is working towards through their long-standing collaboration with the non-profit Clinton Housing Development Corporation (CHDC). Together, their work has yielded beautiful, innovative, and functional green spaces in public locations and for lower-income residents throughout the midtown west/Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood. On the rooftop of the 200-unit building at 540 West 53rd Street, there is a feature usually associated with lux high-rises: an expansive terrace with sweeping views, intimate gathering areas, and lush, abundant greenery. Design Wild’s principal and founder Shanti Nagel conceived the space overlooking the Hudson as a refuge for the building’s 350 residents, including a rooftop garden capable of withstanding the intensity of the full sun and high winds blowing 12 stories above the streets.

The 5k square foot rooftop is fondly referred to as ‘The Forest in the Sky’ due to the large-scale plantings including many U.S. native species of plants and trees, creating peace and ecology at the same time. A resident of the building describes the day-to-day impact of having access to such a space: “Being on the roof surrounded by Design Wild’s amazing work is a gift for me and my family…Serenity in NYC is hard to come by, and we are so fortunate that ours is just upstairs.” 

A New Phase of the Project

The final tier of the West 53rd Street project will be an adjacent park and interior event space that will be accessible to building residents and locals alike. Adam’s Garden, named for a community figure, has been in the works since 2017 and is set to open in the fall of 2024. The 50 x 100’ garden will include a stone terrace, stream, native plantings, and a cow head sculpture rescued from a famed slaughterhouse in the district half a century ago. Locals will have a low barrier to entry to the garden, receiving a key with a $2 deposit from the local community board.  Adam’s Garden is the latest Design Wild project that ultimately aims to connect everyday New Yorkers to nature, carving out green islands in unexpected places to increase livability and promote community. “With the intensity of our city and the stress of our current world,” Nagel says, “our gardens offer a moment of respite; a second to catch your breath, time to notice the beauty of a flower, a bird playing in the stream, and ultimately a reminder that we all belong here on earth.”

Our Philosophy and Practice

Design Wild is a landscape design firm working at the intersection of climate, people, and community well-being. Our projects soften cities and support ecology while inspiring peace. We develop collective vision, foster community, and transform open space through our collaborations with civic and cultural organizations, individuals, and diverse project teams. For the last decade, Design Wild has been dedicated to designing naturally wild and incredibly durable gardens in the heart of Manhattan and the Hudson Valley for public space, parks, affordable housing, and private residences. For more information about the 540 West 53rd Street projects, please contact info@designwildny.com