Ayalon Park, a 2,000 acre central park located on the floodplain of the Ayalon River, will provide a green oasis for the burgeoning Tel Aviv region. Starr Whitehouse is overseeing a multifaceted park planning process, with the ultimate goal of creating a master plan that celebrates Israeli culture and ecological principles. Site-specific conditions, particularly the heavy winter flooding of the lowlands and the highways, which border the park on three sides, drive the design of the park. The ongoing remediation and design of a 125-acre, 165’ high, landfill mound, undertaken by landscape architect Peter Latz, is a key symbolic gesture of the regeneration of this once derelict site.

In 2004, Laura Starr, with Niall Kirkwood, Harvard’s Landscape Architecture Chair, brought together a group of world class designers to begin to think about the park. Their work has fueled the main design concepts. A promenade on the urban edge of the uplands will contain playgrounds, ponds, fountains; the agricultural midlands will accommodate walking and picnicking, as well as bicycle trails and sports fields. The flood-prone lowlands will be left wild, a destination for nature lovers and hikers. A series of terraces descending into the valleys will provide state-of-the-art water management for drought and flood conditions. Starr Whitehouse is currently engaged in a number of these different park planning projects, ranging from managing design charettes, to fundraising, to creating a framework for transportation and access.