MiMA

Anchored within a 60-story mix-use residential tower, a pair of award-winning roof terraces provide a calming escape from the bustling streets of its Times Square neighborhood. Completed in 2002, MiMA’s terrace landscapes set a new amenity standard for urban housing developments. Designed as complimentary outdoor living room extensions from the building’s interior common and amenity spaces. The north facing terrace rests on the 7th floor podium roof adjacent to the towering 60-story residential building. A forest of tall columnar Hornbeam trees meander within undulating the terrace’s center to spatially define a network of community gathering spaces. The Hornbeams’ height and dense massings introduce a humanizing scale to mitigate the tower’s overpowering presence. Alternatively, attention is cast downward and drawn toward the trees’ and under plantings’ foliage. Distinct and varying sized social “pods” were created by a complimentary mix of planting and garden architecture elements. The terraces are designed as a landscape within which residents can participate in a broad range of outdoor uses, activities, and natural world experiences.