New York, New York, USA

Paley Park is a 'pocket park' designed as a "prototytpe for a new kind of public space" where city dwellers can find respite in New York City's busy life. The archetype of the modern pocket park: a simple, serene outdoor room with a 20-ft-high recirculating waterfall, a canopy of honey locust trees, ivy-clad walls, and moveable tables and wire chairs that let people “own” the space. Paley Park proved a tiny, privately funded site could deliver major public benefit and set a model for POPS worldwide.

Mill Run, Pennsylvania, USA

Fallingwater is one of the first buildings in the world where a harmony between people, the physical and the natural environment is manifested in the design of a building. Local, site-responsive construction: On-site/nearby stone and integration with existing rock ledges reduced transport and embedded the building in its landscape. Passive comfort strategies: Deep cantilevers, expansive operable glazing, evaporative cooling from the falls, and shaded terraces contribute to microclimate and daylighting—decades before “bioclimatic design” became mainstream.Stewardship & landscape conservation: Donation to WPC in 1963 preserved both the house and the surrounding Bear Run Nature Reserve