BIXBY PLAZA - POMONA COLLEGE
Claremont, California 1995
The completed first phase construction of Bixby Plaza is a contemporary artistic and environmental re-visioning of the original campus masterplanning concepts by Ralph D. Cornell (class of 1914). In an undifferentiated expanse of asphalt, we introduced axes of articulated paving which intersect at the historic fountain at the center of the plaza. Extending to the north we created a great urban room open to the mountains beyond. A grove of California Live Oaks (Quercus agrifolia) set in a floor of permeable decomposed granite extends to the south. Serpentine benches constructed of native sandstone blocks wind through the grid of oaks in counterpoint to their order.