Writers Block garden recipient of citation

A Smart Growth Award for creative initiative from the New Jersey Society of Architects and state Department of Community Affairs

By: Marjorie Censer
   The New Jersey Society of Architects and the state Department of Community Affairs presented the organizers of Writers Block with the Smart Growth Award for creative initiative Wednesday.
   Writers Block, the urban garden featuring follies inspired by Princeton authors and designed by area architects, was on display behind the Hulfish Street parking garage from July to November last year. Kevin Wilkes, a landscape architect who was one of the organizers of the project, said he applied for the Smart Growth Award — but in a different category.
   The society solicited applications in four categories: urban design, compact design, school construction design and transportation-oriented design. Mr. Wilkes submitted the Writers Block portfolio in the urban design category — but came out a winner in the creative initiative category.
   The category was created for Writers Block, which didn’t quite fit into urban design because of its impermanence.
   "It’s a quirky little project," Mr. Wilkes said. "It’s a round peg in a square hole."
   He said he and his colleagues on the project are very proud to be honored.
   Eleven firms or individuals associated with Writers Block received certificates at Wednesday’s ceremony. They are Wilkes and Kluck Architects, Richardson Smith Architects, Outerbridge/Morgan Architects, M.J. Sagan, Ronald Berlin, Petter Wassem, Gil Rampy, Nastasi Architects, Dowling Studios, New Jersey Barn Company and JJ Rivera Architectural Design.
   Mr. Wilkes said he hopes the success of Writers Block will inspire others to see the possibilities in empty lots.
   It solves the problem of "what to do with vacant lots in the interim period before their final use is achieved," Mr. Wilkes said. "We’re expanding our original idea into something of a template."
   He said that the temporary status of Writers Block was likely novel for the smart growth judges — and resulted in the establishment of the new category.
   As Mr. Wilkes still seeks funding for Quark Park — the proposed follow-up garden to Writers Block that would meld science and art — he said he hopes the award will lend the project greater credibility.
   "It should give our ideas some value," he said. "It gives us a little more support."
   Writers Block previously won the Honor Award for Built Project from the New Jersey chapter of the American Institute of Architects.
   Two other awards were presented at Wednesday’s ceremony, although none was presented this year in the compact or transportation-oriented categories.
   L&C Design Consultants of Secaucus received the urban design award for The Paterson Farmers Market revitalization in Paterson, while Kellenyi Johnson Wagner Architects received the prize for school construction design for the Neptune Early Childhood Center in Neptune.