The May/June issue of Stamford Magazine features the first public views of new architecture planned for Mill River Park. Mill River Collaborative determined early on that all architecture in the park should also be art, in having sculptural qualities that invite the eye to linger and explore over and over with an enduring interest and appeal. The first two structures to be designed, the Porch and the playground restrooms, achieve these qualities. The porch, a massive overhead lattice structure that undulates organically among the trees will be glimpsed from numerous angles throughout the park, each offering a different facet of the whole. Its play with natural light, shadow and illumination will complement the more natural design of the west side of the park.

The playground restrooms, designed to appear as giant topiary frogs, will figure in the imaginary landscape of children for years to come. Another symbol of the river habitat, the design theme of Mill River Playground, the frogs, facing the play structures can figure into the play dramas of young visitors. Their skylight eyes will glow at night offering subtle illumination to the west side of the Main Street Bridge.