Waller Creek is an urban waterway in Austin, Texas—stretching from Waterloo Park, just beside the Capitol, to Lady Bird Lake—that had for years experienced severe flooding and erosion. A decade ago, construction began on a mile-long flood-diversion tunnel to channel overflow. At the same time, in 2011, an international competition was launched to redesign the surrounding parkland. Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates (MVVA) won with a scheme that would not only restore the damaged ecosystem but reinvent this long-forsaken but central corridor. Now an 11-acre portion of Waterloo Greenway, the first piece of the complex undertaking, has been completed, with a stunning new open-air theater designed by Thomas Phifer and Partners as its centerpiece.

A bean-shaped area of the park, called the “Flying Lawn,” cantilevers off an unsightly concrete structure in the creek, part of the tunnel project to divert water. Photo © Waterloo Greenway Conservancy, click to enlarge.