Spectacle Island: From discarded fill to designed landscape, a ‘natural’-looking park

Spectacle Island used to host disagreeable activities, including a dump site for the city of Boston. In the 1990s, the island received a significant amount of the Central Artery/Tunnel Project (CA/T) excavated materials. As part of the CA/T Project, also known as the ‘Big Dig’, Spectacle Island was reclaimed and made into a public park. By analyzing Spectacle Island and the process of its construction, this article aims to show that ‘discarded fill’ can be successfully addressed by the design disciplines within a collaborative environment, rather than by technical experts only, as usually happens. Moreover, given the scarcity of literature on the topic, this article aims to contribute to the field by identifying several considerations useful to addressing discarded fill from a design perspective: the complexity of discarded materials management, the possible value of placing discarded materials on visible sites, the different ways in which it is possible to convey the identity of the landscapes constructed with discarded fill, and, finally, the possible role of designers. © 2018; Routledge. All Rights Reserved.