Living Room

NEW JERSEY STATE POLICE HEADQUARTERS
HAMILTON TOWNSHIP, NEW JERSEY

Living Room is a verdant outdoor room located adjacent to a police headquarters building, a green space and a bit of fresh air with a place to sit quietly, eat, have a conversation, or conduct a meeting in an environment intended to alleviate the stresses inherent with this type of facility. A series of three concentric rings, suggestive of a council ring, has been created under a bosque of cherry trees. The outer ring consists of a low hedge, which defines the space; the two inner rings are constructed of limestone seating walls. Native Americans and American pioneers viewed the council ring as a gathering place where people could come together as equals, to share their views, able to participate in free and honest discussions, read or tell stories, act out dramas, or simply meditate on humanity's relationship with nature. Unity is symbolized in the figure of the circle.