Mueller’s new Taniguchi Park is now open at 3005 Sorin St.
The one-acre park contributes to a broader goal of turning a fifth of all land in the Mueller neighborhood (which totals ~700 acres) into green space. So far, the Mueller team has built 127 acres of parks.
The park was named after Isamu Taniguchi, a Japanese immigrant who moved to California just before WWII. Taniguchi and his family were imprisoned at an internment camp in South Texas at the start of the war, but upon their release, started a farm in the Rio Grande Valley and eventually retired.
Taniguchi later moved to Austin, where his son — then dean of architecture at UT — connected him to the Parks & Recreation Department. Together, they created a public Japanese green space inside Zilker Botanical Garden.
The Mueller park features a covered gathering space with a large table, moveable furniture, grills, a rooftop that channels water to rain gardens, and a winding pathway.