IN SITU

"In situ" literally means “in place” or “in position.” 

From a landscape design perspective it extends the definition to explore the intervention between landscape and the built environment.  This is my third visit to the MOMA exhibit “IN SITU” which explores this burgeoning discussion between the built and natural environment which began thru books such as Ian McHarg’ Design With Nature (available for your kindle!) and has culminated recently with Charles Waldheim’s Landscape Urbanism Reader.  The exhibit showcases flat art drawings in addition to the models below of works by James Wines, Toyo Ito, Tadao Ando and Bernard Tschumi.

ELEVATED ACRE

Case Study : Elevated Acre or 55 Water Street

The original design was sparse, poorly planned and unused; a blog entry I read called it a “crappy brick plaza.” Goldman Sachs financed the replacement of this plaza in coordination with the Municipal Arts Society in 2005.  It is designed by Ken Smith and Rogers/Marvel.

There is one portal into the space, the same portal out.  (due to a “financial revision” from the original plan which also called for a 100 person elevator on the northeast corner of the space which was not added, right below the “beacon of Progress”.)  The entrance remains a surprise and suspenseful experience, that builds as you enter the space and walk the sloped grade to witness the space, culminating in the grand view of the East River and Brooklyn. Last year it provided a great vantage point to view the entire waterfalls exhibit. Movies are shown on special weeknights as part of the River-to-River Festival in Lower Manhattan. 

The design is brilliantly thought out and executed. The plantings are well maintained and always look in excellent form.

 

I found the majority of the usage is from business people who spend their lunch time there during the work week, bringing take-out food containers with them.. .. They come in droves up the escalators and stairs and find a spot among the mostly sunny seating.  Impromptu meetings are also held there. A small portion of the seating is shaded. People seems to enjoy sitting in the sun, whether it be on the amphitheatre, lying on the astro-turf lawn, or sitting on benches.  There are tables adjacent to the building and amphitheatre.

 

After visiting the site a dozen times, I was especially surprised at the respect for the space that visitors have.  Park goers go out of their way to dispose of and/or leave with their garbage when they are done.  If one container is full, they will search out another so that they might dispose of their trash I the receptacle, rather than just throw it on top of an already full one – unusual for New Yorkers, There is a full-time security person on premises, day and night, weekday and weekend...tend to believe this might also be a reason that the visitors respect the site, keep it safe and clean.

A neighbor of mine walks her dog there on the weekends, and claims barely a sole is there at that time. From a dozen visits at various time is seems evident that the park is used predominantly by business people during the day and into the early evening during the week..  It is a destination for the local wall street workers and not necessarily for those residents in the surrounding neighborhoods.

 

THE VICTORY GARDEN

PBS has titled their very successful gardening show “The Victory Garden.” The show has been immensely popular for over thirty seasons, it is America's oldest gardening program (circa 1975) - an offshoot of "This Old House"… but what is the derivation, the context for this name?

During World War I and World War II, the United States government asked its citizens to plant gardens in order to support the war effort. Millions of people planted gardens. In 1943, Americans planted over 20 million Victory Gardens, and the harvest accounted for nearly a third of all the vegetables consumed in the country that year. Emphasis was placed on making gardening a family or community effort -- not a drudgery, but a pastime, and a national duty.


This effort was echoed north of the USA in Canada, across “the pond” in England and even “down under” in Australia.


Examples in NYC…
Children gardening on the rooftops of Manhattan

Gardening on Central Park West
Gardening in housing developments
Today, with concern for our environment, (reducing the food miles associated with the average American meal) and the advocation of growing more food locally, and organically there is a movement toward reconsidering our “old school” ways.
Victory Gardens 2009

THOMAS JEFFERSON

"The greatest service which can be rendered to any country
is to add a useful plant to its culture"
-T. Jefferson
University of Virginia

Thomas Jefferson was arguably the United States' first celebrated landscape designer/architect.  In fact his design for the University of Virginia campus is the forerunner of many college campuses in the United States.  It is in many ways a response to his time and education spent at William & Mary and his democratic ideals -- he designed the University of Virginia in which he united landscape, architecture and sky in one bold gesture. He situated the university in a valley at the feet of the Appalachian Mts and the buildings in an axial alignment.

He defined the campus as a community. “Campus” literally means “a field” (in it’s greek origin) and as such created a symbolic village green in the center of it. For Jefferson, the college experience would take place within an "academical village," a place where shared learning infused daily life. At the head of the shared lawn or “Academic Village” would stand the library (not, as in most other colleges and universities of the time, a chapel), its dome shape inspired by Rome's Pantheon and symbolic of the enlightened human mind.

The library is flanked by living + learning spaces which surround the axial greensward or lawn. It is thought that one of Jefferson’s inspirations for the design/axial alignment lay in Chateau de Marly (designed by Mansart and LeBrun).

Chateau de Marly

The Lawn, the Rotunda, the axial alignment were the model for many similar designs of "centralized green areas" at universities across the country (most notably those at Duke University in 1892, Johns Hopkins University in 1902, Rice University in 1910, Peabody College of Vanderbilt University in 1915, the Green at the University of Delaware in 1916, and Killian Court at MIT. Many small colleges campuses such as Colby College in Maine, also echo this design.

Colby College

And as a former graduate student from Columbia University, I take particular delight in the inspiration that Jefferson had on the McKim, Meade, White design when the campus was moved uptown to Morningside Heights from lower Manhattan.

Columbia University

Today, UVa is the only college considered a UNESCO world heritage sight.

BROOKLYN BRIDGE PARK

As a resident living in the South Street Seaport of Manhattan I'm just a birdseye view away from the Brooklyn waterfront -- which is also the borough I was born and raised in. I recently took a tour offered by the Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy of Michael Van Valkenburg Associates grand design for the East River waterfront. Just my humble opinion, but like everything else produced by this firm, it is pure brilliance from the largest brushstrokes down to the smallest details planned. Some photos from my Blackberry Storm of the site...

Believe these are the "river steps"..... salvaged granite from the Roosevelt Island Bridge. This park feature will provide new vistas and tranquil places to sit and take in the breathtaking views of the skyline, bridges and river. The steps will enhance waterfront access and serve as a tiered viewing deck for park visitors.

That's the BQE on the left... a huge berm is to be contructed that diffuses the sound which emanates from that highway.
better images, informations, illustrations, programming, etc can be found through these links..

Park Design images/Bklyn Bridge Park Conservancy
Brooklyn Bridge Park

It is entirely possible that when future generations enjoy Brooklyn Bridge Park, they will regard it with the same devotion as present Manhattanites embrace Olmsted's Central Park!