Governors Island - Architecture - New York Times - The Diigo Meta page

• 21 Dec 07
  

  Yule Heibel

  - description of "the winning design for a 40-acre park that would unfold across the southern half of Governors Island" (Diller Scofidio & Renfro, etc.)
  - personally, I liked "The Mollusk" best

  governors_island nicolai_ouroussoff nyc urban_parks

  • The park’s informal landscape of undulating hills and voluptuous marshes is a refreshing departure from the crass commercialism that infects so many public projects today. At the same time, the designers have avoided tired period elements like cobblestone paths and bishop’s crook lampposts.

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      Yule Heibel on 2007-12-21

      - yup, the Scilla and Charybdis of public spaces: commercialization and nostalgic kitsch
  • Roughly a half-mile to the north is the dense cluster of Wall Street towers, Manhattan’s answer to the entrance of the Grand Canal in Venice.
  • 4 more annotations...
  • • The design’s most seductive feature, however, is an intriguing mix of natural and created landscapes. The architects envision a lush saltwater marsh at the island’s southern tip, an effort to recapture the natural beauty that was partly lost when the Coast Guard built housing after assuming control of the island in 1966.
    • Leslie Koch, the president of the Governors Island Preservation and Education Corporation, says the project could unfold in several stages. A free bicycle program could be in place by next summer, encouraging New Yorkers to familiarize themselves with the island and its haunting beauty.

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        Yule Heibel on 2007-12-21

        - great idea re. free bicycles

    • Given that the money for large-scale public development dried up long ago, the current strategy in most American cities today with projects of this scale is essentially to hand them over to developers and watch what happens.

      The Governors Island plan, by comparison, is humble in scale but big on ambition. What is more, by developing the island bit by bit, the city is enabling the public to appreciate what it has gained, which could help prevent overdevelopment.

    • How refreshing to see government not only take back some responsibility for the public realm, but also to do so with such care.

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        Yule Heibel on 2007-12-21

        - indeed

Public Stiky Notes

• 
  Yule Heibel on 2007-12-21
  - yup, the Scilla and Charybdis of public spaces: commercialization and nostalgic kitsch
• 
  Yule Heibel on 2007-12-21
  - great idea re. free bicycles
• 
  Yule Heibel on 2007-12-21
  - indeed

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