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Battery Park City |
Over the course of the past year, I’ve heard a lot about Battery Park City, so I decided to explore it firsthand. This is a truly unique and innovative area, which is perhaps one of New York’s most important experiments in urban development and sustainable living. Battery Park City strives to create balance; a neighborhood that is both aesthetically pleasing and fully functional, and perhaps above all, environmentally friendly.
There are numerous parks and instances of public art scattered throughout the community. I took a walk along the Esplanade and came across a wide variety of work divided into several distinct sections. As much as I love this city, this peaceful walk along pleasant scenery was a very welcome change of pace. One of my favorite areas was South Cove, a unique collaboration between environmental artist Mary Miss, architect Stanton Eckstut, and landscape architect Susan Child located along the Esplanade. South Cove is the perfect place to sit, relax, and watch the gently rolling water. I was particularly intrigued by a large metal structure involving stairs and a viewing platform, somewhat reminiscent in shape to that of the DNA double helix. The top of this structure, however, echoes the crown of the nearby Statue of Liberty, which can be seen from here. Because the structure seemed so familiar, it became very powerful to me. In addition to the rocks dispersed throughout the area, another interesting feature of South Cove is its blue lamps, whose effect can only be fully appreciated at night. In fact, I hardly noticed the lights until later when I revisited the area after dark and immediately noticed the difference from the standard yellow bulbs. The blue light certainly adds to the serenity South Cove creates.
Battery Park City also contains several memorials, the most interesting of which I found to be the Irish Hunger Memorial, created by Brian Tolle, which uniquely expresses the events leading to the famine in the mid 1800s which claimed the lives of 1.5 million Irish. The focal point of the memorial is a small Irish cottage typical of the time period, which was imported directly from Ireland and rebuilt in New York. Upon entering the memorial and not quite knowing what to expect, I was at first quite surprised to find myself inside such a cottage. The path than leads you up a grassy hill replication of the Irish countryside, ending with a gorgeous view overlooking the water. Walking through this memorial gave me a real understanding of the time period and location, and consequently deeper insight into this terrible tragedy; it serves its purpose.
Another key part of Battery Park City is the Green Building Initiative. Beginning with the Solaire which was completed in 2003, several high rise buildings have been designed to be energy efficient, increase water and air quality, preserve resources, and be as generally environmentally friendly as possible. The Skyscraper Museum, located conveniently within the boundaries of Battery Park City, happened to currently be showing an exhibition titled Green Towers for New York: From Visionary to Vernacular, so I decided to head over and check it out. I found this installation to be quite fascinating. It provided a detailed description of many green buildings, starting of course with the Solaire, and going all the way up to buildings which are only in the planning stage. I was most intrigued by the designs and plans for the Freedom Tower, which will be constructed on the World Trade Center site. Not only will this building be green, a fact of which I wasn’t aware prior to visiting this exhibit, but it will also be a true architectural work of art. As Battery Park City continues to develop, it remains a great success and fascinating lesson from which we can all learn.
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Images
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Irish Hunger Memorial |
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The Upper Room by Ned Smith, along the Esplanade |
South Cove |
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Teardrop Park |
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Rector Gate by R.M. Fischer
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The Solaire |
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Inside the Skyscraper Museum |
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The (projected) Freedom Tower |
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