WTC Memorial Park: Zoning and Master Planning
if one were to raze the existing "master plan" and
utilize the places reserved for fictitious skyscrapers
surrounding a memorial to 9/11 that is equivalent in
design to two giant drained public swimming pools,
more options would be available to shape the larger
site around the goals of a future WTC Memorial Park.
the white buildings in the image below are buildings
which rose dozens of stories above the existing flat
memorial site. of the gains made from the current
planning approach: the memorial footprints have been
saved, and the idea of moving a church to the site on
a strip of park besides the memorial grounds could be
interesting if approaching this as an immensely varied
civic environment.
two moves would help guide the designs of buildings which
would someday surround the Memorial Park and its footprints.
these guidelines would help merge the work by different
architects and developers into a more cohesive whole.
this image is an example only, and has no relationship
to style, only the concepts involved:
the first move would be to reverse engineer buildings and
their maximum height requirements for this unique site
on the largest buildings beyond them, so to optimize the
light into the site and to allow maximum access for large
buildings to see into the site. the yellow lines below
are an approximation of this approach, specifically in
the dual-building directly above the WTC facade ruin.
the second move would focus buildings onto the memorial,
particularly the facade ruin as if a wave of movement
after a drop hits a silent and still pond of water and
these ripples spread out from the source of the impact.
the symbol and symbolism of 9/11 is this wave generator
which would influence the direction of buildings inwards
and upwards if combining the two moves.
to imagine a fictitious development around the WTC
Memorial Park, then, may look something like this in
terms of the effect of these guidelines on a design:
the street grid would give way to bridges, walkways,
skyways, and parks which are a shared composition of
light, air, parks, patios, seating, public and private
space, paths, movement, circulation, and blending of
buildings and programs into a larger whole focused,
still, on the 9/11 memorials in the WTC Memorial Park.
(cont...)
if one were to raze the existing "master plan" and
utilize the places reserved for fictitious skyscrapers
surrounding a memorial to 9/11 that is equivalent in
design to two giant drained public swimming pools,
more options would be available to shape the larger
site around the goals of a future WTC Memorial Park.
the white buildings in the image below are buildings
which rose dozens of stories above the existing flat
memorial site. of the gains made from the current
planning approach: the memorial footprints have been
saved, and the idea of moving a church to the site on
a strip of park besides the memorial grounds could be
interesting if approaching this as an immensely varied
civic environment.
two moves would help guide the designs of buildings which
would someday surround the Memorial Park and its footprints.
these guidelines would help merge the work by different
architects and developers into a more cohesive whole.
this image is an example only, and has no relationship
to style, only the concepts involved:
the first move would be to reverse engineer buildings and
their maximum height requirements for this unique site
on the largest buildings beyond them, so to optimize the
light into the site and to allow maximum access for large
buildings to see into the site. the yellow lines below
are an approximation of this approach, specifically in
the dual-building directly above the WTC facade ruin.
the second move would focus buildings onto the memorial,
particularly the facade ruin as if a wave of movement
after a drop hits a silent and still pond of water and
these ripples spread out from the source of the impact.
the symbol and symbolism of 9/11 is this wave generator
which would influence the direction of buildings inwards
and upwards if combining the two moves.
to imagine a fictitious development around the WTC
Memorial Park, then, may look something like this in
terms of the effect of these guidelines on a design:
the street grid would give way to bridges, walkways,
skyways, and parks which are a shared composition of
light, air, parks, patios, seating, public and private
space, paths, movement, circulation, and blending of
buildings and programs into a larger whole focused,
still, on the 9/11 memorials in the WTC Memorial Park.
(cont...)