WTC Memorial Park: Zoning and Master Planning (2)
(cont...)
different architects could use different materials
and still arrive at a connected whole, and several
developers would be able to work simultaneously yet
on a larger project. buildings could range in program
and type, and also serve multiple purposes, audiences.
mixed-use, retail could be mixed with business, housing,
and other market based plans. various building types
and various architectural styles would be able to work
together towards the much larger rebuilding efforts.
as new building are added they would compliment existing
buildings, add new features and spaces and relationships,
even if years apart in development, and property owners
would benefit from mutual interests of observing the
guidelines if it adds value to a particular development
by extending the system and bringing new value into it.
a performance space would be able to co-exist with others,
such as restaurants, and building programs may begin to
merge with the outside, such as with 'spanish stairs',
if buildings were to decide to create a sub-space in
which an impromptu corner amphitheater may be of use
for particular events, as a dual-use.
over time with buildings and real estate, the existing
small buildings may give way to larger buildings which
would still be capable of accessing the site's master
plan over a period of decades, in addition to a series
of design elements to tie the site together (e.g. use
of particular types of stone and architectural columns).
in this way a very large and complex development such
as the United Nations could be relocated to the site,
and function both as part of a larger symbolic whole,
and also autonomously as a series of buildings on the
periphery of the WTC Memorial Park, i.e. its outer wall.
likewise, if damaged buildings around the site were to
eventually be razed, an opportunity would exist to turn
the site into a larger waterfront experience, with an
outdoor theater or markets or other amenities, while
making the WTC Memorial Park and its facade ruin
visible from the water, while becoming a hub for
ferries to and from the site. the master plan would
transform what is now an anonymous site into a one-
of-a-kind civic center of immense scale, symbolism,
and meaning which generates its forms from the events
of 9/11 and the memorials, and the values shared by
citizens founded in the park system, nature, and of
the arts, supported and protected by civic culture.
such a view at night would be visible across the river,
using bands of fiber optic lighting. likewise, the two
footprints would have spot lights illuminated vertically.
as an outdoor space the park would be a place for music,
food, art shows, events, weddings, ceremonies, picnics,
theater, fieldtrips, and other events facilitated by
architects who design buildings to support these goals
of access, collaboration, and serving the community.
again, the imagery is only a sketched example of how
buildings could be related to the site as volumes,
masses which have occupied space yet interact in a
specific way with the goals as stated. compared this
to the existing 'master plan' and the fact that the
footprint is square and the the buildings are square
skyscrapers is said to be their total relationship.
if the current 'master plan' was based on the 9/11
memorial it would be visible in the buildings around
the site, which is not the case. this is counterpoint,
evidence of the drastic difference in focus, goals,
and approach to the questions of this unique place.
a focus on life and regeneration and yet living with
the past, the symbolic, as a way of recapturing and
rebuilding and protecting the site through design.
mediating the events through ideas, not erasure.
(happy freedom tower day to those in the .us)
(cont...)
different architects could use different materials
and still arrive at a connected whole, and several
developers would be able to work simultaneously yet
on a larger project. buildings could range in program
and type, and also serve multiple purposes, audiences.
mixed-use, retail could be mixed with business, housing,
and other market based plans. various building types
and various architectural styles would be able to work
together towards the much larger rebuilding efforts.
as new building are added they would compliment existing
buildings, add new features and spaces and relationships,
even if years apart in development, and property owners
would benefit from mutual interests of observing the
guidelines if it adds value to a particular development
by extending the system and bringing new value into it.
a performance space would be able to co-exist with others,
such as restaurants, and building programs may begin to
merge with the outside, such as with 'spanish stairs',
if buildings were to decide to create a sub-space in
which an impromptu corner amphitheater may be of use
for particular events, as a dual-use.
over time with buildings and real estate, the existing
small buildings may give way to larger buildings which
would still be capable of accessing the site's master
plan over a period of decades, in addition to a series
of design elements to tie the site together (e.g. use
of particular types of stone and architectural columns).
in this way a very large and complex development such
as the United Nations could be relocated to the site,
and function both as part of a larger symbolic whole,
and also autonomously as a series of buildings on the
periphery of the WTC Memorial Park, i.e. its outer wall.
likewise, if damaged buildings around the site were to
eventually be razed, an opportunity would exist to turn
the site into a larger waterfront experience, with an
outdoor theater or markets or other amenities, while
making the WTC Memorial Park and its facade ruin
visible from the water, while becoming a hub for
ferries to and from the site. the master plan would
transform what is now an anonymous site into a one-
of-a-kind civic center of immense scale, symbolism,
and meaning which generates its forms from the events
of 9/11 and the memorials, and the values shared by
citizens founded in the park system, nature, and of
the arts, supported and protected by civic culture.
such a view at night would be visible across the river,
using bands of fiber optic lighting. likewise, the two
footprints would have spot lights illuminated vertically.
as an outdoor space the park would be a place for music,
food, art shows, events, weddings, ceremonies, picnics,
theater, fieldtrips, and other events facilitated by
architects who design buildings to support these goals
of access, collaboration, and serving the community.
again, the imagery is only a sketched example of how
buildings could be related to the site as volumes,
masses which have occupied space yet interact in a
specific way with the goals as stated. compared this
to the existing 'master plan' and the fact that the
footprint is square and the the buildings are square
skyscrapers is said to be their total relationship.
if the current 'master plan' was based on the 9/11
memorial it would be visible in the buildings around
the site, which is not the case. this is counterpoint,
evidence of the drastic difference in focus, goals,
and approach to the questions of this unique place.
a focus on life and regeneration and yet living with
the past, the symbolic, as a way of recapturing and
rebuilding and protecting the site through design.
mediating the events through ideas, not erasure.
(happy freedom tower day to those in the .us)