Lower Manhattan Design Charrette:

Greening the Civic Center
 

 

Friends of City Hall Park has announced plans for an Open Space project in the area near City Hall with a brainstorming conference and website.

The goal is to develop 21st century creative notions for parks and recreation in one of the most densely populated neighborhoods in the world, to locate available space and and design new approaches for greenery and play.

The design “charrette,” a fancy word that’s fun to say which describes an informal panel of designers meeting to make plans and drawings with certain design requirements and goals, will take place in real life during an afternoon luncheon and meeting at a lower Manhattan restaurant.

But the main that presents part is a website

  • an illustrated inventory of open or creatively developable spaces near the civic center; including,
    • City Hall Park North East Plaza
    • Elk Street NYC parking lot
    • DOT bike path through our neighborhood
  • designs for these spaces submitted both
    • by invitation to innovative architects
    • and unsolicitated from students, neighbors and others.

The impetus for the FCHP community group is to locate a trade-off of space of equal value to the agreed alienation of almost 3 acres of City Hall Park for a homeland security zone surrounding City Hall.

But the goals of the charrette are not practical… the aims are:

  • to bring attention to our desperate need for park land in lower Manhattan with a positive and whimsical spin and
  • to stimulate new visionary approaches that appeal to the 21st century population’s needs, that make use of 21st century materials and means of construction but with an approach not necessarily limited by practical concerns.

In this fastest growing residential neighborhood in NYC, the construction of office and residential buildings is visibly astounding with many new towers in progress, dozens of 5-story buildings being topped with 5 more stories, and every parking lot being replaced by a skyscraper with a garage. Time is running out for the opportunity to find any Open Space at all below Worth Street.

Every New Yorker deserves a moment of peace during every day. We come here and we stay here to get the most of the Big Apple and it can get damned stressful. So even a few breaths of relaxation and peacefulness can make a big difference in a day’s normal rush. Some New Yorkers find it in a yoga class or church, an art museum or concert hall, and many of us find our relief in the city’s parks. Sometimes, observing just a leaf blowing in the wind can bring a moment of relaxation and an understanding of life and its glories, a perfect moment. Besides fresh air and clear sky and sports and recreation, we get a lot from our parks.

  

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