![\"\"](\"http:\/\/aslathedirt.files.wordpress.com\/2010\/02\/schwartz.jpg\" "\\"schwartz\\"")
<\/a>\nThe\u00a0federally-owned plaza in front of the Jacob K. Javits Federal Building<\/a> in Lower Manhattan is about to get a new design. According to The Architect’s Newspaper<\/em>, the composition created by landscape architect Martha Schwartz<\/a>, ASLA,\u00a0in the late 1990’s will be replaced by a new iteration from Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates<\/a>, working under Wank Adams Slavin Associates (WASA)<\/a>. This will be the fourth design in 20 years, counting the temporary landscape that was installed after Richard Serra’s “Tilted Arc<\/a>” sculpture was removed.<\/p>\n
The U.S. General\u00a0Services Administration (GSA) is funding the repair of the waterproofing of the parking garage beneath the square.\u00a0”The two-year, $5 million to $10 million endeavor entails the demolition of the existing plaza, reinforcement and repair of the parking garage roof, and installation of landscaping, lighting, security features, and other elements.” Because the problems are being fixed now, the project is eligble for recovery funds.<\/p>\n
Landscape architect Michael Van Valkenburgh, FASLA,\u00a0told The Architect’s\u00a0Newspaper<\/em> the design\u00a0will be a\u00a0\u201ccomposition of curling and embracing landscape pieces\u201d that will \u201cmake clear, welcoming gestures.” The design will\u00a0retain some of Martha Schwartz’s “pop” landscapes\u00a0elements, but “simplify the seating and movement across the plaza.”\u00a0\u00a0Also, Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates will examine “microclimates, wind patterns, and natural and artificial lighting” to\u00a0improve the visitor’s experience.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The Architect’s Newspaper<\/em> adds that the changes in the\u00a0plaza have\u00a0long mirrored\u00a0evolving conceptions of urban public spaces. The Richard Serra sculpture caused enough controversy to fill two books and led a judge to order its removal. “The piece, installed under the GSA\u2019s Art in Architecture Program, was further criticized as being inhospitable to federal employees, visitors, and local residents alike.” Additionally, the destruction of the “pop” plaza designed by Martha Schwartz may represent a shift\u00a0towards “greener urban landscapes” for both office workers and local residents.<\/p>\n Martha Schwartz’s original design, which won a ASLA professional design award in 1997, is described on her Web site: “The new plaza is reconnected to its surrounding context and provides innumerable seating opportunities for people having lunch or just for watching other people. Large planters which formerly existed at the northwest and southeast corners of the site have been removed, as well as the long-empty fountain which had occupied the only sunny portion of the site. By opening up the plaza, the connections between the plaza and the street are reestablished, and the people who wish to sit can do so in either sun or shade.”<\/p>\n Read the article<\/a><\/p>\n The\u00a0federally-owned plaza in front of the Jacob K. Javits Federal Building in Lower Manhattan is about to get a new design. According to The Architect’s Newspaper, the composition created by landscape architect Martha Schwartz, ASLA,\u00a0in the late 1990’s will be replaced by a new iteration from Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, working under Wank Adams Slavin […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-272036","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272036","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=272036"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272036\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=272036"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=272036"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=272036"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"http:\/\/feeds.wordpress.com\/1.0\/comments\/aslathedirt.wordpress.com\/3809\/\")
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