Wednesday, June 6, 2007

Inspiration from Teardrop Park

David Kelly introduced me to this new park in Battery Park City, only a stone's throw from Ground zero. It features a variety of native plant habitats and geology on a grand scale - can you see the big rock wall in the pic below? It's about 7m high, with a tunnel going through to the other half of the park! I love the way nature has been made abstract in a carefully constructed landscape, and the 3D nature of the space. There are many paths and changes of level...always something new to discover around the next corner. Designed by a top designer, Van Valckenburg - it was both humbling and inspiring. For more pics and a description of our visit to a green roof nearby visit Marie's blog - http://66squarefeet.blogspot.com/ - she captures it very well.

Marie and Natalie give a sense of scale to the main open area of the park, and its urban context. Incidentally, most of the surrounding buildings have been built according to sustainable design principles (green architecture).



One area has water spouts and jets for kids to play in...

Here's the big rock wall, with water dripping down, like a drippy cliff

A long slide ends in a big sandy area which serves as a focal point for kids. Plenty of stairs and rocks for adults to hang out and chat while the kids play.

2 comments:

Marie said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Marie said...

Marijke, I don't how long it would have taken me to find this park without you (or David Kelly) - I am allergic to this part of town. What happened here was too enormous for words, or for tourism, or for sentimentality. But this park, and the greenroofs above, are the most fitting memorial I can think of. The rest will be concrete and glass, no matter what they say. I wish they would just leave that hole alone. These living places touched me, and will touch others who visit. The park is so lovely, so enfolding, so engaging, so safe, so different from what happened... it is the best of what humans can do.