New Plaza Brings Needed Public Space to Holland Tunnel Entrance
Freeman Plaza West (Courtesy of Ryan Muir/Hudson Square Connection)
The entrance to the Holland Tunnel, a maze of traffic and complicated pedestrian crossings, finally has some much-needed open space. Thursday, the Hudson Square Connection, the Business Improvement District (BID) for the area, along with the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, announced the opening of Freeman Plaza West, a new public space outfitted with bistro-style tables and chairs, umbrellas, and greenery, including four trees planted in honor of four members of Port Authority Police Department’s Holland Tunnel Command who lost their lives in the line of duty on September 11th 2001.
Stalled Residential Tower in Lower Manhattan to Rise Next to Woolworth Building
(Courtesy Silverstein Properties / Bing Maps)
A giant residential skyscraper is slated to join Manhattan’s skyline— rising more than 130 feet above its neighbor, the Woolworth Building. Developer Silverstein Properties announced today that $950 million in funding has been secured to move forward with the construction of the Robert A.M. Stern Architects-designed tower at 30 Park Place in Lower Manhattan.
On View> Manhattan’s David Zwirner Gallery Explores Richard Serra’s Early Work
(Courtesy David Zwirner)
Richard Serra: Early Work
David Zwirner Gallery
537 West 20th Street
New York, NY
Through June 15
David Zwirner presents an exposition of early work by artist Richard Serra. The works on display, dating from 1966 to 1971 and compiled from museum and private collections, represent Serra’s earliest innovative, process-oriented experiments that employ nontraditional materials. He uses vulcanized rubber, neon, and lead to emphasize weight in relationship to the nature of materials. The exhibition, on view through June 15 at David Zwirner, examines the innovative methods and ideas that so decisively place Serra in the history of Twentieth-Century art.
SVA Offering Co-Working Space to Architects & Designers This Summer
MFA PRODUCTS OF DESIGN COWORKING SPACE. (Courtesy SVA)
This summer, the MFA Products of Design program at the School for Visual Arts (SVA) is delivering a sweet solution to students and community members who seek temporary desk space. The Summer Desk Rental program runs from May 27th to August 23rd inside a sunny andArchitects-designed space, featuring a community kitchen, Internet, a lounge area, and more. Co-Working has become an everyday occurrence as industries look to collaborate and benefit from multi-use spaces. The project promotes the MFA program to visitors and all proceeds will support the school and its students. See more photos and sign up on their website.
Battery Conservancy Announces 50 Chair Design Finalists in “Draw Up a Chair” Competition
PIVOT CHAIR BY SIMON KRISTAK AND TEAM. INDEPENDENT DESIGN GROUP. (COURTESY BATTERY CONSERVANCY)
After reviewing 679 remarkable entries, a world-renowned jury on behalf of New York City’s Battery Conservancy and NYC Parks has selected the top 50 designs of the “Draw Up A Chair” design competition. The chair proposals are by students and professionals from nine countries around the world. The winning submission will be built and available for public use in Lower Manhattan’s Battery Park.
Free No More: Cooper Union Trustees Choose Tuition
Students protested tuition during a lock-in last year. (Michael Fleshman / Flickr)
After nearly two years of intense debate and student protests, Cooper Union has announced that it will end its 155-year tradition of tuition-free education—a hallmark of the prestigious institution. The school’s board of trustees said in a statement that budget-cutting measures could not relieve the $12 million annual deficit it has on its hands. The new policy will cut the full tuition-free scholarship to 50 percent for the undergraduate class beginning in fall 2014. Depending on financial need, a student could pay nothing or up to $20,000. Industrialist Peter Cooper founded the school in 1859 on the premise of providing a first-rate, free education to the working classes.
Bowery Street Art Too Provocative for IDEAS CITY?
The architect of the Bowery Mission John Young of Cryptome was invited by its director Matt Krivich in March to display an art work for the institution as part of The New Museum‘s just concluded IDEAS CITY street festival. Cryptome was restoring the mission’s underground vaults at the time and in August of 2012 put up a wall drawing by Deborah Natsios, a principal of the firm, on the street front scaffolding called Sidewalk Vaults. This original rendering was an illusion to the long history of the vaults as an important structural element of the Bowery, the city’s oldest thoroughfare. Natsios agreed to create a work and produced a series of eight panels in the style of Sidewalk Vaults that she called Partywall. This work was meant to question the relationship between the Mission and its neighbor the New Museum and the rapidly changing character of the Bowery.
On View> Parsons Festival 2013 in New York City
(Courtesy Parsons)
New York City will be hit by a design storm this May. Along with the International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF) taking place May 18 through 21 at the Javits Center, The New School is throwing its annual Parsons Festival, May 5 through 24, at locations across the city. Both events feature cutting edge design establishing NYC as a major design capital.
Orly Genger’s “Red, Yellow and Blue” Adds Bands of Color to Madison Square Park
Installation view of Orly Genger’s Red, Yellow and Blue in Madison Square Park. (The Architect’s Newspaper)
Yesterday, brilliant sunshine, a gentle spring breeze, and 65 degree weather set the scene for the inauguration ceremony of Orly Genger’s remarkable new art installation, titled Red, Yellow and Blue, in Madison Square Park. As you navigate your way through the park you will find yourself surrounded by a fanciful scene, as vibrant undulating walls arch into blossoming trees, spill onto lush lawns, and unfurl all around you.
“Orly Genger has woven her magic throughout the park,” said Mayor Bloomberg, who spoke at the inauguration ceremony. The large-scale project was installed as the latest chapter of Mad. Sq. Art, a public contemporary arts program presented by Madison Square Park Conservancy that aims to revitalize the park as well as the surrounding community. “[Red Yellow and Blue] is both innovative and environmentally sustainable. It is projects like this that are a big part of what gives New York City our identity and attracts visitors to our city,” said Bloomberg.
On View> MoMA Takes a Shower With New Rain Room Installation
Photo of ‘Rain Room’, Courtesy of rAndom international
The gentle drumming sound of rainfall is one that many of us find soothing, but it is a natural phenomena that we can only experience at a safe distance without suffering the consequence of being drenched. With their one-of-a-kind installation, Rain Room, the designers at rAndom international made what you thought was impossible possible—presenting anyone who is curious for a new sensation with the opportunity to fully experience standing unprotected in the rain without ever getting wet.
Wind Delays Topping Out at One World Trade
One World Trade reaches its peak. (Courtesy Port Authority)
Anticipation was running as high as the tower itself as construction crews were standing by to raise the final two sections of the spire to the top of One World Trade Center today, a move that would have officially made the tower the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere at 1,776 feet, but high winds brought on delays. The final two sections of the 408-foot-tall spire, capped by a shining, pointed beacon, were scheduled to rise this afternoon, but the Port Authority decided to wait for for clearer skies to top-off the tower.
On View> Gutai: Splendid Playground at the Guggenheim Museum
(Courtesy Guggenheim)
Gutai: Splendid Playground
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
1071 Fifth Avenue
New York, New York
Through May 8
“Don’t imitate others!” and “Engage in the newness!” are just two of the signature slogans of the Gutai Art Association, founded in July 1954 by Jiro Yoshihara. The Gutai—which translates to “concreteness”—artists dared to breakthrough the boundaries presented by traditional Japanese art. As their name suggests, the artists directly engaged with concrete materials (such as remote-control toys, sand, light bulbs, and paper screens) to create a new, never before seen, kind of art. The creative genius of these avant-garde artists manifested itself in the form of various mediums including, but not limited to, painting, installation and performance art, experimental film, and environmental art. Gutai: Splendid Playground explores the works of these artists, created over a span of two-decades, and features an enormous installation by Motonaga Sadamasa composed of a series of plastic tubes filled with colored water. The structure, created specifically for the Guggenheim’s rotunda, invites visitors to look up and use these “brush strokes” to create their own individual composition.
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