Whenever I'm in NYC's Bryant Park, it still amazes me that it's filled with people, reading, having lunch, lounging around on a lunch break. I can remember when no one would dare venture into Bryant Park ... it was simply too dangerous.
All that changed with the redesign of the park in 1992 by Laurie Olin ... and that design has just received a Landmark Award from the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA). The firm was cited for its transformation of a derelict space into "a model of urban sustainability," a place where thousands now enjoy year-round activities, including ice skating, concerts, movie screenings and other performances.
As the New York Times put it in a 1992 article, "Where once the park was the home of derelicts, drug dealers and drug users, it is now awash with office workers, shoppers, strollers and readers from the New York Public Library next door."
Even better, the park is actually a huge green roof, built over a new extension of the library's book stacks which houses more than three million volumes. Olin's design includes smoke vents hidden in the floral borders and a hidden fire escape as well. You can see the plan for the design, and more photos on the ASLA website awards page here.
Wonderful, incredible space. I first learned about the Olin renovation and improvements in school, and a truly awesome accounting of that process is in the Spacemaker Press book 'The Rebirth of New York City's Bryant Park', ISBN 1-888931-05-1
Posted by: dave bockman | May 23, 2010 at 04:18 PM