Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Boilerplater on September 29, 2011 at 6:09pm

No comments after a whole day?  Guess most LAs here aren't into this.  This firm must be doing something right.  They also have a major commision at the World Trade Center site...whatever they're calling it now...and they are hiring.  They have an ad on archinect.  Yet something tells me they will only consider Ivy League or European grads who wear black turtlenecks and have shaved heads.

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Permalink Reply by Jason T. Radice on September 29, 2011 at 7:01pm

Didn't expect many. It is more of an FYI than anything else. With the hostilites on here recently, I'm staying away from anything "controversial".

 

I already have a few black turtlenecks (they come in handy) and really black tiny half-framed 'advertisers' glasses, so maybe I'll apply. Too bad they aren't in DC though.  

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Permalink Reply by ida on October 5, 2011 at 5:45am

The designers took a "less is more" approach, and it can work here. With so many people flooding Times Square daily and especially on New Years Eve, a clutter-free design is appropriate. With that said, the extra space can be useful for temporary art installations and events. You can criticize them for not adding anything, but the space is about the gathering of many people, the billboards on the buildings, and potential opportunities for product brand events and art installations... not so much about making a landscape design statement or making pleasant intimate spaces (Times Square will suck no matter how many trees or plants you put). So I think it will be okay to have a field of grey here.

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Permalink Reply by Jon Quackenbush on October 5, 2011 at 8:32am

I would have found space for 3-4 burr oaks, making sure they had enough growing medium and protection to survive.  In 40 years, they would make an awesome space.

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Permalink Reply by Jason T. Radice on October 5, 2011 at 2:14pm

I think all of that could have been accomplished with a bit more design flair. I agree that trees would be out of place, but the lack of any green or pavement variation is just a blank slate. It will be terribly uncomfortable the 364 days that there is no New Years Eve party there. Much of what I had previously suggested could hav been accomplished with movable planters or furniture, or even the ability to cover some of it temporarily for the few days of the year when more hardscape is needed. The improvements would also aid in pedestrian traffic flow by defining boundaries between movement space and usable space. Kind of like a more permanent version of what is already there which is currently defined by the curblines and painted asphalt. Just more subtle.

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Permalink Reply by ida on October 5, 2011 at 8:09pm

Sure, movable planters should do the trick. The designers kept it open, so anything can happen.

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Permalink Reply by Trace One on October 5, 2011 at 7:11am

Fran Lebowitz, notorious writer and social critic,  moved away from Times Square recently with some caustic comments about commercialization..But she may have been more influenced by the smoking ban..

 

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Permalink Reply by Alan Ray, RLA on October 5, 2011 at 8:20pm

Leave it alone, I love the stench of it as is!

 

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