LSA 220 Intro to Landscape Architecture

Landscape Architecture Magazine: August 2013, Wood That Could and Should To: Prof. R. Hawks & I. Fernndez From: Rachel Scudder Date: 10/5/13
Brooklyn Bridge Park was presented as an idea for redesign after years of use as an important shipping terminal. From the 1600s up until the 1980s Brooklyn was used as an important place to send out orders. After the 1980s, the last of the shipping business was sold and 1.3 miles of the land was allocated to be used for a public Park, called the Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy. Michael Van Valkenburgh Associate was given the chance in 2003 to do the design plan. But, this plan was to be a very special one because all of the benches tables and claddings for small buildings out of reclaimed wood from the old National Cold Storage Warehouse. The wood that was to be used was something called longleaf pine, a wood that is now very rare. Since the woods were in a cold storage, most of the wood was useable; also the slow growing nature of the wood makes it durable for stronger use. The wood, after being stripped from the warehouse was sent to M.Fine, to be recycled and prepared for design. There, it is cleaned, de-nailed and organized. From there MVVA designed various benches, trying to emphasize the wood as an artifact rather than an object. Whats most important about a project like this is the thought and consideration that went into the preservation of the history. Sometimes it feels as if the world is moving so quickly, that they completely disregard the past. Moving on is a part of life, but with a site like the Brooklyn Bridge Park, the site served a large purpose for such a long time, it would be a shame to lose that to innovation. Such careful consideration went into one very important part of the park. Not only is the wood designs an elegant tribute to the past, but it allows the park to function as a normal design, uninterrupted with corny historical connotations that normally go with sites of such importance.