FORMATION IN PLACE: Choreographing a New York City arrival experience
In re-imagining New York City’s Penn Station, I sought to imagine the street, the plaza, and the train station as a place that celebrated people - their formation, flow, and movement within and through this space. From the deformation of the surface plane to the formation and maintenance of trees, I created a space that would allow for the observation of life - both the human and the vegetal.
FORMATION IN PLACE / SURFACE
I started with a clean flat surface, a subtly tilting plane. The grade of the site slopes from its highest point of +38’ at the corner of 33rd and 7th street, diagonally across to the lowest grade of +30’ at the corner of 8th and 31st street. I was interested in producing a circumambulatory flow of movement across the site and down into a central train station. I introduced a central circular cut into the surface to produce a deformation of that surface. The circle peels back as the grade of the site drops and reveals the station entrance.
The surface allows the performance of movement and everyday life, while also taking into consideration the need for efficiency as travelers move through this space. While this main cut is the grandest point of entry into the station, it is not the only one. Travelers may access the station from the existing commuter and local train platforms along 7th and 8th Avenues, as well as Moynihan Station. Two glass axis (indicated in blue on the plan) provides a light-filled tunnel through which people may flow.
FORMATION IN PLACE / GROWTH
While the first layer of this project is the formation, and deformation of the surface plane - a peeling back of the planar surface. The second is the overlay of line - unidirectional line - in the paving pattern inscribed on this surface and third, the planting, which extrudes from the surface, is organized by the paving and is formed by the pressures of light and shadow. The planting and maintenance strategy reflect, record, and amplify the performance of life in this space.
The planting, which consists of the London Plane Tree and the European Hornbeam, is highly reactive to the sun. White the site for the most part sunny, areas along 7th and 31st street edge experience the greatest variation in sunlight - with some areas experiencing as little as 3 hours of full sun per day.
The planting plan and maintenance strategy is defined by the amount of light each of these rows would receive per day, and the maintenance strategies amplify and dramatize the growth patterns of these trees. Maintenance Code - (1) 3 hours or less of sun, Pruned short, (2) 3 - 4 hours of sun, Short pleach, (3) 5 hours of sun, Tall limbed, (4) 6 hours of sun, Natural pruned, (5) At least 7 hours of sun, Tall pleach.
