The tour’s first day in New York began with yet another episode of the amazing race. While the metro card system hindered one group’s departure, team Jenna and Cherry (this time joined by Michael and Ben) were once again leading the way; fearlessly navigating the subway to the southern most tip of Manhattan. It was here that we met Bettina, our guide from Guiding Architects New York. Being the first to arrive, there was time to grab a quick coffee from a somewhat intriguing yet run down pavilion. Bettina later informed us that this was in fact the New Amsterdam Plein Pavilion completed by Ben van Berkel / UNStudio in 2010 which had unfortunately never functioned as it was intended due to delayed completion of the adjacent Staten Island Ferry Terminal and damage from Hurricane Sandy in 2012.
The 4-hour walking tour started in Battery Park on the west side where we battled the wild winds and learned of the irregular spread of New York City northwards until the Commissioner’s (Grid) Plan was overlaid in 1811. From here we walked over to the East River Waterfront Project by SHoP Architects, which was completed in collaboration with Ken Smith as part of former Major Bloomberg’s green city initiatives to reconnect the city to the waterfront. Despite the cold, windy weather keeping the sensible people away, it was fantastic to experience the level of thought that went into the design and the diverse ways that people can interact with and occupy public space.
En-route to the World Trade Centre and Memorial Site, the group obstructed the sidewalk as we cranked our necks to view the overwhelming scale and bulk of the Equitable Building designed by Earnest R. Graham in 1915. It was interesting to learn the public outrage to overshadowing caused from this early skyscraper led to the introduction of the cities zoning and setback laws in 1916.
The timing for our visit to the World Trade Centre could not have been better as it was the very first day that the National 911 memorial had been opened to the public without restrictions. The strength of Michael Arad and Peter Walker’s memorial design shone through despite the hoards of tourists; the four walls of water cascading down into the endless tower footprints leaving us with a lasting impression.
The walking tour concluded with a brief pause at The Beekman, Gehry’s first residential tower from 2010 and then onto China Town for some well-earned dumplings. A trip up the Empire State Building had been scheduled into our 18-page itinerary however this was postponed due to the cloudy weather and replaced with free time to explore. Ben, Michael and Suzannah made a B-line straight to the New Museum by SANAA and had raving reviews of the vertical circulation and current exhibition featuring music by Sigor Ros. Jenna and Cherry meanwhile spent the afternoon visiting boutique retail fit-outs in SoHo and NoLIta.
Reconvening once again at ‘The Centre for Architecture’ we met with Rick Bell AIA New York Chapter and heard about the many ways the Institute is reaching out to it’s members and collaborating with other architectural organisations across Manhattan. The information came at us thick and fast – perhaps too fast for our weary selves. It would soon become evident however that we’d have to ditch the jet-lag excuse and ‘lift our game’ if we were to keep up with the pace of the ‘city that never sleeps!’