LOCATION: Manhattan, NY

BUILDING TYPE: Residential, Commercial, Recreational

CATEGORY: Urban renewal / Greenfield development

YEAR: 2000

AREA: 92 acres

Battery Park City was built

upon the soil and rocks excavated during the construction of the World

Trade Center and sand dredged from New York Harbor off of

Staten Island. Named for the adjacent

park, Battery Park City is an exciting mix of residential areas, offices complexes,

walking and bike paths and several beautiful waterfront parks.

INTRODUCTION

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Located in southwestern and is bordered on the

by the North Esplanade, on the by Battery Place and the Hudson River, on the by the Hudson River and on the by West

Street.

CITY STRUCTURE

LOCATION:

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CONCEPTION

Battery Park City began as a vi

Known as a of both New York and the world, the gradually became an in-demand center for residential housing as well.

It has been home to many innovative ideas to improve the urban experience.

There were many for Battery Park City proposed

. They all had three goals in common:

To expand the area of lower Manhattan;

To get people living downtown again; and

To provide lower Manhattan with a few more trees and some

open space.

1962 – REVITALIZATION in the Hudson River in

Tribeca region initiated the for Battery

Park City. A study of the Hudson waterfront revealed that the

site may have a different potential.

The idea was to build an

, with a sort of industrial esplanade along the edge.

The plan

however was badly received.

EVOLUTION

The idea of building seemed like an

attractive proposition for .

The Governor’s plan was to not simply house people

coming out of slums but to give them a superior

. However this scheme too was not well

received –housing were

beginning .

The style was orthodox Corbusian modernism,which was quickly losing popularity.

1966 – INTEGRATED SOCIETY:

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Battery Park City Authority, formed in 1968, tossed the most essentially

consisting of

This service spine ran the length of Battery Park

City as a partly glassed-in, partly open "lifeline,"

to which all the buildings were plugged in.

The master plan was a

that incorporated

.

The plan was well received but its timing was off the ´73 recession had hit. Investors were unwilling to commit themselves to such an untested

concept.

1969 – HIGH TECHNOLOGY

The 1969 plan was slowly picked apart, its

grandiose public infrastructure was cast off.

The Battery Park City project was broken

down into that

could and

incrementally. These were called “ ” one

of which, Gateway Plaza, was built.

The pod has just

to provide a controllable, safe environment

for three or four thousand people. The city at

large was kept out. This was the developer's

solution to the problem of middle-class

suburban flight: the attempt was

1975 – DEFENSIBLE SPACE

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were returned to

grade level and made an extension of

Manhattan's grid.

This yielded conventional development

blocks, which, in turn

Each block could be

,

according to market demand.

The was moved from

the southern end of the site up to the middle,

.

The plan is more a

than it is a fixed design. This

has allowed a great deal of in

actual execution and has served as a basis

to bring a

to Battery Park City, all within a

context that relates everything

1979 – PRACTICAL REALISM

BATTERY PARK FROM SOUTH COVE

CHAMBERS STREET VISUAL CORRIDOR

LAND USE PATTERN

The

allocated the land use structure for the entire

area. Then land was parceled and leased to

private developers who

built on them

created

especially for Battery Park City.

The complex

combines primarily

Small percentages of

(school and library) and

recreational

(museums) uses also add to the

over all

development.

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ACESS

The and provides

along the entire length of the site.

Several it that lead one into the site.

are provided at 3 points across the Street.

Since the site is situated by the river, it is also accessible through There are ,

and .

WEST SIDE STREET

WORLD TRADE CENTER SITE

FERRY TO STATUE OF

LIBERTY

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CONNECTIVITY

Although Battery Park City is well

that traverse within the site, there is

One must alight off at Battery Park Station in

the south or other stations just across the West Street and then

One

is that the site reduced to the status of a

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1. BATTERY PARK SHOULD NOT BE SELF-CONTAINED NEW-TOWN-IN-TOWN,BUT A PART

OF LOWER MANHATTAN.

2.THE LAYOUT AND ORIENTATION OF BATTERY PARK CITY SHOULD BE AN EXTENSION OF LOWER MANHATTAN’S SYSTEM OF STREETS AND BLOCKS.

3.IT SHOULD OFFER AN ACTIVE AND VARIED SET

OF WATERFRONT AMENITIES.

4.THE DESIGN OF THE CITY SHOULD TAKE LESS IDIOSYNCRATIC , MORE RECOGNIZABLE AND MORE UNDERSTANDABLE FORM.

5.CIRCULATION AT CITY SHOULD REEMPHASIZE

THE GROUND LEVEL.

6.CITY SHOUL D REPRODUCE AND IMPROVE UPON WHAT IS BEST NEW YORK’S NEIGHBOURHOODS.

7.CITY’S COMMERCIAL CENTER SHOULD

BECOME THE CENTRAL FOCUS OF THE PROJECT.

8.LAND USE AND DEVELOPMENT CONTROLS SHOULD BE SUFFICIENTLY FLEXIBLE TO ALLOW ADJUSTMENT TO FUTURE MARKET REQUIREMENTS.

PRINCIPLES

PRIMARY GUIDELINES FOR THE LANDUSE AND WATERFRONT DEVELOPMENT IN THE REGION:

• Enact

changes to address the

dramatic changes that have taken place in recent

decades, and

• Capitalize on

vacant and underused land for new housing development, addressing both local and citywide needs.

• New development

should fit in with its surroundings, building on the strong character of the existing neighborhoods.

•

. Establish

a blueprint for a revitalized, publicly accessible East River waterfront.

• that will reconnect the

neighborhood to the waterfront. .

An outstanding feature of the Battery City

park is

s it allows for while providing for

sufficient floor area as well. The site is home

to about which act as

community and recreational spaces. The project has won many awards for its

unique landscape designs. The firm of Hanna/Olin has received much

appreciation for their designs that celebrate

LANDSCAPE DEVELOPMENT

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IMPLEMENTATION AND PHASING

1. A STRATEGY FOR NEW

DEVELOPMENT CONTROLS. SUCH

AS STREET MAPPING,ZONING

CLASSIFICATIONS FOR THE

MAJORITY OF THE SITE.

2. STAGED DEVELOPMENT OF THE

PROJECT.

3. INFRASTRUCTURE COST

ESTIMATES

PUBLIC POLICIES

1. A QUALITY PUBLIC

ENVIRONMENT

2. SIMPLIFIED INFRASTRUCTURE

REQUIREMENTS

3. CURRENT AND PROJECTED

MARKET CONDITIONS.

CRITICAL APPRAISAL

1. REVIEW AND MODIFY DETAIL. DESIGNS OF

INTERSECTIONS IN THE PRESENT WESTWAY PLAN

THAT AFFECTS BATTERY PARK CITY 1979 MASTER

PLAN

2. INVESTIGATE THE POTENTIAL FOR INEGRATION OF

BATTERY PARK CITY STREET SYSTEM PROPOSALS WITH

WASHINGTON MARKET URBAN RENEWAL PROJECT.

3. UNDETAKE AN ANALYSIS OF ALTERNATE

APPROACHES FOR MEETING THE ENERGY

REQUIREMENT.

4. INVESTIGATE WITH THE CITY POTENTIALS FOR

CLOSING ALL OR PARTS OF RECTOR STREET TO

VEHICLES AND RESERVING IT AS A MAJOR

PEDESTRIAN LINKAGES TO THE WATERFRONT.

5. ONE OF GREAT THINGS ABOUT THIS

NEIGHBORHOOD IS MAKES YOU FEEL TO NATURE.

ALTHOUGH THE HIGH-RISE BUILDINGS ARE

EXTREMELY URBAN, THERE IS A MAGNIFICENT

ESPLANADE THAT ALLOWS YOU TO STROLL AND

BICYCLE ALONG THE HUDSON RIVER. NEARLY TWO

DOZEN TINY ‘POCKET PARKS’ IN BPC THAT MEAN

CAN COME DOWN TO EARTH TO ENJOY GREENERY

AND FREQUENTLY CHANGING ART INSTALLATIONS.

6. COMMUTING CAN BE A NIGHTMARE, ESPECIALLY

IN INCLEMENT WEATHER. BUSES SERVE THE AREA,

BUT THEY ARE SLOW, PARTICULARLY AT RUSH HOUR.

YOU’LL NEED TO WALK AT LEAST 10 MINUTES TO

REACH ONE OF THE SUBWAY LINES THAT SERVE THE

AREA.

7. IN 2003, THE SOLAIRE, THE NATION'S FIRST

SUSTAINABLE HIGH-RISE RESIDENTIAL BUILDING

OPENED IN BATTERY PARK CITY. ENVIRONMENTALLY

ENGINEERED TO CONSUME 65% LESS ENERGY

DURING PEAK DEMAND HOURS - 35% LESS ENERGY

OVERALL - AND 50% LESS POTABLE WATER THAN

SIMILAR APARTMENT BUILDINGS.

ISSUES

1. MARKET UNCERTAINITY AND AN

EXCESSIVELY RIGID LARGE-

SCALE DEVELOPMENT.

2. OVERLY COMPLICATED

PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT.

3. QUESTIONS AS TO THE

FINANCIAL STABILITY OF THE

AUTHORITY.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3li1t_clean-and-green-in-ny-meet-battery_news (video)

http://www.batteryparkcity.org/pdf_n/1979_Master_Plan.p

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http://www.batteryparkcity.org/Who-We-Are/Urban-Experiment_8.php

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battery_Park_City