Bridge 5 – Intervention Pitch [Presentation and Reflection]

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Reimagined: St. Vincent’s Triangle Park and the NYC AIDS Memorial

 

Submitted to the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation by Mitchell Stanford of The New School

 

Over the course of four months, I have researched St. Vincent’s Triangle Park and the NYC AIDS Memorial, located between the crossroads of 7th Avenue, 12th street and Greenwich Avenue in New York City’s West Village. Through my research, I have found that there would be a better way for people to interact with the AIDS memorial and the space within the park. I have used the semiotic method to more deeply understand the elements within the park and have conducted interviews to further understand the user experience. I am proposing to the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation to reconsider the use of green space at the core of the park by instating the park’s initial objective to conserve green space. I have envisioned a pair of benches that form a circular shape made of wood and grass to help the multitudes of users engage with the park’s space and each other. The configuration of the two benches allows people to face outwards and engage with themselves or face inwards and interact with strangers, dogs, or other. With the new memorial being at the center of the park rather than tucked away in the corner, the memorial will be used more than it is now. I conducted a research of movement and found that most of the human activity takes place around the edges of the park where benches are placed along the fencing. The yard in the middle of the park could be better used  by encouraging a place to sit and interact, as it will also be a visual attraction. I am asking for the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation to fund this inexpensive but impactful project which will be approximately six hundred dollars. This project will only require lumber, grass, nails, and labor.

St. Vincent’s Triangle Park houses the NYC AIDS Memorial, a sculptural beauty but one that is underutilized by park attendees. I have devised a proposal that can complement and/or replace the existing memorial by making the space more interactive. Two benches configured to form a seemingly full circle will allow people to face each other or face outwards towards the park’s surroundings.

This circle is a symbol of unity and community; this is a reimagination of the existing circle under the memorial pavilion which currently symbolizes unification and the Self.

The new proposal is less stark and cold as the existing memorial is made of white steel and gray concrete. The newly proposed benches, covered in soft and sustainable green grass, makes the memorial more inviting and accessible being at the center of the park. Through a survey I conducted in my researching process, I found that most people would agree that the memorial section of the park is underused and therefore could be better placed within the park. In my research, I found that historically, this space next to what was once St. Vincent’s Hospital and is now Lenox Health Club has been regarded as quiet, disease ridden, and has even been avoided. The materials of the existing memorial isolate the memorial and deter attendees from being in that section of the park. As the attitude toward this site has shifted to one that is welcoming, this proposed site intervention will encourage music circles, conversation, and other social gatherings that will further positive energy within the park’s boundaries. As part of my survey, I found that most people agreed that this space was to be used by all kinds of people and is not defined by one single group of users. The benches will serve as a platform for people to interact with not only themselves but the other groups that choose to visit.

 

The total time to execute the project will be approximately twenty days, and the total time it will take to complete the construction of the project should be three days so long that there is a full staff of workers handling the manual construction of the project. There will be one project manager who will be myself, as well as three other workers; myself and one other in charge of measuring and cutting wood and the other two to assemble the main frame of the benches. Once the foundation is built, we will all plant the grass and add finishing touches to the benches. The goal of this project is to make St. Vincent’s Triangle park more engaging to its users as currently it is set up for exclusively private conversations. Some objectives of the finished project are for organized groups such as religious groups, LGBT community members, musical groups, and strangers to enjoy the newly invigorated space.  Another objective is to better utilize the physical space within the boundaries so that no space goes unvisited or unused. These goals and objectives can be met instantly after completion and will always be reached as long as the park is open to the public.

 

As I have not yet orchestrated a project, I am confident in my research that this project assures positive results. I have spent many months studying and interacting with the space and people that use it. Through making a survey and interviewing park goers, I feel confident that I understand how people currently use the space and what they feel it is missing. I identified two groups of users and further broke down how they use and interpret the site, and what they believe the sight is or could be useful for. LGBT community members and friends of the LGBT community both agreed that the space, although commemorating AIDS and the surrounding neighborhoods, is to be enjoyed by all kinds of people regardless of how they identify themselves.

 

The New School allows for me to apply for a grant to execute this project if funding is denied by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. I can then source and employ the necessary materials and personnel to complete this project. The New School will enthusiastically support the construction and execution of the project as they have facilitated and supported my ongoing research of St. Vincent’s Triangle Park. The school offers people that practice architectural design, product design, carpentry and environmentalism that will help to strengthen the process necessary for the completion of this site intervention. Upon the approval of the proposal, a carefully planned schedule of events will take place in order to complete the project as smoothly as possible.

All work will be carried out from 7 A.M. to 5 P.M. and the proposed schedule of the project is the following:

May 15 Approval of proposition by New York City Department of Parks and Recreation

May 22 Confirm working staff and personnel

May 29 Acquire working materials and move to project site

June 1   Begin construction of wooden base of benches

June 2 Complete bench foundation

June 3 Add grass top and smaller landscape details

June 4 Opening ceremony of new memorial

Upon the completion of the project, the opening ceremony will be open to the public and a small event will take place during the afternoon to attract a crowd. I hope you find the meaning in this very important installation as the community can greatly benefit from it for many years to come. A lot of research and time has been put forth and can be assured that the proposal for an interactive and beautiful installation of benches will be a hidden gem in the West Village neighborhood.

Thank you,

Mitchell Stanford

The New School

Annotated bibliography

“NYC AIDS Memorial Park at St. Vincent’s Triangle.” Official Website of the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation.  https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/nyc-aids-memorial-park-at-st-vincent-s-triangle/history.

This source helped me find general information about the origin of St. Vincent’s Triangle Park and its role in history.

 

Jackson, Kenneth. “Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation.” gvshp.org. http://www.gvshp.org/_gvshp/resources/history.htm

This source helped me gather information about West Village and the space that the park occupies. It provided the cultural context for the park during the AIDS epidemic.

 

Charles Perrow and Mauro F. Guillén, The AIDS Disaster: The Failure of Organizations in New York and the Nation, (Yale University Press, 1990). https://books.google.com/books?id=KuyZLvt7Gr0C&dq=nyc+aids+memorial&lr=&source=gbs_navlinks_s

This source provided insight on the attitudes towards LGBT community members before, during, and after the AIDS epidemic. It provided me with information about social problems as well as problems with the government and society as a whole.

 

Whitman, Walt. Song of Myself. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45477/song-of-myself-1892-version

This is a digital copy of Walt Whitman’s Song of Myself which  I used to give myself an idea of what the poem is about.

 

Northwell Health “Lenox Hill Hospital Marks World Aids Day and Opening of the New York City AIDS Memorial” https://www.northwell.edu/about/news/press-releases/lenox-hill-hospital-marks-world-aids-day-and-opening-new-york-city-aids

Harmonic Conversations

I began by looking at what photos I had to work with and chose some that I felt could work well with each other. I chose photos of myself and backgrounds I like, and from there decided on a continuous narrative. I put the photos into a spread and sketched out how they can be arranged in photoshop.

I chose to organize the subjects as seamless and interactive with each other. I places things on the ground that belong there (cars, standing self and others) and other landscapes with skies toward the top of the page. I was inspired by some of my favorite hip hop artists such as ASAP Rocky, ASAP Ant (from the greater ASAP Mob) who make music videos that are very fast moving and active. I was inspired by ASAP Mob’s “ASAP Forever” music video which uses surfaces of objects are a frame for the next scene. I was also inspired by Trippie Redd’s “A Love Letter To You 2” album cover, which is a collage of pictures of him throughout his life and scanned to look like one busy photo. I am photoshopping the work and print it out many times. I will rip up the work by subject and paste them onto one print out in a few areas. I will also paint over some areas to add color and analog methods to the piece. When complete, I will scan the work and reprint, having photoshop, paint, and exposed ripped paper components.

Process

Beginning with the compiled photos I found throughout my camera roll from the past year or so, I worked from the bottom right corner of the Photoshop file clockwise until the area was completely filled. I put my skills to a test, using layer masks, adjustment layers, and layering to jumble and organize these pictures in a creative way. I carefully exposed certain scenes to make each facet of the piece interesting. Once the organization of the piece was to my satisfaction, I put an hue adjustment layer over the entire thing and played with the different colors I could manipulate the piece with. Since two of my favorite colors are green and purple, I went with that theme. As I was shooting to create what would essentially be my album cover if I was a rapper in today’s day and age, I put my Photoshop document in the frame of a Youtube video to complete my work’s aesthetic.

For some reason, the picture of my car remained white, which I then thought to my idea of watered down paint to use on that section of the piece. My first thought was to paint it blue, but I made four versions of the piece and chose my gut instinct which was the blue version. As far as titling the piece “Cellar Door”, I had just seen Donnie Darko in which it is written on a blackboard in cursive in a scene toward the end of the movie inspired me to use the phrase. “Of all the endless combinations of words in all of history, cellar door is the most beautiful.” 

Final Product

Bridge 4: Establishing a New Agenda – Part 2

Prototypes for Testing continued:

I challenged myself by trying to use as little material as possible to make sure nothing goes to waste. I chose to use foam board for its versatility and sturdiness, modeling green, and glue. I simplified my initial concept of the bench and split the bench in half, as realistically one cannot enter the inside of the bench without a gap. I then envisioned a bench with no back support, as it seemed to cut off engagement between the users. I steered away from making a structure encasing the benching, as it would then isolate the site intervention from the rest of the park.

I began by using a compass to cut our the top pieces. I then cut out strips and cut slits in them to make them moldable to the semi-circular shape and attached the piece with glue.  I finished the piece by covering the tops with grass and made the grass fall off the top to meet the grass on the ground.

In the model, there is a small circular patch of grass. Ideally these benches would be placed in the yard and have grass completely under and around them like pictured below:

Proof of user testing:

I researched how humans process the color green and found that the color helps relax our retinas and calm our nerves as our ancestors were surrounded by green spaces for thousands of years. As St. Vincent’s Triangle Park was opened as an initiative to conserve green space, I found it necessary to make an intervention that is natural to humans and continues the park’s initial objective. I tested the experience of sitting in nature, specifically on grass, to solidify the need for a naturally cushioned seat. This phenomenon positively affected the user, as the grass stimulated both the visual and physical senses of the user. With this is mind, covering this circular bench in grass or other plant like material will have a positive impact on the user regardless of their interaction with others. The design of the bench, however, encourages the users to interact as they can face inwards toward each other. The experience feels like a picnic or a day with no shoes on the grass.

The Conversational Human Figure

I studied the human figure through using charcoal and ink drawings, painting, and sketching in class. We first started with the study of the hand in pencil.

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We then did charcoal gesture drawings and progressed to practicing with Sharpie. I completed the figure in 30 seconds, one minute, two minutes and then more lengthy amounts of time. This was where I began to understand the proportions of the body more clearly as I had several attempts at drawing the live models.

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I studied NBA players to draw the human form in geometric shapes.

pencil, April 10, 2018
pencil, April 10, 2018

Soon after, the class then shifted to painting the human form. I painted a self portrait after not painting in four years.

Acrylic paint, April 4, 2018

We still practiced under a stopwatch while warming up to paint, and jumped right into painting live models.

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I had to explore the use of colors more deeply when using acrylic paint to depict the human body. It took many layers of paint and the correct shades to define features of the body and was challenging yet interesting and fun.

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We concluded our painting section of class with a two day painting of the same live model. This one was a big step in our process and I experimented the most out of the whole section.

Acrylic, april 18, 2018

This was the most challenging assignment we had in this medium as we had a lot of time to complete it. It is difficult to call a piece finished, and although I feel like I could work on this piece further to better it, i had to step away from it. Understanding the human form is essential not only to the fashion and product industries, but it is important to understand it in life as a whole. Studying the body but not in a biological way has been more interesting and forms a basis of understanding the way the body is constructed.

Bridge 4: Establishing a New Agenda – Part 1

My two groups of users are LGBT Community members and friends of the LGBT community. I wanted to create a non-discriminative site intervention that could be used by all kinds of people. I was inspired by vertical gardens, the Highline, and Deborah Sussman, an environmental designer.

Concept development:

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My embodied experience is to feel calm while surrounded by chaos. Some of my objectives to accomplish are for organized groups and individuals to use the space for interaction amongst themselves or strangers.

Concept development continued: contains illustrations of design concepts.

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Prototypes for Testing:

 

Map of User Experience

The users will further utilize the park’s yard, which is currently only used by dogs and their owners. As of recently, the yard has been fenced off because of the lack of use. The park is focusing on keeping the yard looking lush rather than having few people use it.

Digitized Perspectival Vignette

The site intervention will be in the middle of the yard. Below is a scale perspective of the project.

Perspectives on Site

I first took photos of the insides and outsides of buildings. I chose to use a photo of a building I walked by on Delancey and Orchard street pictured below.

Original Photo

Next, I made a color wheel to practice creating a color palette and blending colors.

Color Wheel

I then made an iteration of my original photo in a grayscale. I Live Traced the image to control the colors within the photo. The product resembles a dark and rainy day.

Grayscale Iteration

Next, I made an iteration resembling a sunset by blending purple, pink, and orange and using Live Trace to insert the new color scheme. I chose these colors because sunsets at home (Texas) typically look like this.

Sunset Iteration

Lastly, I made a less realistic version representing a surreal and intense morning. I used Live Trace to insert various shades of blue that I had blended to do so. I kept the color scheme monochromatic to add dramatization.

Dramatic Morning Iteration

 

Interior and Exterior Space

Exterior two point perspective

At the corner of Park ave. and 17th Street

Exterior two point perspective

At the corner of Delancey and Orchard

Exterior one point perspective

East 10th street, between Second and Third Avenues

Exterior one point perspective

Second Avenue and Seventh Street

Interior one point perspective

Dorm common area

Interior two point perspective

Pret A Manger on 12th street and Broadway

Interior two point perspective

Cure Thrift Store on 12th Street

Interior one point perspective

Cure Thrift Store on 12th Street

Bridge 2: Deconstructing and Contextualizing a Public Space

Deconstructing St. Vincent’s Triangle Park (NYC AIDS Memorial)

The park lies within the crossroads of Greenwich Ave, 7th Ave, and 12th street, forming a triangular pocket that serves as an escape from the streets. Upon entering the park, the area’s ambiance changes. A grass core surrounded by benches and tables welcome the visitor to take their time to socialize and take a moment to appreciate their position in space and time in the overwhelming New York City.

I studied two distinctly different times of the day: busy weeknights and the soothing daytime. The two times of day have drastically different feels, but the foundation of the park of course remained.

Site Plan

Below is a two-section topographic map:

Topographic Map

The park consists of two sections: the general sitting space and lawn and the AIDS Memorial on the far corner. I studied the sounds, attendees, and other surroundings to construct visual maps.

Circulation Map
Updated Circulation Map

The map above shows the areas and types of sounds engaging with the park. The red jagged lines represent the busier noises coming from outside of the park from the nearby restaurants and streets. The smoother and spiraling blue lines represent conversational areas that are quieter and natural.

 

I measured some key features of the park in relation to my body. Below are some of my findings:

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I studied the different textures within the park and recorded them through rubbings. I also made a color palette to determine the flavor of the park which I found was soothing and earthy.

Texture Rubbings
Park Color Palette

While observing a Wednesday night at 7 pm, I heard dogs barking, cars, bikes, and skateboards passing, conversations, footsteps, busses, sirens, a bag of chips crinkling, laughter and coughing all around me. There were at least thirty other people in the park, and many more surrounding it.

While observing the park on a monday afternoon, I heard similar noises. Busses, distant talking, car horns, brake screeches, footsteps, collars jingling, kids yelling, and an ambulance engine running awaiting a call. As I sat in a different part of the park than before, I could hear and feel the subway running below me. The ground rumbled as I heard faint screeching of its wheels. There were much less people in attendance, approximately eleven people and two dogs.

Sound Map
Updated Sound Map

I made a map that breaks down each area of the park. Some of the areas include the best places for certain activities. I have labeled them below:

Map of Best Places
Updated Map of Best Places

To document how I and most users use the park’s space, I photographed myself sitting at a bench.

Interaction with the park

I also photographed details of materials and features within the park to capture the textures and elements that constitute the space.

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