Sketches and Site Models
Project Brief
The main issue that I am addressing with this project is the lack of opportunity for socialization in Union Square. Union Square has a lot of great features, but I notice people mainly just pass through it. There isn’t really much desire to stay and hang out there. The three spaces I focused on were the Greenmarket, the unused lawn in the center, and the playground. My first idea concerns the Greenmarket and those who shop in it. The market offers a lot of great products, particularly different foods. However, it is set up like a mall, vendors at each side with just a hallway in between. This keeps the flow of people moving. I would like to slightly rearrange the organization of the market. The corner of the park by Union Square West and East 17th Street has much more room than the rest of the market. I would relocate vendors with more readymade food options and other interesting things that people could talk about with one another to that corner of the park. That way, they could be more spread out and there would be room for tables and chairs. The addition of tables and chairs would encourage people to not rush through the market, but to stop, sit, eat, and socialize with one another. They would have a place to enjoy the food they just bought and converse with others about the purchases they just made, among other things. The next idea takes place in the center of the park, where the lawn space is. Once again, it seems as if a lot of people just pass through the park, it is used more like a walkway than a park. The lawn space is also very much unused and unappreciated. I wanted to think of a way to renovate the lawn to make it somewhere desirable to hang out. I didn’t want to just do seating, there are plenty of benches and I focused on seating in my last idea. When you think of a park and activities people can do together, you think of sports and games. My idea for the lawn is to add some features to allow people to play here. I would like a volleyball net and a soccer net. Both can easily be played on grass. I want a wider variety of sports and games so there would only be one soccer net, instead of a full court. The same would go for the basketball hoop, it would be a paved, half court for people to play at. I also thought to put in an area for bocce. Bocce is very popular among the older crowd at the park near my house, so I wanted to include that. My final idea revolves around the playground. The playground is small, long and thin. It is a very odd layout, covered in trees that darken the space. I would like to redesign it, add new and improved features, and make it brighter and more open. If it was a more open concept, it would also be safer and easier for parents to keep and eye on their kids. I would also like to include water features for the summertime. Overall, each of my ideas for improving Union Square revolve around wanting to make it a more sociable environment that people want to stay and spend time in, not just pass through.
