New Format of Timeline for KIOSK

Sources

I forgot to list the sources for the timeline in the last post. Most of the information came from CUP (Center for Urban Pedagody) and the Blight Study.

TIMELINE FOR ATLANTIC YARDS PAST

-1955-62 Proposal for Dodgers stadium

-1963-1967 Fort Greene meat market designated as Urban Renewal Area

-1968-1971 Atlantic Terminal designated as urban renewal area proposal for Baruch College campus

-1972-1974 Special education high school 12 story Mitchell- lama Co-ops built proposal for Baruch Campus

- 1974-1975 Revised proposal for Baruch college campus

-1976 17 story NYCHA project built (image shows site of NYCHA)

Forte Greene Meat market razed

-1977-1978 proposal for an ambitious terminal by the triborough bridge and tunnel authority

-1979-1982 LIRR terminal destroyed, housing pulled down protests begin area made into temporary parking for daily news

-1983-1985 proposal by Jonathan Rose with Urban design by Peter Calthorpe and master plan by SOM

-1986 Class action suit against Jonathan Rose

-1987 Judge rules in favor of Jonathan Rose granting 22 million in uDAG (urban development action grant program

-1991 Federal Judge reverses decision, nullifying the grant

-1992 Jonathon Rose sells site to Forest City Ratner

-1993 Forest city Ratner builds Atlantic Center Mall

-1994-2000 NYC Housing Partnership builds middle income row houses

-2001 work starts on Atlantic terminal Mall

-2002 Forest City Ratner builds 10 story office tower

-2003 Enrique Norton wins Brooklyn Performing arts Library competition

-2004 Frank Gehry agrees to design sports stadium for Forest City Ratner to host NY city Nets

-2004 DDDB founded and protests Project

Research

I will be looking into the history of the Atlantic Yards area, by going to the Brooklyn Historical Society as well as going to the visiting the NYPL for more information on the on the site's origins. I will be looking for information in the form of text, images and clippings focusing on the era of 1800s to 1940s. This research's intent is to give a general context to this particular site. I would also like to investigate landmark buildings status and applications for Atlantic Yards, and understand the reasoning for approval or denial of each applicant. This portion of the research would seek to link the past with the present of the site.

Exhibition Proposal

I propose that the target audience for this exhibition be those with a strong interest in New York architecture, this can therefore, be scholars, students, tourists, New York lovers, etc. The important issue is to appeal to the widest possible group while still portraying a clear unified message. The broader the spectrum of people this show appeals to the better. I believe that our exhibit would be the most successful if it was able to concisely transmit the wealth of knowledge we have been acquiring in the past few weeks.

The goal of the exhibit would be focus on CHANGE in Brooklyn. The word change seems to be omnipresent nowadays, yet in our case, the change we would be examining is that of the fabric, identity and character of the parts of Brooklyn we are focusing on. The exhibition would also serve as a opportunity to not only examine, past, present and future changes to the area, but also serve as a outlet to reflect on these changes, particularly the more controversial changes.

The content should thus be the research we have presented in the last few weeks, but regurgitated in graphically stimulating manner. Perhaps the exhibition can be a series of images that convey in one frame, the controversy surrounding many of the redevelopment projects... Change can furthermore be shown through projections, videos, photographs.

A lot of the information we have discussed protests, and resists change for various reasons in our three sites. So one portion of the exhibition should acknowledge the case made against many of these redevelopment projects and perhaps focus on 2 or 3 issues we determine most important. Affordable housing, businesses' inability to compete, climatic affects, employment promise, are all issues that can be addressed, by strong graphical representation through images.

Another approach could be to use one defining characteristic of a neighborhood and use that as the form in which we critique the information about we have found thus far. For example, we may created a series of advertisement posters that reference those in the Fulton mall, yet instead of selling the viewer a product, it informs about the loss of local businesses to larger chains, or addresses the vacant second floors. For Atlantic Yards, we could use one of the slogans in favor of the of the redevelopment and place in on an images that is contrary to what the text says (like in the image I created above).

We could also choose to have an animation of all certain streets and show the progression of how the architecture in that particular block has changed.

Critique of Proposed Plan for Atlantic Yards

Until recently I was unaware of the significance of the architectural changes occurring in Downtown Brooklyn. Currently the area occupied by the Atlantic Yards is visibly at a transitory state, there are newly demolished lots, some with naked structural elements awaiting surface, others fenced and bare juxtaposed to historically rich townhouses that have given Brooklyn its character.

On the surface the proposed plan to revitalize Downtown Brooklyn, seems impeccable; there is a promise of much need affordable housing, stimulation for local businesses, job creation, and attraction to the area, as well as relief for the overcrowding of Manhattan.

To sweeten the deal, the project is in the hands of the one of the largest developers, Bruce Ratner, who commissioned "world renowned" architect Frank Gehry to design the project. The project would be occupying a fairly small region of Brooklyn, located at the intersection of Atlantic and Flatbush Avenues, bounded by Pacific and Dean Streets and Vanderbilt Avenue, and primarily situated over the MTA/LIRR's Vanderbilt Rail Yards. In these 22 acres of land, 17 massive structures are planned.

However, one need not delve too far to see significant flaws with the proposed plan and its architecture. The programmatic elements of this project includes a sports and entertainment arena, landscaped open space, a boutique hotel, ground-floor retail space for local businesses, office space and more than 6,400 units of "affordable", middle-income and market-rate housing. In fact, the number of truly affordable houses according to opposing groups is around 7% of the total available units. Even more disconcerting is the number of families currently being forced out of their units due to eminent domain.

The $4 billion "investment" in Brooklyn, will hurt local business, push out current affordable dwellings, dramatically increase population size, not to mention the towers would dwarf and terminally shade several neighboring regions. One can speculate that this will make it unlikely that the open space area that is incorporated in the plan will be widely used as it will be continually in the shade.

The influx of people to the area both on the account of the new housing and the arena, will increase traffic (which is already congested), despite the accessibility to the well connected MTA transportation hub. Yet a large portion of the area will be rezoned to reduce current parking availability in the area.

On a more intangible note, much of the angst which surrounds the project is rooted in the drastic change to the character of area. Gehry's architecture, while instantly recognizable, would sharply clash with the current neighborhood architecture. The proposed architecture is series of computer generated forms, devoid of any connection to the context they are placed in.

The height of the buildings range from just under 200 feet to over 500 feet. In my opinion, this aspect of the project, aside from the aforementioned ethical issues of eminent domain and gentrification, is the most damning part of the proposal. This is directly related to the major issues affecting the project.

I do believe that cities need change, adapt and grow with the people that inhabit them, and with change comes challenges that are not always easy to adjust to. Yet this does not mean that change cannot be seamless and sensitively performed. The area for the Atlantic Yards has enormous potential for development, yet it must be done in a form that gradually integrates the past with the present/future and does not inflict more harm than good to the people and businesses that make downtown their own.

Downtown Brooklyn: Climatic Analysis + Commuter Patterns

The images above reflect the impact the proposed buildings for the Atlantic Yards would have on the area if built as shown above. The biggest impact on the region, in physical terms, would be the shadows created by the tall structures. According to several independent studies, much of the area will be constantly shaded. The impact would be seen all the way to the to the Fort Greene Park. The population increase in the area, will be significant, however the current parking zones will be severely decreased. Another predicted impact to the region is the change in wind patterns to the area due to the significant heights of the proposed buildings. This article published in the Brooklyn Paper touches on this aspect.