by: Matt Frassica
Event: Washington Square Park: Designs Over Time
Location: Center for Architecture, 05.27.09
Speakers: Adrian Smith, ASLA — Senior Associate, EDAW; George Vellonakis — Landscape Architect, NYC Department of Parks & Recreation; Rebecca Ferguson — Washington Square Park Administrator, NYC Department of Parks & Recreation; Nancy Owens, ASLA — Principal, Nancy Owens Studio
Organizers: AIANY; New York Chapter, ASLA
Washington Square Park.
Jessica Sheridan
Bathers may have returned to the fountain in Washington Square Park, but the face of the park has changed profoundly since renovations began in December 2007, according to George Vellonakis, landscape architect at the NYC Department of Parks & Recreation. In his recent presentation, he discussed his design in the context of Washington Square Park’s designs over history. Vellonakis aimed to “respect the layers of design” woven into the park’s layout, while also introducing new innovations.
Vellonakis’s design provides the park its first face-lift since a 1967 redesign, under the direction of Robert Moses. By removing concrete retaining walls and benches from the 1967 plan, Vellonakis created what he called a “more gardenesque approach.” Returning the park’s fountain to the same elevation as the surrounding park eliminates the need for ramps that used to lead to the central plaza. The design also attempts to “recapture” the park’s lawns for “passive recreation.”
To start the evening, Adrian Smith, ASLA, senior associate at EDAW, provided a summary of Washington Square Park’s previous incarnations with a historical slideshow. Originally a marsh fed by Minetta stream, the area that would become Washington Square Park first served as a potter’s field, or public burial ground. In the 1820s, the Square became a military parade ground. A Tammany Hall-financed redesign in the 1870s enlisted landscape designer Ignaz Anton Pilat, who, influenced by Frederick Law Olmsted, introduced more curvaceous paths to soften the military-straight lines of the parade ground. The most prominent features that link the new design to the past are these diagonal paths crisscrossing the central plaza.
After presenting “before” and “after” photos of his redesign, Vellonakis took comments from the audience. Several audience members criticized Vellonakis for not having enough community input. Panelist Nancy Owens, ASLA, of Nancy Owens Studio, addressed the issue by asking rhetorically, “Do we want input from the community? Or are we marketing our own designs?” Whether the public had enough say or not, so far the masses have returned seemingly unaware of the politics leading to its fruition.
Matt Frassica is a freelance writer.