48 hours, 4 landscapes

On Sunday and Monday I led myself on a mini-landscape tour of Manhattan. I was prepared with addresses and maps, long underwear and a camera, and trekked through Battery Park and Midtown.

I began at the southern tip of Manhattan in Battery Park city. On the western edge is South Cove, a landscape project designed by a team including artist Mary Miss. The project has a sculptural sensibility that created connections to the sky (the tower, from where I took the photo) and the water (the boardwalk and piers).



At the northern edge of Battery Park, Michael Van Valkenburgh's Teardrop Park is nestled between high-rise residential buildings. This park was a revelation-- the materials, forms, and planting palette make you stop to look, smile, and wonder. There was a lot of inventiveness with the ground plane and walls-- the planting beds rise up so that the visitor is walking through them, not just past them. Stacked local stone forms walls throughout the park as well as the stunning, tall "ice wall" that seeps water. The ice wall made my jaw drop! See the walking man for scale.

Local geology and native plants are a running theme in the park, which is also planted with beautiful witch hazels (in bloom now), birch, and hydrangea. I was also struck by the elegance of the play spaces-- while it was too cold to observe any families in action, these seemed to be places for young and old(er) to enjoy together.









It snowed on Sunday night and through Monday afternoon. The New York City public schools had their first snow day in 5 years! There were a fair amount of families, tourists, and locals enjoying the snowy morning in Central Park, despite the cold and ice.



The last stop on my landscape tour was Paley Park, a small "pocket park" on 53rd St. between Madison and 5th. I have seen so many photos of this iconic park (and read about it in the writing of William Whyte), I felt a lot of anticipation as I turned the corner. It was a real treat to visit during the quiet and whiteness of the snow-- quite different from the buzz of a sunny day.

The park is elegant in its simplicity-- the ground, walls, and ceiling work to define a space of calm within the city. The ground is defined by small square stone pavers, setting an intimate scale at ground level. Two walls are covered with lush ivy and the third with a very tall waterfall. I have read that people perceive this park to be quiet-- in reality the waterfall is quite loud, but it blocks other city noises. The small tables and airy chairs lend lightness and intimacy. The few locust trees have a sculptural effect, shaping a volume of air and suggesting a ceiling for this outdoor room.