Half the Kingdom

In preparation for a massive move to Upstate New York, the Jehovah's Witnesses--longtime residents of DUMBO and Brooklyn Heights--have recently begun to sell off their Brooklyn properties.  The area will be losing a great group of neighbors, but will undoubtedly welcome the surge of new tax revenue.  While in DUMBO the Watchtower properties largely consist of restored warehouses, the Brooklyn Heights holdings are more varied.  The organization inhabits several historic buildings--a carriage house or two, various apartment buildings and the Bossert Hotel, but also possesses a rare (for Brooklyn Heights) bevy of modernist structures.

From what I can tell, the building at 107 Columbia Heights is a dormitory, built in 1959 (according to the inscription at the entrance).  It's not the prettiest building in the world, but it's growing on me.  The two-story base is a methodical and no-nonsense wall of steel, glass and stone, wrapping the corner and leading to a lush entry court along Columbia Heights Street.  Above the brick tower is restrained yet playful, with its slightly whimsical staggered pattern of windows.  The roof appears to boast a common terrace, if the tree peeking out is any indication.

107 Columbia Heights from Orange Street and Columbia Heights

More from Brooklyn Bridge Park

A few more photos documenting the existing state and construction at the waterfront park, the largest park to be created in New York since Central Park opened in 1873:

View from Promenade to Piers 4 through 6.  6 is largely complete.  Governors Island is in the distance.

CP-POW: Hudson River Sloop Clearwater

On a pre-sundown stroll in Red Hook last night, Maura and I came across a gathering of people waiting to board the Clearwater sloop, built over 40 years ago by Pete Seeger and friends to raise awareness for the remediation and preservation of the then-heavily-contaminated Hudson River.  Since then, the Clearwater has become a symbol of and resource for research and education, tirelessly sailing up and down the river, and stopping for a festival every now and then.  Late to the party as usual, we missed out on a great chance to take a ride to the west side to watch the fireworks from the river.  Maybe next year!

The Hudson River Sloop Clearwater

 

Free Outdoor Movies Return to Brooklyn Bridge Park

The summer movie lineup begins tonight at Pier 1, as E.T. is shown on the south lawn at Brooklyn Bridge Park's Pier 1.  A DJ will kick off the evening at 6:00, and the movie will start at sunset.  Hope to see you there!

Brooklyn Bridge Park Brings the Noise

Much to report from our Naval-gazing stomping grounds last weekend.  Vegetation sprouting!  Photoville ending!  Pavement blistering!  A pool... idling?  No!

Brooklyn Bridge Park was in full effect, even if its effect is not yet full.  As you may know, only two piers are complete (of 6 in the works).  Pier 1--directly south of Fulton Landing--is home to one of my favorite spaces in the city (more in the future), as well as a rotating calendar of events, including live music, kite flying and outdoor movies (beginning tomorrow).  At the south end of the park, Pier 6--with playgrounds, sand volleyball and rooftop hot dogs--marks the western end of Atlantic Avenue.  In between is mostly construction, though a couple of nice surprises popped up recently.  Maura and I finally checked out Photoville with a friend, never mind that it was one of the hottest days of the summer.  The shipping containers formed a village of exhibitions featuring everything from portraits of unassuming Mainers with compelling stories to a container-scale camera obscura.  Those fatigued by the sweat lodge of the camera obscura exhibit, which projected an upside-down image of the skyline onto a screen in a pitch-black room, could find solace beneath the tents in the food court.  The central court featured a number of visiting food trucks, which featured empanadas, kimchi tacos and Cool Haus ice cream sandwiches (guess which one was started by frustrated architects).

Just north of Photoville, we stopped to check on the "temporary" pool, which has yet to open.  The pool features more shipping containers, some of which serve as bath houses.  It seemed to spring up in a matter of days, and I noticed today that the area to the north has been filled with sand (more volleyball?), and there looks to be a playground or water park coming next.  Supposedly the pool will stand for 5 years until the spot gets a permanent tenant.

Stay tuned for more from our closest and dearest, sparkliest, parkliest park.

New temporary pool in Brooklyn Bridge Park

Cadman to Fulton to Clark, We Made Our Way on a Lark

Wednesday morning, Blue and I headed southeast to Downtown Brooklyn, cutting through Cadman Plaza before taking a stroll on Fulton Mall and heading home. 

Start time: 6:35am 
Duration: 1 hour
Distance: 2.66 miles 
Neighborhoods: Downtown Brooklyn, Brooklyn Heights


View 06/27/12 Walk in a larger map

Heretofore unbeknownst to me, the first recipient of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce's "Best Apartment Building" stands just around the corner from our apartment.  "The Granlyn", an 11-story Art Deco apartment building was designed by New York (by way of Lwow) architect Hyman Isaac Feldman and completed in 1931.  From what I understand, Feldman was quite prolific, though not all of his designs held up as well as this one.  According to his daughter, much of his buildings were "hack work."  You can check out the original Certificate of Occupancy for the Granlyn here.

The Granlyn Apartments

Long Time Coming: Pop Up Chapel Proposal (2011)

And now for a post that's a little bit late... last summer, The Knot and Architizer sponsored a whirlwind competition to design and build two "pop up chapels" at Columbus Circle to celebrate the passage of New York's marriage equality law.  From the event website:

The Pop Up Chapel was conceived by a group of friends, tipsily celebrating the fantastic news that all New Yorkers are finally able to enjoy marriage equality. The friends, a motley crew consisting of a software developer, an editor, two writers, and a director (who happens to be a legal wedding officiant), decided that they wanted to do something special to commemorate the triumphant news. In their excitement and mild delirium, they decided to provide a beautiful wedding for anyone who wanted to get married, totally free of charge. They figured "people might want to get married at City Hall, but wouldn't they prefer to get married in a beautiful city park? Especially if they could bring all their friends and family and eat free cupcakes? Who doesn't love cupcakes? And same-sex marriages?" Exactly.

If I recall correctly, the competition lasted less than two weeks, and when the two winners were chosen, they had one week to build their designs.  Yikes!  Maura and I took a stab an an entry, and while our design was not selected, we found the process enormously fun and inspiring.  The winning chapels were built, and each hosted 12 weddings last July 30.  Photos of the big day can be seen here.

Our entry boards follow a brief description of our design proposal:

Over the course of the day, couples would attach colored rings to the structure of the chapel after their ceremonies to mark this groundbreaking moment. If so moved, the couples and guests could use the rings to contribute good wishes, love notes or signatures to the constantly evolving chapel. The structure is composed of faceted triangles, as well as symbols of pride, equality and marriage. Materials are readily available, off-the-shelf products.

Take Me to the River

Yet another benefit of waking up (or being forced to wake up) at the crack of dawn... unexpectedly stumbling upon something like the annual Liberty Challenge.  Every year, on the weekend after summer solstice, the New York Outrigger (a group of dedicated rowers of all levels) hosts an international race that launches from beneath the Manhattan Bridge.  Teams came from all over--Hawai'i, France, Germany, Italy... Washington, D.C.! Similar to the NYC Marathon, there seemed to be an overwhelming sense of camaraderie amongst the rowers.  We caught the beginning of the women's race, which began following a blessing of the canoes by two of the Hawai'ian rowers.  After the boats launched from between the bridges, they looped around Battery Park at the lower end of Manhattan.  Along the way, they inspired a gracious gesture from the Staten Island Ferry, which STOPPED to let them pass by (maybe because it wasn't rush hour).  If I'm not mistaken, they continued up the Hudson and past the Holland Tunnel, before turning around, heading between the Statue of Liberty and Governors Island, reversing course near Red Hook (Brooklyn), and ending up back at Brooklyn Bridge Park.  Unfortunately we'll have to wait till next year to catch the end of the race (2-3 hours total, from what we were told).  Until then, Maura and I might have to take our limited skills to the water and get involved.  

Enjoy the photos!

6:30am: pre-race preparation on Main Street in DUMBO

Tracing Our Steps: Brooklyn Bipods and the Canine Wonder

The alarm rings at 6:00am in our house, but the real wake-up call typically comes a bit earlier... in the form of dog slobber.  Until Blue crashed the scene, I hadn't woken up that early on a consistent basis since high school.  It's been an adjustment, to say the least.  In time, Maura and I embraced the new schedule, using the morning walks to see Brooklyn in a new, uncluttered light.  Part of the fun rests in finding a new route to take each day.  This is my attempt to document our paths through the city, retracing our routes and highlighting observations along the way.

Today--as many days have--led us to DUMBO, where we caught a glimpse of Jane's Carousel, an advertisement for the brand new "Flea Food" (occurring on Thursdays and Fridays throughout the summer), and the demolition of the former home of the Brooklyn Eagle.  Walk with us, y'all.

Start time: 6:30am
Duration: 45 minutes
Distance: 1.98 miles
Neighborhoods: DUMBO, Brooklyn Heights

View 06/22/12 Walk in a larger map

Jane's Carousel @ Brooklyn Bridge Park

Blue

Brooklyn Bridge Park presents: Photoville!

Tomorrow afternoon at 4:00, Photoville opens to the public at Brooklyn Bridge Park.  The temporary shipping container village will host exhibitions, lectures and workshops, and it will remain through July 1.  For a full schedule of events, click here.

Photoville and the NYC Skyline from the Promenade

Kissing Hands and Shaking Babies

As some of you may have heard, Maura, Blue and I have mounted an 11th-hour campaign to get a new storage bed AND collect upwards of 1,000 socks for those in need.  Take a cue from Blue, and vote for our bid on Blu Dot's "Swap Meet."  While you're there, take a look at some of the other bids people have creatively invented to exchange for furniture.

Urban Design Week at the Queens Museum of Art

The 10 winners of the Institute for Urban Design's By the City/For the City competition were announced on Thursday.  Check them out here.  Maura and I made it to the Urban Design Week launch party at the new/temporary BMW Guggenheim Lab, at Houston and 2nd Avenue, where all of the entries were looped on big screens overhead, as well as published in the brand new Atlas of Possibility for the Future of New York (available for $35).  Of course I'm a little biased, but it's a great-looking book, especially considering that the competition ended a month and a half ago and it includes 150-some entries. Nice work by the IfUD.


Anyway, while I wasn't a winner, I have been asked to present my project at the Queens Museum of Art tomorrow.  From 2:00 to 4:00, 5 of the competition entrants will be speaking as a lead-in to the opening reception for the QMA's new photography exhibit: Detroit Disassembled, by Andrew Moore.  It's a haul (Flushing Meadows/Citi Field area), but could be fun.  Hope to see some of you there!

Turn the Beat Around: By the City/For the City

While the winners for the Institute for Urban Design's By the City/For the City competition have yet to be announced, I just discovered that my entry was used for a profile of the competition for The Architect's Newspaper.  Winners will be named at the Urban Design Week Launch Party, to be held at the BMW Guggenheim Lab next Thursday evening, 9/15, from 6:00 to 8:00.  

The gist of the competition: in stage one, residents of NYC were asked to submit ideas--of any shape or form--for improving the urban environment.  These ranged from the ambitiously pragmatic ("Wouldn't it be great if there was an easier way to get from Brooklyn to Queens?") to the whimsically impractical ("Wouldn't it be great if there was a slide from the Brooklyn Heights Promenade to Brooklyn Bridge Park?"). Stage two asked designers to respond to specific ideas.  

My proposal answered a mash-up of two calls--one for half of the city's advertising space to be given over to NY artists, and one for more outdoor museums in the city.  The new hypothetical: Wouldn’t it be great if 50% of the surface area on existing NYC billboards were given over to artists, turning the city into a massive urban gallery with ever-changing installations?  

The proposal in its entirety follows...

Trailer Park

More from our friends at WORK Gallery, which is now hosting a roaming garden created by Kim Holleman, aptly dubbed "Trailer Park"...

Photo of the Week: Sundown, You Better Take Care

116 and 62 Imlay Street, Red Hook.