Manhattan, NY According to Urban Design Forum, WIP Collaborative is the winner of “Care for Hudson Sq.,” a recovery initiative in partnership with Hudson Square Properties and Hudson Square Business Improvement District to reactivate the public realm with a site-specific installation.
On King St. between Hudson and Greenwich Sts., WIP Collaborative’s installation is designed to act as a new interactive destination in Hudson Sq., a place for residents, office tenants, and the broader public to come together around a range of activities. The installation itself, titled “Restorative Ground,” will straddle the parking lane and part of the sidewalk and is proposed to align with King St.’s participation in the Open Streets Program. Using durable materials found commonly in playgrounds, like recycled rubber and AstroTurf, the installation will feature modular sections for seating and climbing.
After a two-round design competition that invited small and M/WBE firms based in the city, the winning design by WIP Collaborative was selected to be constructed and unveiled in the coming months at Hudson Sq. WIP Collaborative is a women-led team composed of seven independent designers and their respective practices – that include Abby Coover (Overlay Office) Bryony Roberts (Bryony Roberts Studio), Elsa Ponce, Lindsay Harkema (WIP Studio), Ryan Brooke Thomas (Kalos Eidos), Sera Ghadaki, and Sonya Gimon. They will work with Hudson Square Properties and Hudson Square BID to develop a placemaking installation on King St. that responds creatively and dynamically to changing public health guidance on physical distancing.
“Restorative Ground is a multifaceted landscape of exploration, envisioned as an environment for both social interaction and sensory stimulation that allows for a full range of experiences from adventurous and playful to quiet and restorative,” said WIP Collaborative. “The large footprint of the King Street site accommodates space for safe gathering, in a location within Hudson Square that offers the opportunity to act as a connector between existing community resources, cultural institutions and nearby green spaces.”
“New York City can reorient the street as a site for culture, convening, and healing after months of social isolation,” said Dan McPhee, Executive Director of the Urban Design Forum. “Restorative Ground will reintroduce public life back into the neighborhood fabric with a safe and inclusive design.”
“It is so important for all of us determined to see New York City yet again transcend challenging circumstances to act in ways large and small that can welcome and support all New Yorkers in sustaining this singular city,” said Tommy Craig, Managing Director of Hines, which is asset manager and partner in Hudson Square Properties. “Hudson Square Properties is proud to be working with the Urban Design Forum and others to support this creative initiative to reactivate our streetscapes, engage with our neighbors and tap into the dynamic energy of our community of businesses, residents, workers and visitors through design.”
“At the Hudson Square Business Improvement District, we are committed to public art as one of the cornerstones of the City’s recovery and renaissance. We are a city and a neighborhood where creators and makers have always shown the way forward,” said Ellen Baer President and C.E.O. of Hudson Square BID. “Together with our partners, we have selected a piece that invites the community to use our outdoor spaces to work, play and think – a very Hudson Square way of welcoming the neighborhood home again.”
The competition’s finalists and winner were selected by an interdisciplinary jury from the Urban Design Forum’s network of fellows and judged proposals based on physical presence, evolving public health guidance, and inclusive design. Care for Hudson Square’s two runners-up, Taller KEN and Dash Marshall with Public Policy Lab, proposed vibrant and community-centered designs to reimagine the streetscape on Little 6th Avenue. Urban Design Forum’s McPhee said he hopes this exercise – including the breadth of innovation, creativity, and community-centered approaches – serves as a call to action to replicate in other neighborhoods with new community partners and business improvement districts.
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