Zuccotti Park

Zuccotti Park

Zuccotti Park formerly called Liberty Plaza Park is a quite small privately owned public space, located in financial district of lower Manhattan, space owned by Brookfield Properties. Mostly, tourists and financial workers visit Zuccotti Park, and it was later used as the site of several events commemorating the anniversary of the September 11 attacks. In 2011, it became the site of the Occupy Wall Street protest camp. Many activists occupied the space and used it as a staging ground for their demonstration throughout the Manhattan Financial District. The Canadian activist group Adbusters initiated the protest, which subsequently led to Occupy protests and movements around the world. The main issues are social and economic inequality, greed, corruption and the perceived undue influence of corporations on government.

Basically, Zuccotti park is surrounded by tall buildings, so the area gives the stifling atmosphere. It looks like a public place, not much like a park. Since the public place is located in Financial District, the park was very simple and modern. However, I could imagine how cold and empty it will look like in cold weathers. The pink granite pavers, benches and fixed two seat tables are arranged in a skewed grid. Planting trees will be better idea to develop the park's atmosphere. There was a circular seating area, but people barely used it. Many people stood up talking. Because the weather is getting cold, not that many people were at the park.

Through my research, I found that the place is opens 24 hours. The problem with it is that the area such as restaurants, shops and offices around the park closes before 9 or 10. This is because it's a privately owned public space. So it is hard to stay and be active at nighttime.

The lighting was insufficient. Also, the doves were everywhere so people could not really enjoy their time. The sanitary problems might have been caused because of doves. They walk on the ground, benches and even tables, too.

The park should give a lot of chances to people to be connected with the place. I have to redesign the park keeping the Wall Street's own environment, but at the same time, I need to consider the place as a public area, which is playful and socially active.

I came up with an idea such as lighting, but the lighting idea was conflicted with the fact that Zuccotti Park is a privately owned place. I thought about something colorful that clears my idea: glass installation on trees. In daytime, sun will make the area shine since the glass installation reflects lights. On the marble surface of table and chairs, there will be beautiful shiny shadows of the installation. The installation itself can be one of artworks, and also, the shadow of the installation will create another artwork.

Since the table and chairs are made out of marble, the glass installation will make shadows on the table,