Chenjung Kuo (May 15)

Brooklyn Bridge Park + Prospect Park+ Jacob Riis Park

Passing through the street, we arrived on the platform rising above the highway, planting a plenty of plants separating the residential housing and the pedestrian pathway. We look over the Brooklyn Bridge Park along the waterfront, creating a long urban green belt surrounding the Brooklyn. Pier 1 was constructed to be majorly playground and also meant to be a resilient zone for stormproof as a main concept to design the whole site. In many details, the site offers accessible ramp for people to get down to water, like the enjoyment of beach which is very unusual in New York City. The water is a major element to interact with the waterfront landscape, seeing the different height of tide and its movement of waving. Another interesting factor is the flow of heavy traffic which produce certain noise and builds the sandwich-like composition for the park’s backdrop, showing three different speeds in the same three dimensions. The Prospect Park first reminds me the Central Park in the Manhattan in terms of scale and its central field providing a huge open space to accommodate any random events there. The wind causes the movement of trees and grass to give a sense of temperature and the joy of sound. Jacob Riis Park is completely outside of the city and all the tourist services look abandoned, although the ocean and the beach are perfectly standing still and well preserved.