Homage to Olmsted in Central Park
How might the reservoir in the middle of New York’s Central Park be put to better use? It has a flat surface of 42 ha - the largest and by most definitions the last ‘undeveloped’ piece of land in Manhattan. Surrounded by museums and cultural buildings, how might its cultural significance be increased?
This project proposes a new role for the reservoir that celebrates its iconic status, and raises its significance in the collective consciousness of New Yorkers. It is based on the hypothesis that in future the Guggenheim Museum will need additional exhibition space, which is unavailable in the surrounding buildings.
It places a new Central Park Museum opposite the Guggenheim Museum on a narrow stretch of land in Central Park where the contours of the park align with the grid of New York. Olmsted’s looping pastoral landscape design for Central Park informs the organisation of the building. Art installations agitate the surface of the reservoir to protect the water from contamination
- Central Park Museum
- USA, New York
- Client
- Municipality of New York City
- Programme
- 65,000 m2 museum expansion space\
Site area: 3.2 ha\
workscope: Concept Design\
Status: Delivered
Homage to Olmsted in Central Park
