Zuccotti Park
This privately-owned public space was transformed by QRP and Cooper Robertson Architects after being heavily damaged by the events of 9/11. It’s now a successful urban oasis enjoyed by thousands of workers, shoppers and tourists.
Diagonally opposite the World Trade Center site, the full-block plaza was built in the 1970’s in conjunction with the SOM-designed office tower to the north. The new design emphasizes the diagonal axis of pedestrian movement between the subway and PATH stations to the west and the Financial District to the east through the orientation of a linear grove of 54 honey locust trees and granite paving stones. Mark di Suvero’s 70-foot-tall red steel sculpture, Joie de Vivre, forms a beacon that announces the park from Broadway.
At the opening ceremony in 2006, after just 10 months of construction, then Governor George Pataki said, “the park has been re-imagined as an urban oasis, and just like the new Lower Manhattan, it too will be vibrant day and night with 500 twinkling lights making it a welcoming space for workers, residents, and visitors.” The park became immediately popular, a resting spot for both tourists and locals, home to lunch-time food vendors, chess games, and seasonal markets, and gained notoriety as the site of the Occupy Wall Street movement.
Location
Financial District, Manhattan, NY
Client
Brookfield Properties
Role
Landscape Architect
Team
Cooper Robertson + Partners
