“The value of history is moral: it prepares us to live more humanely in the present and to meet rather than to foretell the future.” Carl Becker, 1873-1945, U.S. historian

To remain in touch with the past requires a constant imaginative effort.” Gaston Bachelard, 1884-1962

‘Let us accept our own responsibility for the future.’ John F. Kennedy

This crossroad, a poignant verse within the rhythm of a dazzling city’s soulful song, was formed by people, those of the cornfields, the military, the cart, the docks. Where once corn swayed to the gusting chorus of the wind, automobiles now spin to the pounding rhythm of the stone; brown and red, vibrant and robust. Our design intends to trace the lineage of time to make a place for this communities future.

A rejuvenated junction bounded by trees mottling the clear horizon offers a quiet invitation to a gentle public square. The history being illuminated is unique to the site, the concentration of native greenery and citizen-led arts in pre-eminent spaces is a technique that can be replicated across the city.

This box belongs to the people. Their spaces, their vegetation to plant and perhaps maintain, their smell and touch, materials embedded in their history and their psyche, their bikes,, their coffee, their tranquil moments amongst the butterflies, and incidental meetings. This is not a pastoral scene, it is the essence of urban life. The bridge facade is a movie screen of those in the public square. The community decide what is shown and how; perhaps they paint it, perhaps they perform it. The space below is the axis of the square, a continuation of the of the streets mellifluous rhythm, whilst above the crescendo screen shimmers, glitters and enlightens and ensures a level of intrigued surveillance.

Cyclists are the most regular guests into this domestic square and enjoy a neighbourly position at the same height as the people, so they can safely wind into the public space and exchange onto the subway.

The cars, lorries and buses are the special guests in this scene; their territory is beyond the square, in the conventional delineated, passive street that remains and allows a stream of speed as an arterial route. Upon their entrance the hosts invite respect and civility - with sympethtic gestures of stem height - and surfacing which will be reciprocated as they still admire the vehicle that embodies a national heritage. The car represents the American dream, and the street American life. The square will encoarge people to envision a future where the streets are recognised as the vital place of life and dreams; then the road can be in-filled and the community’s ownership entrenched.

The surface of the streets is patterned with past and the future. The treatment we have chosen respects the present assets - tangible and ephemeral - whilst placing it within a timeframe of memory and possibility.

We hope this design creates a more liveable New York, and represents a vision for now, and the future.