Parallel Motion: Central Park
Research Project
Location : New York, USA
Design Period : November, 2013
Design Team: Jinhyun Jun
There is quite interesting observer in central park which is parallel to the Walden's. 2006, three hundred fifty people of Biobiltz members conducted twenty four hour intensive research in Central park to publicize ecological diversity of the park. It contrasts to the Thoreau's observation and
attitude that he observed nature for two years alone. If Bioblitz observed the nature as an object, Thoreau did not divided object and subject but he considered himself as a part of nature. The perspective of Bioblitz toward nature is similar to ours and Olmsted's.
I viewed Central park as a superficial skin that is designed based on the Western ideology that divides subject and object, human and ecology, and city and nature. In order to maintain the beautiful picturesque image, there have to be huge amount of human intervention, infrastructure and maintenance. Is the entire 341 hectare park necessary have to be a picturesque park? This park could contain a lot more diverse properties not only picturesque, sublime, romantic but also artificial, metropolitan, mechanic and so forth. The characteristic of this park can be defined by considering its existing and potential properties of nature.
In this park I'd like to define a proper relationship between nature and human to assign a right role to this iconic and symbolic space. For this, I considered the cycle of nature that is completely different from the cycle of city or human; according to the natural phenomena, natural cycle varies from a day to thousands of years. Central park design intervention have to be somewhere in future after observing and experimenting these natural cycles, not right now or in several years.
I adopted reserving judgment as a strategy for a design intervention, and people's accessibility is prohibited or limited at the reserved area. According to the different ecological settings and future demands, future use for the reserved area will be determined.
During the period of prohibition, the area will function as a poetic space. This wilderness is laboratory to test proper use of park on the different ecological settings, museum to give
lesson, moral or amusement, and grace period to figure out better configuration of the site and the future park.
