After visiting Williamsburg, the site bounded by Driggs, Bedford, North 11th, and North 12th stood out to me. What struck me as most fascinating about this particular stalled site was its early state of construction when it did stall. The site gives a sense of potential that the others couldn't quite match, sparking imaginations of what might or might not be.
Adjacent to the site at hand, is McCarren Park, which has baseball diamonds, a dog walking park, a swimming pool, a track, football field, tennis courts, and a court for what
looks like kickball as well as other hardscape sports. I envision whatever I do with my chosen site (at this point no choices regarding program have been made) to be something which continues the community/park theme of the surrounding area. However I would like the program to bring something to the community that the surrounding parks do not offer.As for now, I am continuing the exploration of space making possibilities on the site, especially looking into various ways the exposed rebar could be used, manipulated, extended, cut, etc. I am also thinking about the layers of infrastructure developed as the project progresses. There is the broad level (the city's waterworks, electricity lines, and gas lines, etc.), the middle level (the infrastructure of the existing conditions, i.e. what the current state of the site has to offer in terms of parasites or installations), and lastly the level of infrastructure which derives itself from my project. My thought is that as the project evolves, it will develop its own internal infrastructure. Thus, later, if something were to become an installation on top of my "installation" (for the lack of a better word right now) it would have to address the conditions presented to it.
I am also considering implementing time into the project. If the third layer of infrastructure as described above gives me some traction, then the next logical step would be to address what would happen to the site after my project were constructed? What could be added onto my project? How much do I manipulate the project's infrastructure to indirectly affect what is placed onto it? Perhaps more interesting, how do the projects placed onto the site begin to erode, break down, or be deconstructed as time progresses, making way for new projects? Does the site become a place which houses a never ending "exquisite corpse" which is never viewed in its entirety?
There are a lot of really great set-ups for investigations in the way you are right about the site right now. Even your discussion implies looking at the site at various scales and in different layers of interconnectivity to the infrastructure of the rest of the area. I was just looking at your site on google earth. It is pretty amazing how in its current state it both connects to all of the open park space in its proximity as well as being nestled into the buildings that begin the edge for the rest of the blocks. I look forward to your drawings and discoveries about the exposed rebars. I think there is a lot of potential there.
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