BROADWAY RIVER  

Broadway at Times Sq was recently closed to car traffic and is a pedestrian walkway and plaza. To beautify the area the City of New York held a competition to paint the walkway. Our proposal is to provide a three dimensional landscape, not just a painting or a carpet to be walked on, but a “sculpted platform” to provide areas of rest (repose) as well as movement.

 

The imagery associated with this path through the city; the islands, the floods of people, reinforce our idea of Broadway as a river of humanity that travels daily through the canyons of Time Square. Within this river it is vital to provide rest as well as passage. There are areas to sit and enjoy the sights and sounds of being in the center of this dynamic environment and there are paths to follow that guide you through the stream.

 

The pattern is composed of 6 pieces that are form a trompe-l’oeil illusion, the islands of Broadway are set within the  waves of the river. Ryōan-ji temple spurs our imagination to read islands in the ocean, a stroll down Broadway can capture the imagination to negotiate the rapids of the canyons of the city. The pieces are completely repetitive allowing the pattern to expand or recede. The striping widths are extensions of the pattern, their width is constant. The colors are from the  standard epoxy coatings

 

ブロードウェイの川

 

近年、マンハッタンの、タイムズスクエアの周辺は、車を締め出して、完全に歩行者のため空間に変身したが、ニューヨーク市はここに路面を塗装して美化する案を募集した。

 

私たちは これに対し、単にカーペットや床装飾のように二次元的な模様を施すのではなく、3次元的な効果を景観上に作り出す案を提案した。私たちの案は 6個の平行四辺形からできた基本パタンを用い、だまし絵のような効果を生むことによって、パタンを立体的な波のよう見せようというものであった。ブロードウェイをマンハッタン島を縦断する渓谷に見立れば、そこを流れる川の波にのって人々が洪水のように押し寄せて行くかのごとくに見える。川の中では、流れに沿って行く場所と、その反対に、留まって都市の音と そのダイナミズムとを楽しむ場所ができている。基本パタンが無限につなぎ合わされて、繰り返されてゆく。