Midtown Manhattan might look a little different soon. Danish firm BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group) has revealed a design for "Freedom Plaza" – a new cultural hub set along the East River.
According to the plans, Freedom Plaza will include a huge, open public space, on which the Museum of Freedom and Democracy will be situated. There will also be two residential towers (with affordable housing), two hotels, and space for retail and restaurants.
The site is close to the United Nations headquarters, which was completed by a board of well-known architects back in 1952. Aesthetically, the designs of the towers take inspiration from the city's modernist buildings of the 50s and 60s, while conceptually, they are inspired by the intention of the original site's architects.
"When Le Corbusier, Niemeyer, and Harrison designed the UN Secretariat Building, they grafted an oasis of international modernism onto the dense urban grid of Manhattan, creating a park on the river framed by towers and pavilions," BIG founder Bjarke Ingels said.
However, access to this park, Ingels says, is restricted, given the nature of the work taking place in the UN HQ. With its new design, BIG hopes to bring that sense of togetherness back into that area – and will unite three blocks to create a huge public green space.
"We are incredibly honored and thrilled to be part of the team that can envision a new major public space in this great city, contribute to the iconic skyline of Manhattan's riverfront, and imagine the architecture of the museum celebrating one of mankind's greatest inventions: Democracy," Ingels added.
In other design news, Junya Ishigami's kilometer-long Zaishui Art Museum "floats" across a lake in China.
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