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August 04, 2005
Down the Garden Path
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On these very hot summer days, a little cool respite is all we want, and if it is air conditioned so much the better. It would seem that air conditioning and gardens don't mix very well, but in fact you can combine the two perfectly by heading out to the Queens Museum of Art to see their new exhibit, Down the Garden Path. Don't go expecting to see photographs of pretty flowers and design plans of landscape architects and designers; this is an exhibit of artists' ideas about gardens. From the Modernist plans of the Japanese American artist and sculptor Isamu Noguchi and the Brazilian architect Roberto Burle Marx, to the work of contemporary artists Robert Smithson and Gordon Matta-Clark, the exhibition celebrates very different approaches to garden-making and garden meaning.
The Queens Botanical Garden is very near the Queens Museum of Art, and a visit to both makes a particularly satisfying outing. Right now, QBG is undergoing a multi-million dollar renovation to turn it into a model of green, sustainable design so the grounds are a bit topsy-turvy, but the wedding garden and some of the other display gardens are untouched and a delight to visit.
Posted by gardenguidenyc at 11:37 AM | Comments (0)
August 01, 2005
Canal Park
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This summer a brand-new park has cropped up on Canal Street and the West Side Highway--or what you probably think is a brand-new park--mostly consisting of a generous lawn surrounded with beds of colorful Black-Eyed Susans and Purple Coneflower. Canal Park, two thirds of an acre, has an unusual triangular shape and an unusual history as well. In 1920, when the NY/NJ Bridge and Tunnel Authority started building the Holland Tunnel, they closed a small park on the site to facilitate construction. The park was only supposed to be closed for four years, but somehow four years stretched to over 80 years and the "park" was being used for parking garbage trucks when a community group called the Canal/West Coalition gathered forces to bring back the park. As it turned out, the space was legally still considered a park, and in 2000 a settlement was reached that required the state to rebuild. Thus, our newest park is actually over 85 years old. Originally designed in 1888 as a viewing garden by the famed team of Calvert Vaux and Samuel Parsons Jr., the newly reinstated park (twice the size of the original park) has elements reminiscent of classic, nineteenth-century Beaux Arts style, with its ornamental fencing, cast-iron bollards, and granite curbs. Newly planted with metasequoia and linden trees, bright perennials and a sparkling lawn, the park will provide an excellent respite in a largely industrial neighborhood.
Posted by gardenguidenyc at 11:21 PM | Comments (0)