Plans Presented for WTC Memorial

A large ceremonial plaza, cascading waterfalls, and structural remnants of the World Trade Center will mark a memorial whose plans were recently unveiled by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation.

"Reflecting Absence," designed by Michael Arad, Peter Walker, and associate architect Max Bond, calls for a landscaped plaza with two large voids aligned with the footprints where the Twin Towers once stood. On the plaza level, hundreds of oak trees will form a memorial grove. A glass-paved glade on the southwest quadrant will provide a site for Sept. 11 ceremonies and other gatherings. The design will invite visitors to enter the memorial down two 200-ft.-long ramps.

The upper level will include Memorial Hall, which will feature viewing galleries, reflecting pools, and a listing of the names of those who died in the attacks of both Sept. 11, 2001 and Feb. 26, 1993. Between the two pools, and off Memorial Hall, visitors can reach the memorial's lowest level to view and touch exposed box beam remnants and the exposed slurry wall.

The architects were selected in a design competition that drew 5,201 submissions from 49 states and 63 nations. Construction of the $350 million memorial is scheduled to begin next year.

Art Society Names Top Designs

A tower, a townhouse, a theater, and a train terminal took top honors in the Municipal Art Society's fourth annual MASterwork design awards. Sponsored by the 112-year-old nonprofit organization and GVA Williams, a realty firm, the awards recognize outstanding design in New York City.

Time Warner Center, the 80-story multi-use complex on Columbus Circle, took the award for best new building. Developed by the Related Companies and designed by David Childs of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, the 2.8-million-sq.-ft. building houses: Time Warner's corporate headquarters; production and broadcast facilities for CNN; residential, retail, and entertainment space; and a concert hall for Jazz at Lincoln Center. The society's four-member jury also selected Time Warner Center's retail component, the Shops at Columbus Circle, as best new privately owned space for public use.

For outstanding commercial restoration project, the society recognized the 80-year-old Biltmore Theater on West 47th Street. The Manhattan Theatre Club commissioned Polshek Partnership Architects of New York to create an intimate atmosphere in the theater's auditorium. The Biltmore is now equipped with state-of-the-art theatrical systems and new patron amenities, thanks to the renovation effort led by Sweet Construction of New York.

Best residential restoration honors went to 57 Charles St., an 1860s Italianate townhouse in Greenwich Village. New York-based Fairfax & Sammons Architects oversaw the restoration's design. Finally, the society presented its Neighborhood Catalyst award to the AirTrain JFK Terminal at Jamaica Station in Queens. Designed by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey's engineering and architecture division, the terminal is one of two intermodal gateway terminals linking AirTrain to John F. Kennedy International Airport and the regional transit network. It was cited for boosting the economic vitality of the neighborhood, airport, and region.

Brooklyn Landmark Refurbishment

New York-based Garrison Architects is serving as master planner and design architect for the renovation of Restoration Plaza, a commercial, educational, and cultural hub of Brooklyn's Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood. The former dairy distribution center was transformed nearly 30 years ago into a 300,000-sq.-ft. retail and office complex housing more than 60 small businesses, banks, a supermarket, performance venues, and educational space.

Planned in phases over the next several years, the renovation will cost more than $5 million and will enhance the plaza's exterior façade and entryways, creating a re-landscaped interior, new performance spaces, and a more inviting courtyard. Options under consideration include removal of a surrounding wall to expand open space and efforts to improve visibility for performance and gallery spaces.

Mechanical, electrical, and plumbing upgrades are underway, and a $795,000 city-funded upgrade of the facility's pedestrian and disabled access is scheduled to begin this spring. The project developer, Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corp., was established in the 1960s by community activists and Sens. Robert Kennedy and Jacob Javits.

Historic Greenwich School Design

Swanke Hayden Connell Architects of New York City is designing the reworked Hamilton Avenue School in Greenwich, Conn. The $21 million project will incorporate partial restoration of the existing school, completed in 1938, and a 50,000-sq.-ft. expansion.

The project will preserve the existing school's historic fabric, highlighted by a brick and stone exterior, slate roof, and signature cupola. Key components of the new portion include a gymnasium, cafeteria, and subgrade parking facility. The city's public school district intends to earn the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification for sustainable design. Two years of construction are scheduled to begin in September.

Coney Island Design Contest

A Coney Island landmark is the focus of a competition aimed at helping to renew the home of the famed amusement park. The Van Alen Institute of Manhattan and the Coney Island Development Corp. are inviting individuals, teams, and firms to submit conceptual designs for a pavilion at the foot of the Parachute Jump, closed since 1968. The winner will receive the inaugural New York Prize, worth $20,000. Second prize is $5,000 and the third-place award is $3,000.

The 7,800-sq.-ft. pavilion will include a small restaurant concession, a souvenir shop, and a multipurpose exhibition and event space. Candidates must register by Feb. 25 and submit designs by April 25. Further information is available at www.vanalen.org and www.thecidc.org. The competition coincides with a strategic plan for Coney Island being developed by Ernst & Young, the consulting firm, and New York-based planning and design firm Davis Brody Bond.