“I think most people would be very pressed to think of an amazing public space anywhere in the world that is less than 100 years old,” says Jay Cross, looking out over the 28-acre Hudson Yards site sandwiched between 30th and 34th Street in west Manhattan.
It is not without irony that the Related president responsible for delivering the scheme – the biggest of its kind under construction in America – has a vantage point directly over the development’s emerging public plaza as he speaks.
“We had to go through three landscape architects before we got to a design that we liked. I think we have lost sight somewhat of the way in which people use space.”
Cross hopes that with this insight – not to mention being three landscape architects down the line – Nelson Byrd Woltz’s plaza design at Hudson Yards will break that mould and follow in the footsteps of what could arguably be considered its sister project in a sister city; Argent’s King’s Cross scheme in London.
Two mammoth developments regenerating otherwise uninspiring spaces on top of pre-existing infrastructure hubs; both schemes have not only focused on the power of public space, but have used the same designer as an anchor.
Thomas Heatherwick was the visionary behind the striking design and “kissing roofs” at King’s Cross’s Coal Drops Yard – two former industrial warehouses that have been transformed into a collection of 50 shops and restaurants which opened last month.
He is also responsible for what is currently referred to as The Vessel, a 150ft copper-hued structure resembling a honeycomb which is now almost complete at the heart of Hudson Yards.
Not just something pretty to look at, it is a series of 154 interlinked staircases and 80 platforms designed to give people better views of the surrounding area and out over the Hudson River.
On Coal Drops Yard in King’s Cross, much of its success has come from the sensitive redevelopment of a space that has outlived its original, industrial use.
“These amazing Victorian structures were never originally built to be inhabited by hundreds of people, but instead formed part of the sealed-off infrastructure of London,” says Heatherwick.
“After they have served so many varied uses throughout the years, we have been excited by the opportunity to use our design thinking to finally open up the site, create new spaces and allow everyone to experience these rich and characterful buildings.”
As for the New York structure, Cross says that it is a carefully positioned focal point in a plaza he hopes will not fall into the 100-year trap.
“When you think about the public spaces we love: St Mark’s Square in Venice, Trafalgar Square in London, Piazza del Campidoglio in Rome, they are all Renaissance.
“So the inspiration of our landscape architect Thomas Woltz all started with the Campidoglio, where Michelangelo came up with the paving pattern to make sure you look down on something beautiful.
“We were conscious that was important here as there are so many tall buildings surrounding it but also because we have a very awkward L-shaped space to work with.
“That shape was mandated by the zoning, rather than something we elected to do. But we are hoping the series of interlinking ellipses anchored by the Heatherwick piece will work.
“We went around the world talking to artists, museums, galleries and curators asking ‘what would you do?’ We want to get it right and create the ultimate centre point.”
Both the reworked Coal Drops Yard and the construction process of The Vessel have become social media sensations.
In a recent Dezeen article on the latter, the structure’s progress was even referred to as being near completion according to “images posted on Instagram”.
As the Hudson Yards brand recognition among New Yorkers has rocketed from 7% to more than 90% and as people have flocked to Coal Drops Yard following its launch, are we looking at a masterclass in harnessing the power of creating the right public spaces?
It doesn’t all hinge on a big-name designer. Both projects have hit headlines for myriad reasons, including the size and ambition of the overarching schemes, the tenants secured, the value added and, particularly in the case of Hudson Yards, the impact on the city skyline.
But there is a lot to be said for getting a public space right – something that, for many years, has often been relegated to the bottom of developers’ list of priorities or seen as a necessary evil in the quest for planning.
While one space is modernising London’s old, industrial past as the other is taking inspiration from Renaissance patterns, both look to have successfully become the heart of the major schemes they have been painstakingly designed to underpin – one before it is even completed.
A sign of placemaking to come, perhaps. And a revival of much-loved public spaces for a modern era.
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