Outside the Self
The Allegheny Riverfront Park of Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, conceived from the outset with artists Ann Hamilton and Michael Mercil and international engineering firm Arup, proves that a collaborative model of action can work for the making of a p
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The Allegheny Riverfront Park of Michael Van
in ways that increase the potency of meaning and
Valkenburgh Associates, conceived from the outset
experience in projects. Among the characteristics
with artists Ann Hamilton and Michael Mercil and
that contribute to this collaborative disposition:
international engineering firm Arup, proves that
a confident self-reliance that arises from a deep
a collaborative model of action can work for the
and practiced love of landscape architecture, and
making of a public urban landscape. The willing-
a sensibility rooted in the close study of artists
ness and skill required to promote shared design
whose own production is shaped by investigation,
responsibility are rare commodities, however,
experimentation, and the careful development
and in Pittsburgh they have resulted in a work
of personal conviction within the core of a proj-
of unusual originality and uncommon success.
ect’s ideas.
Indeed, while the park exhibits several ingredients
about his work know of his fondly stated devo-
or the engineers or the landscape architects, the
tion to plant life. Yet while it may seem obvious
project team reports an intense and overlapping
that a landscape architect professes a love of his
collaborative spirit that enables each to claim
medium, the sustained intensity displayed here
more than the usual intellectual purchase on both
is far from the usual. Moreover, by the example
the parts and the whole.
of his incessant drive toward a more creative
My interest here is in the two-way street of
148
Those who have heard Van Valkenburgh talk
that would appear to be attributable to the artists
application of both conventional horticultural
Michael Van Valkenburgh’s artist/designer ethos.
technique and experimental trial and error, Van
An artist in his own right, he nonetheless seeks
Valkenburgh has, for over two decades, helped the
the artistic input of others. He has demonstrated a
field return its focus to plants, soil, and climatic
readiness to collaborate with colleagues and artists
effects as an ever-growing source of expressive
potential. Rather like the heroic Dan Kiley of a
architects—and sadly bereft of the rich material
previous generation—whose personal knowledge
qualities that plants offered.
(and love) of plants has rarely been discussed but
Few heard Rose’s call, and the long period
was abundantly clear to those who worked with
between the late 1930s and the 1980s did little to
him—Van Valkenburgh turned his affinity for the
change this, especially as landscape professionals
hedgerows and orchards and groves of agricultural
pursued the challenges of suburbanization and the
landscapes into an obsession with planted forms
environmental movement. But by the late 1980s,
and their possibilities for shaping spatial experi-
Van Valkenburgh’s recurring fascinations with
ence. A passion rooted in childhood evolved into
color, light, reflection, wetness, frost, growth and
a broad, investigative practice. In this case, it also
habit,
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