FORTRESSES OF CULTURE

from Portfolio_5

by Emily Ruopp

1CITY 1AMSTERDAM

PEELING BACK THE MARBLE CURTAIN

LINCOLN CETNER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS / NEW YORK, NY

PROJECT INFORMATION:

WORK TYPE: ACADEMIC / COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY

COURSE: ARCH 4853 - ADVANCED STUDIO VII

DATE COMPLETED: SUMMER 2021

PROFESSOR: GABRIELLE PRINTZ & ROSANA ELKHATIB

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

TO COUNTERACT COMMUNISM DURING THE COLD WAR, THE FORD FOUNDATION SOUGHT TO PROVIDE A SYMBOL OF NATIONAL CULTURAL MATURITY THROUGH BUILDING UP INTERNAL CULTURAL ARTS PROGRAMS SINCE 1952. THE FORD FOUNDATION SOUGHT TO PRODUCE “THE THINKING MAN” BY “ENCOURAGING COMPETENT, SERIOUS-MINDED PEOPLE” (FORD 1957 ANNUAL REPORT, PG 9). IN 1957, THE FORD FOUNDATION ESTABLISHED THE HUMANITIES AND THE ARTS GRANT PROGRAM, WHICH HAS EXPANDED GRANTS TO INCLUDE ARTS SCHOOLS, OPERA COMPANIES, AND SYMPHONY ORCHESTRAS THROUGHOUT THE UNITED STATES. SINCE 1957, THE FOUNDATION GRANTED A TOTAL OF $470 MILLION (ADJUSTED FOR INFLATION) FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE LINCOLN CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS AND ITS RESIDENT SUB-ORGANIZATIONS. THESE INCLUDE THE METROPOLITAN OPERA, NEW YORK CITY BALLET, NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC, NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS, JUILLIARD, AND THE SCHOOL OF AMERICAN BALLET. FORD’S TIES TO CLASSICAL ART THROUGH FINE ARTS, SYMPHONY ORCHESTRAS, OPERA COMPANIES, SHAKESPEARE PLAYS, AND PERFORMING ARTS SCHOOLS HAVE FORGED AN EXTREMELY WESTERN, COLONIAL, ELITIST, AND ARISTOCRATIC FORM OF ART THAT CONTINUES TO SEGREGATE COMMUNITIES AS “AFFLUENT” OR “BLIGHTED.”

THROUGH THESE GRANTS, NOT ONLY HAS THE FORD FOUNDATION FUNDED EUROCENTRIC ART FORMS, BUT THEY ALSO PARTICIPATED IN AN URBAN RENEWAL “SLUM CLEARANCE PLAN” THAT DECIMATED OVER 16 ACRES OF A THRIVING COMMUNITY PREVIOUSLY KNOWN AS SAN JUAN HILL. OVERSEEN BY ROBERT MOSES, THE PROJECT DISPLACED OVER 7,000 LOWER-CLASS FAMILIES AND 800 LOCAL BUSINESS THAT WERE ALMOST EXCLUSIVELY BLACK AND LATINO. WHILE THIS CONTESTED HISTORY IS CONSISTENTLY IGNORED BY BOTH THE FORD FOUNDATION AND THE LINCOLN CENTER, THIS SITE INTERVENTION WILL SEEK TO REVEAL THIS HIDDEN HISTORY THROUGH THE DISPLAY OF ARCHIVAL MATERIAL IN TYPICAL RESIDENTIAL UNITS FROM BEFORE, DURING, AND AFTER THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE LINCOLN CENTER. THESE TYPOLOGIES WILL BE PLACED THROUGHOUT THE SITE TO RE-CREATE THE LOST NEIGHBORHOOD OF SAN JUAN HILL AS A FORM OF PROTEST AND PUBLIC OCCUPATION OF PRIVATE PROPERTY. BY BLOCKING VEHICULAR ACCESS, COVERING THE GRANDEUR OF THE MODERNISM, AND OPENING THE BACK SIDE OF LINCOLN CENTER TO ITS DIVIDED NEIGHBOR, THE NYCHA AMSTERDAM HOUSING PROJECTS, THIS INTERVENTION WILL SEEK TO RESTORE PUBLIC WELFARE THROUGH MUTUAL AID SUPPORT GROUPS AND EXPOSE THE VIOLENCE COMMITTED TO SAN JUAN HILL RESIDENTS.