BEDFORD-STUYVESANT SUPERBLOCK
Ruth Wang GSAPP SPRING 2013 Instructor: Kazys Varnelis, Ph. D. Associate: Leigha Dennis
1965 Bed-Stuy abandoned residences prior to the Superblock Renovation
BEDFORD-STUYVESANT The Superblock Renovation and a New Life on the Street
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St. Marks Avenue between Kingston and Albany Avenues converted into a park by I.M. Pei and Partners in 1969
A New Life on the Street The Superblock in Bedford-Stuyvesant in Brooklyn, NY was designed by I.M’ Pei Partners, M. Paul Friedburg & Associates, and the community. Beginning as a proposal by Pei, in response to a request for help by Sen. Robert Kennedy, and countless hours of community volunteer help, the Superblock
was, and remains today, the most visible component of the renovation of the neighborhood. Then considered the nation’s second largest ghetto, the Superblock, along with countless other renewal and improvement efforts made during the 1960s, have made created a new type of experience on the city
residential street-- A landmark in the evolution of the New York City Housing Authority’s approach to residential community design.
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Jefferson Houses 2012
1951-1959 Jefferson Houses | Growth of the NYCA
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Above: Children playing sandlot baseball in East Harlem, 1951, on the site of the soon-to-be-built public housing, Jefferson Houses. Right: Jefferson Houses 1960
Growth of the NYCHA The New York City Housing Authoritie’s era of fastest growth occured in the late 1940s, 50s, and early 60s as it became a key tool in urban redevelopment and liberal social policy. At it’s height, the NYCHA completed 195 projects across all buroughs of Manhattan,
many taking the form of towering housing projects such as the Jefferson Houses in Manhattan. The President Thomas Jefferson Houses in Manhattan encompass 18 buildings, 7, 13 and 14-stories tall with 1,487 apartments housing an estimated 3,729 residents. The 17.38-acre site was completed June 30, 1959 and
is bordered by First and Third Avenues, East 112th and East 115th Streets.
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East 113th Street, April 22, 1949--these tenements were torn down to build Taft Houses.
1958-1960 A Shifting NYCHA and an advisory council on the arts
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In the late 1950s to early 60s, the NYCHA experienced many changes in its leadership, which would later become reflected in an evolving approach to designing housing and the community.
A Shifting Cabinet In 1958 Mayor Robert Wagner reorganized the NYCHA. Two years later, in 1960, NYCHA gained an advisory council on the arts. In 1960 Marie C. Mcguire was appointed commissioner of federal public housing administration.
While most of the NYCHA’s efforts in the 1940s-50s had been concentrated in minority, low income districts, creating the classic “second ghetto� configuration found across the United States. Due to cost restrictions, many of the projects developed were high rise and key amenities, such as proper elevators, closet doors, and untiled
let alone amenities such as park benches, sidewalks, and plenty of access to fresh air and day light. In the 60s, these amenities became a much more pressing consideration in design, both due to outstanding tenant complaints and the creation of an Advisory Council on the Arts in the housing authority. 7
A comparison of the Carver House Community Plaza before and after completion
1958 Carver Houses | Private Space for Public Use
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Private Space for Public Use The Carver Houses, designed by M. Paul Friederg and NYCHA associated architect, Pomerance & Breines, with grant aid provided by the Vincent Astor Foundation, was one of the first manifestations of this shift in the NYCHA.
Projects like the Carver Houses, however, also highlighted a key flaw in the NYCHA puclic housing efforts.
actually relocated to many of these projects, and only 30% found permanent homes.
Despite the goal to house the empoverished and displaced (due to large scale projects in highway expansion) only 12% of the displaced were 9
A policeman wields a club against youths on West 125th Street in New York during a night of violence in 1964.
1964 Powell Shooting | The Race Riots and an Awakening
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The Race Riots and an Awakening Hundreds of youths marched on Lexington Avenue on July 17, 1964 to the 67th Street police station to protest the death of James Powell, a young black man who was killed the night before by an off-duty, white police lieutenant. 11
Abandoned lots throughout Bed-Stuy used as play grounds
1965 Bedford-Stuyvesant | The United State’s Second Largest Ghetto
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The Second Largest Ghetto In the wake of the race riots, BedforcStuyvesant gained public recognition in the newsmedia, as the place where people land when they have fallen out of Harlem, displaced, ironically, by the housing projects in Manhattan.
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Senator Robert Kennedy on a tour of the Bedford-Stuyvesant Neighborhoods
1966 Senator Robert Kennedy Tours Bed-Stuy | What is Self-Made Is Inalienable
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What is Self-Made Is Inalienable In February of 1966 Robert Kennedy, then a year into his term as senator, carried out a series of speeches on urban poverty, as part of a tour of the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood. Despite the fine appearance of the rowhouses, the neighborhood was the nation’s second largest ghetto
“You know that what is given or granted can be taken away, and that what is begged can be refused; but what is earned is kept, that what is self-made is inalienable, that what you do for yourselves and your children can never be taken away.” --Senator Robert F. Kennedy
Announcing in Dec 1966, the formation of a program to cope with the problems of NYC’s BedfordStuyvesant Ghetto.
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1966 Sesame Street | Education and the City Street
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Education and the City Street The pre-school educational television program, Sesame Street, was concieved in 1966 and first aired on November tenth the same year. It was the first television program to base its educational content on developmental psychology research.
By the show’s tenth anniversary in 1979, nine million American children under the age of six were watching Sesame Street Daily. The set of the show, designed by Charles Rosen was based on an anagram of streets in Harlem, the Bronx, and the Upper West Side.
(the blocks were West Side Story was set, before they were destroyed to make way for the Lincoln Center.) The iconic brownstone 123 Sesame street was based on Columbus Avenue Brownstones. All these references aimed to reach out beyond the television and speak to the children in a context they could relate to. 17
1965 Bed-Stuy abandoned residences prior to the Superblock Renovation
1967 Bed-Stuy Pedestrianway | From Abandonment to Community Effort
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From Abandonment to Community Effort. With the leadership of Architect, M. Paul Friedberg, the Bedford-Stuyvesant Resident community came together to clean up abandoned streets, deteriorating facades, emptied lots, and graffitied walls.
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1967 Bed-Stuy Pedestrianway | From Abandonment to Community Effort
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With the help of Bed-Stuy residents, vacant lots, abandoned buildings and yardless streets were transformed into an eight-block linked-park pedestrianway.
From Abandonment to Community Effort. The result of months of communty building, painitng, and cleaning volunteer work, was the creation of an eight-block pedestrianway, connecting abandonned lots throughout the site. A self-made community gathering environment that would be the inalienable right of residents in the area. 21
1969 St. Marks and the Superblock | A New Life on the Street
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A New Life on the Street Three of Bed-Stuy’s unusually broad streets were also de-emphasized, closed to traffic and re-developed. A park of about 70’ by 200’ was created in their place without taking land off the tax rolls. This became known as St. Marks Park. Parking was further rearranged to rid the streets of
inefficient and unappealing parallel parking.
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1969 St. Marks and the Superblock | A New Life on the Street
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A New Life on the Street The St. Marks Park provided a base for community self-surveillance. Residents and neighbors of all generation s could observe, gather and interact in a self-sustained, safe haven environment.
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1969 St. Marks and the Stoops | Renovation and Restoration
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Elevated stone facades make way for retail storefronts
Renovation and Restoration Renovations of the stoops and facades of the Bedford-Stuyvesant Brownstones was an important element of the Superblock project.
stone facades were elevated to make room for retail amenities in the community.
Pictured above, while in most cases the traditional stoop condition was restored, in some cases the brown27
1970-1974 Kosciusko Community Pool | Restoring Health in Bed-Stuy
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Restoring Health in Bed-Stuy Renovations of St. Marks Avenue were later expanded to include an extension of community grounds and a public swimming pool. The site for the pool was originally owned by Thaddeus Kosciusko (1746-1817), a Polish general and statesman who traveled to America in 1776 and volunteered for the Continental Army.
In honor of his support, the UnitedStates and Congress awarded him citizenship, a pension and land. Thomas Jefferson, who became a close friend of Kosciusko would later use the pension and land to buy and free African American Slaves. In 1968, the city bought the property and constructed homes for over 88
families. The pool was designed by Bedford-Stuyvesant native Morris Lapidus (1902-2001). Known by community residents as the “K Pool,� the design accomodates up to 920 bathers and incorporates pipe structures for climbing, a large mushroom sculpture, and a flagpole with a yardarm. 29
1970-1973 An Amendment and A Moratorium| Progress and Stagnation
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Progress and Stagnation A series of housing acts were passed in the late 60s and early 70s, improving funding for and protoecting access to housing across the US for all citizens, regardless of race, age, or ability: The Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968, the Fair Housing Act of 1970 and the Emergency Home
Finance Act. HUD’s mission and program count was expanding rapidly. Over a decade at least 15 new programs were launched, budget outlays more than quadrupled, and the number of staff increased markedly.
In 1973, however, President Nixon placed a Moraturium on all HUD Programs, putting a halt on additional funding. This was in response to growing skepticism amongst some observers and policy makers about the cost, effectiveness and manageability of HUD’s major programs. 31
The design features retail programs surrounding a central court enclosed by restored brownstone facades.
1976 A Commercial Center | Recharging the Community’s Financial Batteries
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Recharging the Financial Batteries In 1976, Arthur Cotton Moore designed “Downtown Bedford-Stuyvesant,” a retail and entertainment plaza. In an effort by the Bed-Stuy Restoration Corporation to “recharge the area’s financial batteries.”
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1976 A Commercial Center | The Old as a Gateway to the New
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The Old as a Gateway to the New In the creation of the commercial plaza, surrounding brownstone facades were saved in order to provide the impression of enclosure, while maintaining the existing historic appeal of the community. 35
2007 St. Marks Park Second Renovation | The Park as a Safe Haven
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The Park as a Safe Haven In 2007, the St. Marks park was renovated as part of a collaboration between NYC Parks and Recreation and the St. Marks Ave. Block Association. Erik Thomas, the present day Block Association President states, “the
park is a gathering place for all people ering to a third renovation project in the community. Down the street scheduled for later this year, 2013) there have been problems with drugs, but not here. In the summer, the streets are filled with people young and old. We want to give the kids a larger playground because it’s so popular” (ref37
Fafanto (The butterfly) represents gentleness and honesty. Bi Nka Ni (Two fish biting each other’s tails) advocates harmony, fair play and forgiveness.
2007 St. Marks Park Second Renovation | The Park as an Education Grounds
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Compass motif on play grounds
The Park as an Education Grounds The Second Renovation of the St. Marks Park incorporated educational symbols in the pavement. The images in the granite pavers have been selected from many employed to decorate Adinkra, a highly-valued, hand
-stamped, cotton cloth, whos origin can be traced to the Assante people of Ghana and the Gyaman of Cote D’Ivoire. In addition to aesthetic value, each symbol has proverbial, historical, allegorical and magical significance. 39
2030 Our Cities Ourselves: A Vision| Brooklyn Bridge Redux
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Brooklyn Bridge Redux St. Marks Park in Bed-Stuy is an early precedent for many of today’s design proposals to convert the street into a gathering place. Manhattan’s AIA Center for Architecture debuted, in 2010, an exhibition that envisions a new era of sustainable
mobility and a new kind of pedestrian street. New York City grew up around its subways and commuter rails — the largest rapid transit system in the world. Despite this, throughout the 20th century, the city has been continuously retrofitted to accommodate cars. As the 21st century moves forward, New York 41
2030 Our Cities Ourselves: A Vision| Brooklyn Bridge Redux
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Brooklyn Bridge Redux (con’t) City’s leaders and community organizations are actively working to reverse and reduce car domination over public space.
putting people first and integrating transport types.
The images in the exhibition portray a resurgent Lower Manhattan in 2030, 43
2050 Audi & BIG Urban Future| A New Life on the Street
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A New Life on the Street In 2011, Audi and BIG Architects developed a new system for organizing the street. The new street is one which is active and adaptive. It takes into account the future of information technology, making the street an efficient,
colorful, and less-orderly play ground shared by all people.
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Superblock: A New Life on the Transgenerational Street 47