History , Arts , Lifestyle

NY400 Week: Presentation of the New Amsterdam Pavilion

Outlook Google

Location
Peter Minuit Plaza/New Amsterdam Plein, Battery Park
New York

Time:
11 - 12 PM  Official presentation with the Prince of Orange and Princess Máxima of the Netherlands (by invitation only)
12 - 6 PM    Public Preview

The New Amsterdam Plein and Pavilion is the gift of the Netherlands to New York in honor of 400 years of friendship. The Pavilion and street furniture for the surrounding plaza are designed by Dutch architect Ben van Berkel of UNStudio. It will serve as an attractive gathering place for New Yorkers, commuters and tourists, as well as a tribute to our common history and shared values. The Pavilion is situated on Peter Minuit Plaza at the Battery, one of New York’s main intersections, with 75,000 people passing through each day. 

Part of Peter Minuit Plaza will be renamed New Amsterdam  Plein. The Plaza is currently undergoing a major renovation; it will only be accessible on September 9, and is closed afterwards. The presentation and the Pavilion can be viewed from the Staten Island Ferry Terminal terrace.

During the presentation, there will be a special display about the Schaghen letter, New York City’s ‘birth certificate’. This important document will be exhibited at the South Street Seaport Museum, as part of the exhibition New Amsterdam: The Island at the Center of the World.

The New Amsterdam Plein & Pavilion will be located within The Battery’s Peter Minuit Plaza, named for the enterprising Dutch Director-General who in 1626 consolidated the early settlements at the tip of Manhattan – a grouping that came to be known as New Amsterdam. This destination is, in the words of architect Ben van Berkel, 'the ideal site for a permanent commemoration of 400 years of Dutch history in New York, because it is steeped in a sense of a shared past and looks directly toward the harbor where Henry Hudson sailed, but is also entirely focused on the future by virtue of its role as a modern transportation hub within the constantly changing scene of Lower Manhattan. This is a site where history meets the future.'   

To express the interplay of history and future, the landscape architects of New York City Department of Parks & Recreation Manhattan Capital Projects have conceived a stone-paved civic platform – ‘plein’ in Dutch – with walkways featuring engraved quotations from Russell Shorto’s acclaimed book The Island at the Center of the World.  A carved stone map of Castello’s New Amsterdam will grace the entrance to the Plein to provide historical context. Within the open space of the Plein, visitors will find UNStudio-designed seating and tables.  These will surround a highly sculptural pavilion with an expressive, undulating roofline and curving walls – a compact little building with the authority of a major landmark, evoking a flower opening to its surroundings.  The pavilion will be equipped with an electronic facade LED system that allows for a constantly changing light show at night, 'an experience that will carry the animation and drama of the day into the evening,' according to Van Berkel.  



The New Amsterdam Plein will also feature berms and perennial garden planting beds, designed by New York City Parks & Recreation using the color palette of landscape designer Piet Oudolf, who designed The Battery Bosque Gardens,  the Battery’s Gardens of Remembrance, and the High Line's planting design.

About Ben van Berkel and his office UNStudio
UNStudio has been founded in 1988 by Ben van Berkel and Caroline Bos. Based in Amsterdam, UNStudio has worked internationally since its inception and has produced a wide range of work ranging from public buildings, infrastructure, offices, residential, products, to urban masterplans. Pivotal UNStudio projects within these fields include; the New Mercedes-Benz museum in Stuttgart (2001-2006), the Galleria Department Store in Seoul (2005), the private family house VilLA NM in Upstate New York (2002 - 2007), the Agora Theater in Lelystad (2004 - 2007) and the Erasmus Bridge in Rotterdam (1990-1996).