New York is infamous for its small living spaces—an apartment so teeny that its occupants must use the oven for storage, or a tenement so tight that the bathtub is in the kitchen.
Light pollution hides views of the cosmos and causes a host of environmental problems. But architectural and landscape lighting can be designed so that it is sensitive to the night sky and ecosystems yet still responds to clients’ requirements.
“The idea was to create a ribbon in the middle of the canyon,” says Hervé Descottes, principal of L’Observatoire International, about the High Line project.
The creators of the Lowline, a proposed park below Delancey Street on New York’s Lower East Side, have received a major show of support from the New York City Economic Development Corporation.
From the top of Outlook Hill on Governors Island, the 172-acre land mass in New York Harbor, views of New York unfurl in a postcard-worthy panorama: the eye glides from the glossy skyscrapers of Lower Manhattan to the mint-green silhouette of Lady Liberty, across the channel to Brooklyn and the borough’s iconic bridge.
At the 70th annual Tony Awards, the architect received the award for Best Scenic Design of a Musical, marking his sixth nomination for scenic design and first win.
In spite of users’ grumbling about noise, distractions, and lack of privacy, the open-plan workplace—in its post-cubicle incarnation, with flexible, casual seating, and ample places to commune and play—continues to gain dominance in office design.