There are four distinct Hills : Grassy Hill, Slide Hill, Discovery Hill and Outlook Hill.
The Hills are located on Governors Island, a 172-acre island in the affection of New York Harbor, 800 yards ( 730 m ) from Lower Manhattan and 400 yards ( 365 molarity ) from Brooklyn. The Island is reached by a 7-minute ferry ride from the Battery Maritime Building in Manhattan or Pier 6 in Brooklyn Bridge Park.
The Hills
The Hills are the culminate of the Park and Public Space Master Plan. Built from a combination of salvage fill, clean fill, designed soils and geomorphologic subscribe, the altitude and gradient of the Hills make complex gradations of planting conditions based on light, aspect and class. As a solution, the planting strategy for the Hills is the most complex from an aesthetic, experiential, and technical foul point of view .
As visitors climb the paths the view sheds are controlled through the mass of the trees and shrubs. Trees along the nerve pathway are placed to provide views at key moments, and trees on the slopes of the Hills are planted at elevations that will not inhibit 360-degree views from the top of the tallest mound. 830 trees are planted on the Hills in a mix of sizes, both B & B and containerized, comprising 32 tree species. Plant species selected are tolerant of a variety of site conditions ; salt, exposure, gradient, and experience. The Hills canopy planting strategy utilizes a mix of native and adapted deciduous hardwood trees with a focus on the Oak canopy .
Red, Black, Scarlett and Swamp White Oaks dapple the Hills, acting as a good continuation of the Park Phase 1 planting strategy .
special groves inserted within the oak forest provide accents in the landscape ; from the Sassafras grove leading into Liberty Moment to the grove of Birch and Pine providing a shade canopy at Slide Hill .
Planting is used to accentuate view corridors, such as the crimson foliation of the sumac ravine as visitors pass through Liberty Moment in the twilight .
The planting palette provides accents of color as it draws visitors ’ attention to the alone views of the Statue of Liberty, while the wooded forests are thoughtfully planned to create “ viewing corridors ” to the sights of the Island and the Harbor .
Slope Detail
Vegetation Growth Diagram
Over 40,000 shrubs, comprising 19 species of planting cover charge about 5 acres of the Hills. Shrub choice and placement corresponds to locate conditions ; salt, exposure, slope and know. Shrub facility sizes, both gallon and quart, and spacing associate to particular technical needs including erosion control and slope stability. Shrub species are grouped into mixes of varying concentration, which accentuate the have of the Hills. 37 sum shrub mixes allow for ecological transitions as a answer to experience and site conditions .
Imagine the loss leaf of blueberry shrubs as visitors walk down the Discovery Hill ridge .
experience the monochromatic, monumental view of inkberry, huckleberry and sumac plantings on the seaport grimace of Outlook and Discovery from the Staten Island Ferry .
A sluice of yellow leap flowers of New Jersey Tea and Summersweet greet the visitor at the introduction to Outlook .
Hammock Grove
West 8 ’ south maestro plan for the island unifies the north and south island through tree plantings that are integrated with newly sculpted topography throughout the confederacy island. By designing the two coincident to each other, the north island experience of cheery and shady rooms will continue all the way to the south tiptoe of the island – enhancing the feel of closeness in some areas and creating new views of New York Harbor in others .
“ Hammock Grove, ” opened in 2014 and is named for the red hammocks throughout the botanic grove of new trees. The hammocks today are strung on particular posts, but they will swing from the shade trees once they are grandiloquent enough to support them. Hammock Grove provides a ten-acre area of percolate light and shadow. New trees are planted to act like scrims – shifting, hide, and revealing dramatic views of the Statue of Liberty to visitors walking along the gently weave paths. The native plant palette in Hammock Grove is based on the oak-hickory-chestnut community that was originally on the island. ( native Americans in the region referred to the island as “ Paggank ” which translates to ‘ nut island. ’ )
The design of Hammock Grove entails the creation of an wholly newly grove of trees, and features a mix of techniques to help support the new trees in the challenging harbor environment. The team tagged over fifty dollar bill species of trees in seven states to support the divers establish palette, which includes eight oak species and four hickory species. 5,800 seedlings, 1,482 one-inch caliper trees, and 448 balled and burlapped trees are planted in an organized grid layout to facilitate early management. The grid will be visible in early years but over fourth dimension, as the forest forms and trees are culled, the power system will become less visible. Tulip poplar and alnus seedlings are used as nanny species to buffer island conditions, helping the other trees to adapt and grow tall. As the forest matures, many of these sacrificial species will die off or be removed to allow the other species to achieve full human body. All of the trees are planted in newly soils designed for the island and are under planted with hayfield grasses .
The entire grove is lifted topographically from existing grade in anticipation of ocean level resurrect, and to prevent the tree roots from experiencing the brackish groundwater below. urban dwellers from New York and beyond will come to Hammock Grove to experience the seasons – bounce ’ south beginning leaves, summer shade, and fall colors – and to walk, bicycle, sit under a tree, or nap in one of the colorful namesake hammocks. Hammock Grove ’ s filtered inner light will create different moods in unlike weather, providing a memorable parking lot have and endless opportunities for future programs and gatherings… a true urban afforest for the twenty-first hundred city .
Materials
The Hills are constructed from recycle destruction debris, general fill and whippersnapper pumice. The materials are stabilized with geotechnical strengthener. The recycle debris is from old residential buildings and parking lots that were demolished on the site .
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The cardinal topic that drove the engineering of the Hills was global stability- if the Hills were besides heavy their weight could cause not only failure of the breakwater but besides of the underlying filling of the Island itself. The use of pumice stone inside Outlook Hill lightens the weight of the mound at the southerly part of the Island, which was besides created from of fill material excavated from the Lexington Avenue underpass construction in the early on 1900s .
After covering the Hills in high-quality topsoil, a divers selection of more than 860 new trees, 41,000 new shrubs, and grasses were planted .
Edging throughout the Hills is made of precast concrete and embossed with a blueprint that references the nautical life of the harbor. A look down from the hilltop reveals striking patterns, discrete “ petals ” of k park outlined by the bright white concrete border .
Reclaimed granite blocks from the Island ’ s early breakwater were used to create the Scramble, a sport that offers visitors an opportunity to climb to the acme of the Outlook Hill. There are besides universally accessible paths up Outlook Hill and to Slide Hill .
The Landscape Architecture
transformation of Governors Island through topography is the cardinal animating principle of design throughout the entire 40-acre park, and is exemplified by the Hills. The Hills, rising 25 to 70 feet above the island, embody all that makes Governors Island alone, a celebration of art, play, nature, relaxation and dramatic context .
Governors Island Grading Plan
Geotechnical Diagrams
The design of the Hills evolved throughout the chief plan work. Hill locations were shifted and the team worked out the approachability of pathways. Each hill was shaped and re-shaped to make it an enjoyable position to be, frame views, and to maximize views from the circus tent .
Art Installation by Rachel Whiteread
Cabin, 2015
Rachel Whiteread ’ s Cabin on Discovery Hill continues the british artist ’ s sake in producing evocative sculptures of negative spaces and structures. In this case, atop the edge of Discovery Hill, the artist has sited a concrete cast of the interior of a simple cabin, a place suggestive of retrograde and introspection. Sitting modestly on the hillside overlooking New York Harbor, the sculpture creates a common sense of contemplative quiet and distance from the bustle of the city across the body of water. Strewn around the cabin are numerous bronze casts of discard objects including bottles, cans and other defy ; some of these objects were sourced on the Island itself .
Cabin is a fiction, an complex number space on which viewers project their own thoughts and emotions. The eldritch qualities of Whiteread ’ sulfur sculpt, set opposite the Statue of Liberty and looking out over the bay, suggest what such a space might represent and who may have been its resident. This social organization is undoubtedly an escape from the populace, so far stands in resistance before it. One could imagine its resident to be some contemporary Thoreau seance in a cabin to write his or her own Walden, Life in the Woods or Civil Disobedience .
Rachel Whiteread ( b. 1963 ) is best known for several large-scale public commissions including House ( 1993 ), a sculpture cast from the inside of a condemn victorian house in London ’ s East End ; Water Tower ( 1998 ), a resin cast of a urine tugboat such as are omnipresent to the New York City skyline ( installed on the roof of the Museum of Modern Art ) ; Monument ( 2001 ), an invert base placed upon an empty pedestal in London ’ s Trafalgar Square ; and Nameless Library ( 1995/2001 ), besides known as the Judenplatz Holocaust Memorial, in Vienna, an dense library of books turned inwards. Her works are in many collections worldwide including the museum of Modern Art, New York ; the National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. ; the Stedelijk van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven ; the Tate, London ; and the Centre Pompidou, Paris .
The Governors Island Park and Public Spaces
The Hills are the latest addition to the parking lot and public spaces of Governors Island. The first 30 acres opened to the public in 2014 include : Liggett Terrace, a six-acre plaza with seasonal plantings, seating, food concessions and a hedge tangle ; Hammock Grove, a cheery ten-acre space that is home to 1,500 new trees, play areas and 50 hammocks ; and the Play Lawn, 14 acres for turn and rest that includes two natural turf ball fields sized for adult softball and Little League baseball. In addition, new welcome areas have been added at the Island ’ south ferry landings, as have cardinal visitor amenities, such as fall, seating and signage by Pentagram throughout the Historic District .
now that the Hills are open to the populace, visitors are now able to walk or bike around the island ’ south entire 2.2-mile promenade and enjoy the popular Picnic Point. The southerly portions of the parade and Picnic Point had been closed since 2012.
The Trust for the Governors Island
The Trust for Governors Island is the nonprofit organization corporation created by the City of New York that is responsible for the renovation and operation of 150 acres of Governors Island. The Trust ’ s mission is to transform Governors Island into a vibrant resource for New York City, making this island at the center of New York Harbor a address with extraordinary public open space, angstrom well as educational, nonprofit organization and commercial facilities .
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