East Coast Memorial is located at the southeast section of the Battery Park, the 25-acre public park at the southern tip of Manhattan. It was built in 1963 and now under the collection of the United Sates Government. The memorial consists of eight huge, symmetrically placed granite panels that bear the names, place of birth, and the titles of the 4,601 servicemen who perished in the Atlantic Ocean during World War II. The East Coast Memorial also creates a powerful spatial statement. Situating toward the Statue of Liberty to the southwest and the high-rise buildings of State Street to the north, the monument centers on a large, bronze eagle set on a black granite. The eagle holds a laurel wreath and sits upon an ocean wave. This is to signify the act of mourning at sea. When stepping inside the Memorial, one can first be overwhelmed by the symmetrical space in which the Memorial and the skyscrapers coherently creates. The monumental space then transcends you to a moment in honoring those who sacrificed their lives. I appreciate the fierceness of this memorial, which conveys not just grief over the lives lost but the idea that they were lost in a worthwhile cause, and that those who survived should rightly be proud to have fought and won. Without these lost lives, we would never have been able to catch the beautiful sunset here at the Battery Park.
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| Facing Statue of Liberty |
Narrative 2: SeaGlass Carousel
I stumbled upon the SeaGlass Carousel when I was visiting East Coast Memorial. The SeaGlass Carousel is located at the southeast section of the Battery Park. It opens up to public in Spring 2015. It is commissioned by the Battery Conservancy, a non-profit educational corporation to rebuild and revitalize The Battery. When the Battery Conservancy was designing the park’s interior, they realized the southern end of the park needed more light. Then the design team came up with the idea of an aquatic carousel to conjure The Battery’s history as the first home of the New York Aquarium.
SeaGlass was built by WXY architecture. Inspired by the chambered nautilus, the spiraling pavilion of glass and steel brings art, architecture, and music to children of all ages. The George Tsypin Opera Factory creates a mystical underwater experience with beautiful symphony.
I like the fact that underwater world can be experienced in a carousel form. Although it is not really riding a shark like riding a horse, but in a capsule that allows you “to become the fish” - sort of like a submarine with “portholes you can observe through.” The glowing of the fish really helps creating the illusion that riders are in the sea. The drama of the glowing fish is heightened by the fact that each one rotates. The rider sits within iridescent fish that glide through the visuals and sounds of a 360 degree aquatic adventure.
Narrative 3: Elizabeth Street Garden
Whenever I walk over to lower east side I try to pass through this zen garden. It is a 20,000-sq-ft through lot in Little Italy with frontage on Elizabeth and Mott Streets, between Prince and Spring Streets. I remember when I first saw this I thought it was a random graveyard. Then I saw all these beautiful statues scattered around. It was as if they had gathered for a party and each had a secret story to tell.
Elizabeth Street Garden has come a long way. Since the community has come together to prevent it from becoming public housing, volunteers have kept the garden open. Some of the piece are very damaged, and still had hefty price tags, strange. Some are just amazing to look at, there is a table built on stone slabs with skulls etched into them. I would never want any of these pieces in my home, nor would I ever choose to decorate a garden this way. As a public space, however, it is a pleasure to wander. Appearing unexpectedly among apartment buildings and cute stores, the gallery-garden is a surreal slice of a different world.
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