Union Square Visioning | New York - New York | 2020

Architects: Marvel Architects, Landscape Architects, Urban Designers PLLC.
Lead Architect: Jonathan Marvel
Lead Urban Planner and Designer: Ishita Gaur
Lead Landscape Architects: Tyler Silvestro
Client: Union Square Partnership (USP)
Images: Courtesy of the Architects

Few places in New York City provide such a prominent public stage for the display of art, and political protest, and a location for assembly and gathering as Union Square. A comprehensive vision was created with the Union Square Partnership to imagine and plan for the expansion of the public spaces of Union Square to continue its image as a world-class destination. Major disruptions to the L Train, dedicated 14th Street bus lanes, and the global retail and commercial upending caused by Covid has created new lenses through which Union Square can be evaluated. This disruption also provided an opportunity to renew and extend the identity of the Union Square District as the resilient and evolving space it is at its core.

Through rigorous site investigation and seasonal and daily observation of the multifaceted public spaces that make up Union Square, the team was able to understand the intimate and evolving ways it is used. This familiarity allowed the design lead to co-host a series of several pop-up events throughout the District and to speak to the opportunities with various community members to find the common ground on which the community would like to see Union Square improved. The guiding design principle for the future of Union Square was to safely expand the lively and culturally expressive public space of the Park as much as possible.

By that measure, paving and surface treatments partnered with roadbeds to create new synergies and an expansion of the public realm, both perceived and physical, expanded the accessible public domain beyond its current limits. Street seats and materially contextual planters and benches are an innovative addition to the plan. These street seats and planters are designed as a kit-of-parts, and can be deployed throughout the expansive Union Square Business Improvement District and 14th Street Corridor in order to create pockets of activity and to balance the ample retail experience in this critical E-W Manhattan artery. The infrastructural systems thinking was not only limited to transportation and pedestrian safety and experience. To accommodate the pleasure of visiting and enjoying the Union Square District, the Vision Plan also recommended the use of containerized waste for the use of the residents and business establishments of the District. Efficient, educational, and clean waste systems are critical to the daily operations of waste management where 14th Street will pioneer a pilot program for keeping their streets cleaner and more sustainable.

This planning project is essential in the expansion of the public realm through Manhattan. As Broadway continues to be pedestrianized, the northern threshold to Union Square Park becomes a space for a public realm expansion and a location for wayfinding, gathering, dispersion, and rotating art or a permanent landmark. This multi-modal approach creates a renewed sense of place for Union Square by leveraging its storied past and its culturally diverse present, and will push the District and Park into an environmentally conscious and inclusive future.