Design Reserach Project
Page 15
Public Contribution in High-Rise Building Design
@ New York City
Rockefeller Center : The City within the City
Rockefeller - The Classical Complex
The Sequences: Ways to access to the heart of Rockefeller Center
Access from the Fifth Avenue
If any visitors walk down town, starting from the park, they will pass lots of famous brand-name shops along the street. The list of these brands seems endless and always changes. Suddenly they will realize one spot that is special and rather holy. Among all the hi-class window showcases which can stimulate people's temptation, St.Patrick's Church, the largest church in New York City was standing, scraping into the sky, holy and gorgeous with its own remarkable craftsmanship that was put into it. It is so beautiful. However, most of the people do not realize that they are already at the Rockefeller Center.
Picture: Atlas Sculpture - Looking from St. Patrick's Church, it can be considered as a landmark that address the existence of Rockefeller Plaza toghether with the holy Church.
There is no documentation or record whether Mr. Rockefeller wanted his complex to compete with the spiritual space of St.Patrick's. However,at this spot of the street, there is a design that has been proceeded, discussed, programed, explored until it came to the solution of "How will they attract the people from the Fifth Avenue, the most luxurious Avenue in Midtown.
Looking from St. Patrick's Front into the Center. There is no sign of the welcome area yet. People can only sense the existing of the center by looking across the street and realizing the same finishing of all the buildings there.
Walking towards south, visitors will be in front of the Saks Company, the classic boutique store. Then, they will find the Promenade which is the Welcome area to all the visitors on 5th Avenue.
In terms of perception, it is not enough for people to sense the existence of the great urban space that they have. Most of the people that wander on the Fifth Avenue, such as tourists, will always see St. Patrick's first. In front of St' Patrick's there is a grand staircase the people always sit, or hang out. This is the very important spot that the center can provide the icon to attract the people. However, there are no such things. It is obvious that the center needs to be known. That is the reason why they installed the big sign for the promenade that can be seen from St' Patricks. However, it is not a part of the original architecture design. This is only the problem solving by the operating people who have already done the best they can.
Picture: Looking From Saks Fifth Ave. Building to the Promenade - there is a sign of people's activity in that area.
Picture: The Crossing that did not allign to the Promenade (Not even align to the Street's Intersection)- If it was designed to align with the major axis of the center it will emphasize the welcome atmosphere to the visitors around Fifth Ave.
In front of Saks Fifth Ave., the visitors will be able to see the promenade across the street. There is a crossing to the promenade but not located on the Axis directly. I imagine if this crossing was located on the axis, it would be so strong and would emphasize the existing of the promenade. What visitors see from here is just the promenade garden and the people who sit around there. There is also a part of the background fountain and some golden reflection from the fountain spot. This is the way of designing from the designer who decided not to tell everything about this open space to the people who just walk pass. They have to come in and see what it is. This is because if they know everything by just looking at it once, then it would be no sense to walk in.
When the visitors enter the promenade, the first thing they will sense is the down-hill slope towards the fountain. This down-hill slope in terms of space psychology, can create 2 kinds of feeling to human. Firstly, the sense of public. The lower is always more public like. If you want to enter some body's private place, you always have to go step "up". Secondly, the sense of comfort. Walking down hill is always a pleasure more than walking up hill. Especially in this case, down-hill walking with the beautiful plants, sound of water and the context to be explored in front of you. The visitors will be able to ask themselves: what are all the people doing down there ?
The sound of the water from the fountain grows loulder. Then they found the Golden Prometheus floating on the water so dominative but also so soft and gentle. After a short walk in the beautiful environment, the visitors can observe the heart of Rockefeller Center, the Sunken Plaza, in terms of urban space and also 30 Rockefeller Center beyond, in terms of Architecture.