Brooklyn Bridge Park
It took more than a decade of community-led advocacy (1985-1998) to convince leaders to transform the defunct Port Authority terminal into a park. Through their dedicated participation and many years of public engagement, Brooklynites inspired the idea that the park should feel democratic and reconnect people with the riverfront. After opening in late 2021, rather than speaking about the design himself, Michael Van Valkenburgh wanted to know what people think about the park and how they use it. The user experience is what makes the design, and so Spirit of Space spent a week observing the many experiences and chatted, completely at random, with people at various places within the park. Through these many observations and insights with the public, the design intention was revealed.
“I was taking care of this elderly gentleman who lives up on Columbia Heights, and I was describing to him what was happening on the piers. He had a big picture of the piers with all the warehouses on it from when he first moved here…and he was in his 80’s, he was blind and sort of housebound. And, once they opened I said I really want to bring you out of the house, take you to the park, and take your shoes off and let you walk on the grass. That was a really special moment, to be able to give that to him…You think, this is probably the only opportunity this man is gonna have to come put his bare feet in the grass after living in Brooklyn all these years.”
