We tend to think of our built environments as permanent, unchanging, even eternal. But, architecture and infrastructure are, in fact, downright ephemeral when we consider them on generational scale. For most of you reading this the building you are sitting in now was not in existence 100 years ago. For a large number of us the building was not around even 50 years ago. Landscapes can change very rapidly.

Last weekend I was in upstate New York standing in a field of high grass laced with wild flowers and humming with bees. A ragged bush, 10 or 15 feet tall anchored the bucolic scene. Unless you knew what to look for, you would assume that the scene was one of unadulterated natural beauty.

But, this was no place untouched by man, I was standing on the foundation of a mansion the belonged to one of the wealthy heirs of the robber barons of the 1890s. The outline of the foundation was visible under a layer of thick moss and buried in weeds, the remains of the front steps descended in to a clearing and vanished in to the grass.

Through the 1910s and 1920s this "summer house" flourished-- I imagine the people who lived there thought it would last forever. Only the front gate remains, wide enough for carriages two-abreast, a metal spigot hints at the gas lights that one lit the way for guests. And there were once many guests-- because, we saw, not only the ruins of a single country manor, but of a small cluster of manors that once formed a kind of resort.

But all of this is gone today, and in 100 years time few people will remember.

Oddly enough, knowing that gives me some hope. You see, there are quite a few urban planners who are pulling out all of their hair because they feel the recent suburban expansion has gone too far too fast. The energy requirements for the type of dwellings we have built are too great and unsustainable at the present scale. And they are mostly likely right-- But, it's not as if anything will continue to exist if people stop taking care of it. The built environment persists only through human effort and if we change the focus of our efforts our built environment will change and, within only a few generations, it may be completely different.

How old is your building?
Will it still be around in 100 years?

This is what it looked like when it was only half done...

...and it's done!




This is "The Hub" it's a great place to shop in the South Bronx, this is where you can find all kinds of deals.


This is the photo I took last summer-- I used it as a reference.



I think the painting is a little "blah" -- Aaron likes it a lot, though. What do you think? What should I paint next?

What I did this morning.

Okay, and here is the one I did last week. I did it "from memory"that's why all of the buildings are blank. I need to go out and paint ON LOCATION.

I've started painting again! This one is small only 23 X 31 cm.

It's based on the freedom tunnel, but I changed the graffiti a bit.



It feels a little flat, I need to do something with more depth next.

This is how I painted this same subject three years ago:

In August 2002 I visited High Bridge Park in Washionton Heights and was surprised, delighted and appalled by the graffiti I found in the section of the park under the sweeping curves of the entrance and exit ramps to the Cross Bronx Expressway. I created this painting in an attempt to capture what I loved and hated about the graffiti covered red wall.

When I visited the parks again, only a month later, I started to grasp the true nature of the situation. Most of the graffiti I'd observed before had been painted over with bright red paint, but despite this, new tags had appeared on top of the fresh coats of paint. Over the next 5 years I'd see this process repeated many times.

I began to wonder how "the authorities" had been drawn in to such a childish and sysiphisian battle over public surfaces, and I began to wonder why graffiti removal had a higher priority than other aspects of park improvement. As the park department battled teenagers with paint over the dreary walls of the expressway overpass, the park lamps remained broken, the pavers continued to crumble from the steps in front of the red wall and the park continued to fail (at least in this area) to serve the public.



There is a popular philosophy in law enforcement and urban planning known as "broken windows." It states that cosmetic improvements and battling so-called "quality of life crimes" are the key to establishing public order. However, the "broken windows" has failed in the case of the great red wall. No amount of paint will make this place a destination for regular neighborhood folks, the kind of destination that is self-policing through the presence of people engaged in ordinary daily activities.

Creating public spaces that work requires thought about how those spaces will be used. Since the steps are broken and since there is no illumination after dusk, since there are no park amenities in this area, no water fountains, no picnic tables or grilling stations there is no good reason to walk under the noisy expressway except to tag the walls with graffiti or, if you work for the city, to paint over those tags. The primary activity for this space is painting the wall. (Or, in my case observing and enjoying the drama of the wall being painted, over and over!)



The only people who use this area sensibly (myself included) are the people who have dogs, who seem appreciate having and area where they can let the hounds off-lease for a bit. Hence, the correct solution to the graffiti problem is to stop worrying about painting the walls, fix the broken walkways, fix the lamps and install a dog run. This will make the area a destination, and alleviate other areas of the park from unsightly dog mess. The increased use will deter graffiti and, at some later date the more unsightly tags can be removed and they will stand a better chance of not returning. We should, however consider keeping some of the more artistic works, they're a part of the history of the area and an improvement to the oppressive blank walls of the expressway.

Cosmetic improvements are important, but it is the changes to the form of a public space that dictate how it will or won't be used. A park that isn't used by anyone but graffiti artists is rightly a graffiti park, and if we want to change that and expand the number of people who can enjoy that space we'll need to build in such a way that people have a reason to be there. Tagging and "untagging" alone won't have any lasting impact.

60 million dollars have been budgeted for park improvements. Let's hope that they are used wisely.

Some of the drawings for the book I'm making about Wall Street for my little niece:



But, not long, not long, as the fair city grew,
they tore down that wall and paved it all over too.

This was called Wall Street, old home of that wall,
lenders, borrowers and bankers, both great and small.




For, this is called Wall Street, old home of that wall,
lenders, bankers and borrowers, both great and small.

[here is the rest of the text, as posted before:]
( Read more... )


Any comments on text and these images? What sort of drawings should I have for the rest of the story?

.... I have a long way to go on this project!

Spring Street
Watercolor 14" x 20"

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