I am interested in the development of public places, especially how Roosevelt Island was progremmmed, planned and constructed and how qualities of public infrastructure the island had several decades ago function today.
Alvaro Sevilla, Associate Professor in the Department of Town and Regional Planning at the School of Architecture, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. He did his doctorate thesis about New York and probably he could help you. One of his publications is
Sevilla-Buitrago, A. (2014) Central Park y la producción del espacio público: el uso de la ciudad y la regulación del comportamiento urbano en la historia, Revista EURE – Revista De Estudios Urbano Regionales 40, pp. 55-74.
There is a great deal of material regarding several aspects of Roosevelt Island planning and redevelopment, so here are three aspects and websites to start.
Historically used for hospitals, redevelopment started with a in the 1970s based on a plan,including affordable housing, by Johnson and Burgee for New York State Urban Development Corporation. Several "towns" built in multiple phases since then, involving other noted architects, J.L Sert, Gruzen/Samton. The original Octagon House was rehabilitated in 2012. A tram provides access to Manhattan as well as the RFK Bridge auto connection to Queens. Roughly 12,000 people now live on the island, and there are numerous retail stores, parks and other amenities.
https://rioc.ny.gov/history.htm
Louis Kahn designed Four Freedoms Park commemorating FDRoosevelt was finally completed in 2012 at the southern tip of the island.
http://www.fdrfourfreedomspark.org/
In 2008, NYC Mayor Bloomberg held a competition for a new technology education facility, won by Cornell and Technion, and Roosevelt Island was selected as the location. The plan was prepared by SOM and James Cormer,, now the first phase of an academic building and housing are under construction. https://tech.cornell.edu/future-campus
What interest me the moast on the Roosevelt Island are streets - as Peter Blake, in his book Form Follows Fiasco (1977) writes: But the new Rooslvelt Island is distinguished from most other New Towns built in the United States since WWII by one small and seemingly obvious feature - it has a real street....etc. On the same page he writes abut Split II,: Split III is a city of streets - a city of pedestrian streets, densly popilated, lined with stores, more or less devoid of cars...etc. I live in Split and I am taking it as a case study, as well as the Roosevelt island
The streets in Split have much more history and character, and both partial cause and beneficiary of Split becoming a tourist destination. Main Street on Roosevelt Island is rather drab, but not quite fiasco, serves local needs. With new apartments and campus being built, hopefully there will be more retail activity and efforts to make Main Street livelier will move forward.
http://www.mainstreetwire.com/
http://rooseveltislander.blogspot.com/2016/05/roosevelt-island-main-street-retail.html
http://ny.curbed.com/2009/10/27/10529434/nobody-likes-roosevelt-islands-main-street
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