Civic centers to be a focal point of a community, whether that is for sports, arts or performances. Lincoln center relates to the city around it by disassembling the previous lacking block, and force it to become a sophisticated neighborhood with a plaza that allows for people to see each other in bright spotlight, forcing a safety down onto the people.

Walking into the rainy plaza of Lincoln Center and being protected by the colonnades from the rain was slightly reassuring. This nucleus of the arts that it is, it seems like an elaborate expanse with these buildings towering over you, but also providing an unexpected shelter from the elements. A huge piece of land is surrounded on three sides by glass front buildings, inviting you in, with a fountain in the middle for aesthetics. This land used to be a neighborhood, an entire block with residences on it; after hearing the history behind it, the Center became slightly more concerning.

The idea of taking land from people because you don’t like the neighborhood and turning it into an open space just doesn’t sit right with me. I’m sure that there are better ways to implement the arts and safety into already existing neighborhoods. I know for a fact that actions like these will cause greater issues in surrounding areas, as this one improves. When it comes to residential buildings here, the ones we had looked like weren’t exactly too practical; I understand wanting to use the idea of the tower and the land of Le Corbusier, but the implementation doesn’t look that great now. The idea of having your own little suburbia in the middle of the city seems a little bit unrealistic; most importantly, having a street terminate into a parking lot also makes the area feel  unsafe, as there isn’t any storefronts or anyone who is surveilling. The parking lots that could instead be parks seemed more and more intimidating as the night drew close, and having only one exit way seems downright dangerous.