Author: Win Myint Aung (Page 3 of 3)

As the population increases, the need for open space dramatically increases. The permission to build a big park was approved by the state and started the commission. Because of their unique design, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won the competition out of the 33 teams. Some of their designs are very notable and some are not.

When people hear about building a big park, many of them favor it. Even though African Americans living in the project area needed to force out of the village, the need for the open space is more important. One group of people who favor the park the most is the rich. The park will divide them away from the poor. The streets will be cleaner and more room for their horses, and most importantly, the value of the property will Skyrock.

When we first enter, we are greeted by a big entrance without an arch. The entrance is very welcoming because of this design. Alone the way, there is a continuous bench on both sides of the path. There are many open fields for people to use. On the way to the fountain, we walk on a big path with trees on the sides. These are a noticeable feature of the parks. The fountain, the man-made lake, and the stream are also easily noticeable. Some unnoticeable feature is the major East-West traffic. The roads are carefully disguised with the landscape. Without the sound of the traffic, we will not realize that we are hovering above the traffic. This design won the commission for Frederick and Calvert. Some of the paths went under the traffic thus creating a tunnel. At the end of the tunnel, we are framed with a nice view of the buildings.

I appreciate the design that went into building the park. It becomes a naturalist park and brings joy to visitors. It gives people a chance to get away from the business city and get closer to the natural world.

Population rapidly increases in Manhattan during 1850-1880, and about 40 percent of the population are immigrants. Because of the increase in population, many landowners max out the usage of the property by building houses to house immigrants. The overcrowded buildings lead to many problems such as sanitation and health issues. The houses were redesign, but the quality of life did not improve.

Many immigrants flee their own countries and seek for a batter life in the United States. When people arrived, they needed shelter and comfort, thus got the attention of many landlords. To fit many people, landlords built as mush buildings as they can in their property line. Putting the mindset of making money rather than the quality of life that their house will provide. The DNA of NY’s blocks got divided into two to fit two buildings. The new buildings were often closely built near the old ones, thus blocking the airflow and the sunlight. The quality of life during this time was horrible.

Because of the housing condition and the population, many problems emerged. The obvious one was sanitation. The streets were filthy, sewers were obstructed, manures were everywhere. At some point, as many as fifteen people were living in one room. People live closely, so the disease spread rapidly from one to another, from one building to another. Later, the whole block got infected by the disease. One of the blocks called The Lung Block was one of the famous blocks that got infected. The whole block got demolish because the problems were out of control.

The quality of life was very low. People lived in buildings where no breezes go through and no light shined through. There was no freshness. The Plumber and Sanitary Engineer sponsored a design competition to rebuild the house to increases the sun and breezes, but that competition-winning design didn’t increase the quality of life, because the landlords were controlling the competition using money. landlords wanted to make more money and the design that they choose met some requirement but didn’t improve the condition.

Lifes was difficult during 1800, and the greedy landlords were ruining the lives of many immigrants. The solution to the problems was not helpful.

The topography difference between Brooklyn and Manhattan is a clear reason why Manhattan got to develop much faster than Brooklyn. It is not until when people started diving farmland in Brooklyn, people started moving in. Making Brooklyn residential and Manhattan commercial.

It is often hard to tell the topography difference between two area unless we are comparing them side by side. As we were standing at Brooklyn Borough Hall, we can’t feel that we are on higher sea level than Manhattan. When we arrived at the edge of the Brooklyn Height, next to the BQE, the difference in topography was clear. We were on a hill, looking down toward Manhattan. If we look down toward the BQE, we can see the uneven topography of Brooklyn. It was easier to develop in Manhattan, where the topography is flatter.

Brooklyn started to get the attention of people who got sick of the business of Manhattan. The farmland got divided into many small lots. They were getting sold on the auction. People with capital bought them and renovated them. The newly built houses were then sold to the public as residential houses. Some houses were more valuable than others especially the ones near the edge of the water. they have a good view of the city, they don’t get flooded and they receive good, fresh, clean breezes. People like this area a lot so much that they convinced the city planner of that time to build the BQE to avoid the area. Many houses were built out of wood. Fire spreads rapidly in the neighborhood. Newly built ones were make out of brick. The semi-detached houses on willow street have the same design and emphasis on the door. They have the same ironic columns and the lintel, which is supporting the bricks of the opening. The similarity of the houses means that they were possibly owned by the same person.

When we arrived in Manhattan many buildings were commercial spaces and they were made out of stone. It is because they were used for shipping businesses. The stone gives people a sense of security. Making the building more trustable and making people more likable to store their goods. Cast iron was also incorporate into the building. It is not for decorating the building but fortifying the building. In the end, the buildings were not for people to live in.

Some people like Manhattan and some people favor Brooklyn. Both boroughs have their function. Depending on individuals needs and choosing the right neighborhood will yield a more comfortable living space.

Manhattan and Brooklyn had a different pace of growth. Because of the Dutch settlement, Manhattan got to developed faster than Brooklyn, which at the time was unused land. After England became the ownership of Manhattan, there was an increase in the size of this little town. It is not until 1811 when the massive urban plan got incorporated and started the grid system that we now knew. Brooklyn didn’t get any urban plan, so they have to follow the original route and creates the grid accordingly.

The Dutch settlement gave Manhattan a headstart in urban growth, but another reason Brooklyn is far behind is because of the terrain. There are many hills and uneven surfaces. Many areas become swamp due to the hills leading the water to the lower areas. The roads are curvy and it takes a long time to trave. The roads are built this way in order to avoid hills and valleys. Unlike Manhattan, most of its roads are straight and even.

The Dutch basically layout the grid system for us, because the 1811 massive plan is just an extended version of it. The growth in population and the needs for space leads to this decision and people are dedicated to layout the grid system. It doesn’t matter if there is an exceeding house or a hill that is on the way, nothing stops them from proceeding the master plan. The more space and building there are, the more money got put into the economy of Manhattan. The master plan didn’t carry along to Brooklyn, so Brooklyn had to lay the grid along the old property lines of the farms. Thus created a chaos grid in Brooklyn.

Although Manhattan and Brooklyn didn’t grow at the same pace and urban plan were not alike, it was the differences that give them their own characteristic.