This project takes up the challenge of bridging these fragments with a string of elements, encounters, or events along any number of paths that a person may travel in the area. Initializing these are two gateways: the LIRR terminal and the Brooklyn/Manhattan bridge landings. At the LIRR terminal a network of trains connects Brooklyn to other parts of New York City and the region. Above ground, the intersection of Flatbush, Atlantic Ave. and 4th Ave. links downtown and other neighborhoods. In the area between the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges there are vehicular and visual connections to Brooklyn.
These two places are where people arrive and begin to navigate their way through downtown Brooklyn. In the present situation, the routes leading to and from these points do nothing to announce or invite people into the city. By creating a landscape leading to and from these points, the gateways will link a network of islands.
The probes, the Manhattan 'viewing station' and piece of Flatbush Avenue, are investigations into creating landscapes that activate an area at different scales of use, times of occupation and are accessible by vehicles and pedestrians. At the 'viewing station, an elevated park, shops, and an art gallery allow for different scales of use at different durations of time. The different elements are coded: pit stops which are points occupied for only a few minutes, visual noise which involves linear movement through, in and along for a longer period of time and events, which are spatial and last for the longest period of time. Similarly, billboards, kiosks, and 'visual noise' on Flatbush allow for experiences at the scale of the vehicle and the pedestrian. The elements are lined up as a gateway to Brooklyn on one side of the street and a gateway to Manhattan on the other. Their positioning at intersections and entrances to other parts of downtown will hopefully encourage movement through the site.
A more defined landscape could strengthen Brooklyn's civic identity.