line and alignments: INDUSTRIAL PARK, BETHPAGE, L.I.
Group members:
Kittiratana Pitipanich
Jeffrey Naprawa
Lo Chi-Loong
Ariel Krasnow
The Grumman Site is a significant and timely relic of the military/industrial/governmental powered engine that helped to shape Long Island's development. Grumman positioned itself at the vanguard of the aviation industry, linking Bethpage/Hicksville to the larger metropolitan areas of New York, Washington...to world events and to the moon. Fragmented by energetic and chaotic growth ,the area is schizophrenic. Rail and road construction, zoning practices, car ownership, short-sighted development , "The American Dream," the American government, all helped to create the now existing homogeneous enclaves as disparate parts: commercial, industrial, transportation, public and residential areas. While the suburban dream tries to remain vibrant, its built manifestation generally lacks the physical attributes which encourage community interaction. In charting the character of the site we found:
- Local links between specific public areas
- That, as development impinges on what was, and what could be, this decrepit industrial giant may yet have something to impart to a new vision of growth.
- Disjointed neighborhoods characterize and support insular homogeneous zones with no connective tissue between.
- Roads and smaller centers form local and regional armatures to which enclaves are attached. This quality can be elaborated towards new growth.