People who live in Bethpage are isolated, and on their way home can only get information and images from the media (TV, newspaper, billboards, exit signs and mile markers). These mediated images do not give a clear picture of Bethpage. In this situation, I propose to find a pattern of visual experience and to make a relationship among natural elements, suburban images and armatures. The goal is to create a new visual experience in section, which can represent existing and future relationships among the elements found in Bethpage.
There are three very important considerations when we concern ourselves with the experience of movement - speed, visual images, and natural elements (trees, earth, landscape). They each play a different role in this project.
Strategy
Speed: The study of speed in Bethpage helps us understand how rates of movement are related to the experience of existing spaces and elements. It can tell us in which part of the site movement should be slowed down, in order to give a new visual experience of the site.
Visual Image: The study of visual experience and images in the residential district is related to the program(function, use). In section, the project studies the subtle and ambiguous relationship between images created between sky and ground level.
Natural Elements: The study of natural elements in this project is approached through an analogy with "The Signature in Blank", a painting by Rene Magritte (1965). The Bethpage landscape should not only play a role as a visual element, it should also help create a mental boundary and a reference to the regional scale, thereby helping to control speed at the local scale.
Probes
The first probe - near the railroad -- attempts to improve the Grumman site's connection with the residential district currently on the opposite side of the rail line. A function related with media is proposed, because the space between the residential district and industrial park will establish communications between opposite subjects. This is also related to the study of visual experience. A shifting landscape creates a new relationship between a film studio, the railroad and the residential neighborhood, a state park, a�fun park and an outdoor movie theater establishing different scales and layers of thinking.
The second probe is near the existing shopping center. It is meant explore connections amongst the residential district, commercial district and new train station. A function related with commercial activity and media is proposed. It consists of natural elements, media images, electronic billboards and industrial landmarks. These elements play an important role in controlling the speed of traffic. They are placed to occupy the corner between intersection and skyline, limiting the visual angle of drivers and giving them a chance to absorb the images of Bethpage's built fabric.
Project Effect
The traffic on the connection to J.F.K. Airport will increase, because Bethpage will develop a significant new film industry. The industrial park site could become the eastern Hollywood. Considering possible links to international transportation is thus necessary.
The need for more residents should be considered. Post-production activities will change the structure of population and more professionals will move in.
Bringing in new commercial and business activities( media center, theater, film studio, film post-productions, fun park)will provide and replace the opportunities of jobs presently lost from the pre-existing aviation.