NEW AMSTERDAM PLEIN & PAVILION

Commissioned by The Battery Conservancy and developed in collaboration with the Parks Department and Department of Transportation, the New Amsterdam Plein & Pavilion was made possible by a generous $2.3 million gift from the Kingdom of the Netherlands to New York City, in honor of four centuries of friendship and a mutual passion for the values of innovation and creativity, diversity and openness, entrepreneurship and progress. The site will be New York City's first true 21st century intermodal transportation hub - where bicycles, buses, the subway and water transportation intersect with cultural offerings in a singular expression of daring but lyrical design - and will convert an intersection traveled by more than 150,000 residents and visitors daily into Lower Manhattan's newest and most dynamic destination for cultural activity, entertainment, and enjoyment. The Plein & Pavilion project was conceived by the Battery Conservancy to create an extraordinary 'outdoor living room' for spontaneous and scheduled activities, public markets, seating and shade, and a gleaming white, state-of-the-art pavilion for visitor information and delicious locally grown gourmet food. Designed by UNStudio in collaboration with Handel Architects LLP, New York serving as associate architect. The project's landscape was conceived by Parks Dept. Landscape Designer Gail Wittwer-Laird.