Deborah Freedman’s Monoprints, Inspired by the Four Freedoms

In the Spring of 2012 Gina Pollara, Executive Director, asked Deborah Freedman to create a series of prints based on the Four Freedoms.

“I became totally immersed in the life and landscape of FDR – looking for references to the Four Freedoms. Visiting Hyde Park was a revelation to me. Growing up in such a deeply nurturing environment must have infused the President with the principles that freedom from want and fear are essential human rights and how blessed we are to have freedoms of speech and religion as well.

These first eight monoprints are an homage both to FDR’s grand idea and Louis Kahn’s dream of honoring him.”

1. Maple Tree – “There is nothing in nature I am as fond of as a tree.” Franklin D. Roosevelt

2. Cormorants in East River – “The memorial … would face the Atlantic he bridged, the Europe he helped to save, the United Nations he inspired.” The New York Times

3. Hudson River View – “All that is within me cries out to go back to my home on the Hudson River.” Franklin D. Roosevelt

4. Park Allee – …a forced perspectival parti to draw and focus the visitor’s gaze toward the colossal head of Roosevelt at the threshold to the ‘Room.’

5. Maple Tree

6. Cormorants in East River

7. Hudson River View

8. Park Allee

‘Riverside Playground’ Opens Today at The Noguchi Museum

After he was invited to submit a proposal by various community organizations in 1960, Isamu Noguchi approached the architect Louis Kahn to collaborate on a playground and community space in Manhattan’s Riverside Park. The two men worked to provide an innovative space for relaxation and play, which would be enjoyable to children and their parents alike. Over the course of their collaboration, Noguchi and Kahn designed more than five complete proposals for the site between the West Side Highway and Riverside Drive, from 101st to 105th Streets but ultimately the project was abandoned due to mounting criticism paired with a new City administration in 1966.  This small installation of project models and drawings gives a sense of their collaboration, which further influenced Noguchi’s career- spanning work with playground designs.

Exhibition opens October 3 and runs through the Spring.

Set in Stone

Traversing the park is like being on a ship coursing into a bright beyond. Standing in the still coolness of the allées, or in the dazzlingly bright room where waves crash against the foundation and the big city skyline is surreally suspended across the water, is an experience that transcends time, like the structure itself, which feels both ancient and modern. “What was has always been. What is has always been. What will be has always been,” said Kahn. “Such is the nature of beginning.” It has been a long time coming, but what a beginning this is. Kahn knew as well as anyone that great monuments take time to build.  

-Beth Broome, Architectural Record

Read the rest of the article here.

Architectural Record on Site

Park Executive Director, Gina Pollara sits down with Architectural Record.

Watch the video here.

‘Louis Kahn – The Power of Architecture,’ Rotterdam

If you’re in Rotterdam, be sure to check out this Louis Kahn show. Four Freedoms Park is included in the exhibition.

Louis Kahn – The Power of Architecture runs until January 6 2013. Find information here.