Drawing, Teardrop Park, New York, NY: Sketch of Aerial View

Teardrop Park, designed by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, opened to the public on October 30, 2004, but was conceived of several years earlier. As MVVA has pointed out, Teardrop Park was generated out of a site that did not previously exist—it was created through the transformation of a plot of land by the construction of four 30-story buildings. The park sits in the core of this space, and the site poses many challenges. The surrounding buildings facilitate high winds and block sunlight, making it a difficult space for plant life to thrive. The land itself is a result of subsoil that was excavated during the 1960s construction of the World Trade Center. The footprint of the park is relatively small, a total of 455 by 355 feet.
The small, arid nature of the site became the foundation of the parks conception from the outset. The finished park features a marsh, a children’s playground, a toddler play area, a sandpit, a slide, and a geologic artwork of stone by Ann Hamilton and Michael Mercil embedded into the sinuous design. This drawing, created in the spring of 2001, shows the sketches of principals Matthew Urbanski and Laura Solano of the different topographic elements, the undulating pathway, and the stacked bluestone outcrops that comprise the site. A working drawing, notes from Michael Van Valkenburgh appear throughout, commenting on elements of the plan.

Drawing, Teardrop Park, New York, NY: Sketch of Aerial View; Designed by Michael Van Valkenburgh (American, b. 1951), Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates (United States); Drafted by Matthew Urbanski (American), Laura Solano (American); marker and black ink and red and green colored pencil on tracing paper mounted on inkjet print with black ink and red and blue marker additions; H x W: 91.4 × 91.4 cm (36 × 36 in.); Gift of Michael Van Valkenburgh; 2018-10-2