Lincoln Center David Rubenstein Atrium

So, as I threatened last week, I did indeed make it to the David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center.  The atrium is a ticketing center for Lincoln Center and was designed by Tod Williams and Billie Tsien. The actual green wall installation is by Plant Wall Design, a company based in both New York and France.    

 

Above is the west entry of the Atrium - the space cuts through a narrow block between Columbus Avenue and Broadway.  Two green walls greet visitors as they enter the doors.  This one - on the west side - begins about 18" above ground level.  The peace lilies (Spathiphyllum) are planted horizontally in this planter. 

Grow-lights are sited on the other side of the Atrium.  More on this in posts to come. 

This above photo is shamefully out of focus, but I'm including it to show the absence of GFIs in the floor.  I saw a few instances where laptops were plugged into outlets several feet away.  It seems utterly crazy to me -- a new installation that's so wanting in tech support, so to speak.

 

Here we're on the east side of the Atrium, looking west.  This wall begins only about 6-9" above the ground level.  On the left, you see the descending metal rods that comprise a water feature.  

Water drips down into the lighted canisters on the left and bubblers circulate water on the right. To me, the shot below tells a story most designers can relate to.  I can understand the impulse for the fountain to be offset from the wall behind it by several feet.  It makes sense, as it breaks up the tunnel effect and adds some much-needed asymmetry to a long, narrow space. 

And then what happens?  Operations (or a similar entity) plops down a trash can in the corner!  And I get it -- it's a natural space to nestle in a trash bin.  But I hate that when I stopped to take this picture, a garbage can is muddying up the design.  I'm very curious if this was discussed before construction documents were complete.  It illustrates perfectly how important it is that, as designers, we anticipate every aspect of the daily life of the design and test our concepts against that.