UD-9601 | PETROSINO PARK | THE INCISION

UD-9601 challenges the conventional idea of a park as a place that comprises open space, grass, and trees. We recognize that nature is depleted in the urban metropolis, and that we need trees and grass in our parks. But landscaped parks are not natural at all; rather, they are a reflection of how we would like nature to be.

UD-9601 generates a unique urban experience, event, and character indigenous to the nature of the site. New York City’s Petrosino Park is located east of the busy Soho district and north of thriving Chinatown. The intersection of Centre and Lafayette streets forms a sharp 22.5Å corner pointing northward; traffic on all sides of the park leaves 6,400 sq.-ft. of space devoid of character, history, event or commerce.

UD-9601 reveals the hidden energy of the site by excavating the park to display its underground infrastructure—crisscrossing lines of communication, utilities, waste, and transportation. The complexity of this infrastructure is at its most intense when two opposing subway trains converge without actually colliding.