Sunday, August 12, 2012

The New York City Waterfalls





















Source:Wikipedia

New York City Waterfalls was a public art project by artist Olafur Eliasson, in collaboration with the Public Art Fund, consisting of four man-made waterfalls placed around New York City along the East River. At $15.5 million, it was the most expensive public arts project since Christo and Jeanne-Claude's installation of The Gates in Central Park. The waterfalls officially began flowing on June 26, 2008. They ran from 7 am to 10 pm (under illumination after sunset), until October 13, 2008.
The sites chosen for the four waterfalls were Pier 35 in Manhattan, beneath the Brooklyn Bridge in DUMBO, Brooklyn, between piers 4 and 5 — also in Brooklyn — and Governors Island.
Work on erecting the four support scaffolds began in mid-March, 2008. Once completed, the scaffolding would total 64,000 square feet (5,900 m2) and weigh 270 tons. Eliasson has said that the scaffolds themselves were designed to blend in with their urban surroundings, but that he purposely did not try to conceal them, explaining he "want[s] people to know that this is both a natural phenomenon and a cultural one.”
Construction involved the work of 108 different people, including two environmental consultants. The installation was designed to be ecologically-friendly. Some example of this are energy efficient LED lighting, energy purchased from renewable sources and the filters used to keep aquatic life from taking a ride up-and-over the waterfall. When the project closed the materials were made available for re-use in a future project.
The over $15 million dollar project had no city funding and was paid for entirely by private organizations, business and donors. Mayor Bloomberg's company, Bloomberg LP, donated $13.5 million. With estimates that the waterfalls could generate up to $55 million for the local economies, the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation gave $2 million to the effort.

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