ONE CHA SE

MAN HAT TAN

PLA ZA

past+present




The site of 28 Liberty Street, originally a church, has been occupied by numerous businesses and corporations over its more than 250-year history. In the late 20th century, Chase National Bank occupied the site, and the plaza was encouraged by the 1961 Zoning Law, which allowed developers to trade a bonus of two square feet of extra floor space for every square foot of plaza. The One Chase Manhattan Plaza was eventually completed in 1964, creating an environment that was completely unique to the Financial District.

When we first visited the site of One Chase Manhattan Plaza in Downtown Manhattan, we were surprised by how the Plaza stands in contrast to the surrounding Financial District. The grid-like structure of FiDi and its sea of skyscrapers leaves anyone walking down its streets feeling claustrophobic and overwhelmed. This isn’t surprising, considering that the neighborhood was designed for primarily men in suits, practically running to their office jobs, most likely with a coffee in hand. Go-go-go. The plaza, therefore, creates a nice break away from the strictly grid-like structure of the surrounding business area, with fluid and spherical forms, plants, and contemporary art by Dubuffet and Noguchi.

But it is hard to ignore the present history of the plaza, specifically its connection to the “Occupy Wall Street” Movement. In 2011, Chase placed a temporary barricade around the site, blocking it off to the majority of the inhabitants of the area and further feeding the economic inequalities that the movement was fighting against. The barricade was only removed in 2013.

The two-year-long presence of the barricade is as indicative of the corporate ambiance of the site as the international style in which it was built. The architecture of this style is usually very strict and formulaic, and despite the airiness of the plaza, it does not seem to be “made for people”, outside of the exclusive financial industry.

material+object



Ingredients for COFFEE LEATHER:
*Sodium Alginate
*Dried Coffee Grains
*Water Olive Oil
*Vegetable Glycerin
*Calcium Chloride


Steps:
1. Mix the powders, glycerin and olive oil together.
2. Add the water and mix until a homogeneous solution is obtained, and until the mass becomes sticky and jelly-like.
3. Use a recycled plastic/storage bag to pour the mixture onto.
4. Spray it with calcium chloride mixed with water.
5. Spread the mixture as thin as you need it (keep in mind, it will shrink!)
6. Wait 4-5 days for the leather to completely dry.

While making the coffee leather, we had to have a few iterations before we figured out the ideal order and proportions of the ingredients and the ideal thickness of the raw mass. It was also interesting to see how much the leather shrunk while it was drying, which was unexpected. We enjoyed the process of making the leather, but we especially liked the pleasant, coffee smell of this leather, which is very different from the usual, pungent smell of regular leather.

future



In imagining the future of One Chase Manhattan Plaza, we hope that the financial world that it represents becomes a more open and equitable environment. We hope that both the physical and metaphorical barricades will vanish, enabling people to not only enjoy the plaza, but also to truly become a part of the bustling Financial District.

Although the plaza offers a refuge for anyone, the surrounding buildings and constructions are exclusive to certain demographics – exemplifying the strict divide that exists between the people working in the buildings and those enjoying the outdoor spaces. Going off the Occupy Wall Street movement, this divide should be minimized. The outdoor plaza already strives to distinguish itself from the grid of FiDi, but it should further become a haven by expanding further into the streets and by incorporating more greenery. It should also expand into the social life of New York by hosting free events and performances with the participation of both FiDi-locals and “outsiders” in the very center of what is now a very restricted area, hence destroying the strict societal grid.

The world of finance is one that all of us are participating in, directly or indirectly, and its epicenter should therefore be one that allows for the interaction between all of its different actors. We would also like to imagine a much later future, where FiDi is no longer FiDi.

Though we lack practical economic knowledge, we would still like to propose a completely new type of economy. In the future of this site, people will come to One Chase Manhattan Plaza to get their ‘passports’. These passports will be made out of coffee in hommage to the site’s past as a business hub. But they will not be the documents that we presently understand them to be. Instead, these future passports will be a re-interpretation of the modern dollar bill in the sense that people will be able to use them as a form of payment. Everyone will be able to get this ‘passport’ bi-annually at this site, which would now become the Ministry of Affairs, which would help minimize economic inequality and inequity. In addition, to further improve inclusivity at the site, there would be a kids waiting area to keep the little ones engaged and of course, a free coffee bar for everyone to enjoy.