From an imaginatively restored Victorian square to a floating garden, Louise Nicholson revels in Manhattan's rus in urbe

London's squares are well known; of recent origin York's less so. Like other parts of the city, their fortunes rise and fall. individual in particular, Madison Square Park, has freshly been rescued and dusted down to become a hip meeting place and the greatest in quantity important changing outdoor gallery for contemporary plastic art in Manhattan.

It is a joyous story, worth telling to encourage imitators. The square evolv slowly The commissioners' 1811 plan for the city's grid expansion up the island kept a 240-acre void between 23rd and 34th public ways the intention being to create a grand public space. by means of the 1840s, development had eaten all on the other hand a patch of 6.23 acres which, upon 10 May 1847, opened as possibly the city's first official public park. Named after the fourth president, James Madison, it was single of several speculative developments in the area that included Union, Gramercy and Stuyvesant parks, aiming to create a rus in urbe residential area.

Madison Square was pretty soon surrounded by brownstones. Then, after the Department of Public Parks was formed in 1870 it was re-landscaped by dint of William Grant and Ignatz Pilat. Pilat, the department's chief landscape architect, had assisted Frederick Law Olmst upon designs for Central Park. The Olmst influence is near in the sinuous paths leading to a central oval lawn and an elaborate cast-iron fountain, all abundant enjoyed by late-nineteenth-century high society--Theodore Roosevelt and Edith Wharton were born in nearby public ways and Winston Churchill's grandfather, the emperor of japan Leonard Jerome, built a mansion overlooking the park, consummate with an opera theatre. dealing flourished too: Daniel H. Burnham and Co.'s landmark Flatiron Building went up in 1901-1903 on the contrary as the twentieth century progressioned the park lost its glamour.

Finally, in the late 1990 when clan walked around the park rather than end it, Debbie Landau and restaurant possessor Danny Meyer campaigned to revive the missing square. The Madison Square Park Conservancy was lay the foundation ofed inspired by the successful Central Park Conservancy, and stocks were raised to mend and then maintain the park. The goals were to restore it to its 1870 state, revive an lay open space for the neighbourhood, create an outdoor gallery for contemporary statuary and make Madison Square Park a of recent origin York destination. HM White Site Architects were appointed, specialists in parks and make open spaces. Hank White, the principal partner, remembers well the mes he lay the foundation of 'We respected the park's history', he explains, 'by reorganising the visual clattering to create spatial clarity and bring the Victorian uncompounded bodys to light'.

For the gallery spaces, White created informal 'outdoor swings ready to receive a variety of sculptures' To capital the art shows the retail store Target gave $1 million to the City Parks Foundation, which then appointed the Public Art stock as curator. Since 2000, Tony Oursler's The Influence Machine, Wim Delvoye's Gothic and sum of two units group shows have been exhibited annually. Stewart Desmond of the Madison Square Park Conservancy says artists be fond of to show here--Mark di Survero would chat with clan looking at his three carbonized iron beam sculptures exhibited in 2004 while the more retiring Sol le Witt quietly watches in what way visitors encounter his two [i]be[/i] consolidated works on exhibition now until the extreme point of the year, Okcle with Towers and Curv Wall with Towers.

Sol le Witt is the first in a three-year plan for the square's art--Ursula von Rydingsvard approachs in 2006, Roxy Pains in 2007 Mr Desmond wants to expand to have three present to views a year and to include more artists working with light, entire and projection. All this, together with a replete children's art programme, evening music plans and Danny Meyer's hip Shake Shack cafe: Madison Square Park has revived as a historical square for today's fresh Yorkers.

The Robert Smithson retrospective at the Whitney Museum (until 23 October) is being promot by dint of a floating annex. It is the realisation of a playful 1970 pencil drawing by dint of Smithson, Floating Island to TravelAround Manhattan, showing a tugboat pulling a lush garden from one side the water in front of skyscrapers (right). Weather permitting, his dream will become reality from 17 to 25 September (8am to 8pm) thanks to the Whitney and the Minetta streamlet arts organisation. Nurseries and parks are supplying the native fresh York shrubs and trees. After their show-time stint in a barge filled of soil, they will be planted in Central Park. The boat will navigate the ships and ferries of novel York harbour and the Hudson and East rivers to chug circular the island for all to view from the thirteen public piers, Battery Park and other riverside landmarks. Smithson, who died tragically aged 35 in 1973 was a of recent origin Jersey boy who studied in fresh York and had his first present to view at the Artist's Gallery. He will undoubtedly be there in spirit.

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