Archinect - News

Restoration of Philip Johnson's New York State Pavilions in Queens is underway

2019-11-09T18:00:00-05:00

The iconic New York State Pavilion observation towers in Flushing, Queens are being restored. The New York City Parks Department broke ground on the project this week.

Designed by Philip Johnson and Lev Zetlin, the two flying saucer-topped observation towers as well as an adjacent pavilion will receive a $24 million upgrade that includes waterproofing for each structure's base, as well as exist stair replacements, electrical upgrades, and other conservation work, AM New York reports.

The structures were originally designed as temporary structures within a much larger installation for the 1964 World's Fair in the burough's Flushing Meadows Corona Park. Despite the costly restoration, the structures will not be made publicly accessible, according to Curbed.

The project is expected to be completed by March 2021.

New York State Pavilion's observation towers will soon shine in restored glory

2019-09-11T14:56:00-04:00

[...] the restoration on the observation towers of the New York State Pavilion is beginning soon. A project update on the Parks’ capital project tracker states that there is an estimated start date of September 2019, and that a date has been set for construction to begin, an update first noticed by the People for the Pavilion.

Untapped Cities reports that the restoration work of the three New York State Pavilion observation towers, designed by Philip Johnson, Richard Foster and structural engineer Lev Zetlin for the 1964 World’s Fair, will include "reconstruction of the stairways, replace deteriorated suspension cables at all the platform levels, repair deteriorated concrete, restore the floor finish on the plaza level, partial restoration of the historical lighting design, replace and repair electrical and drainage infrastructure."

Flushing Meadows Corona Park (for now)

2013-05-06T12:14:00-04:00

If all the various proposals come to fruition, Major League Soccer will plunk a 35,000-seat stadium on top of the Pool of Industry; the Related Companies and Sterling Equities will jointly build a 1.4 million–square–foot shopping center on parkland turned parking lot next to Citi Field, and the National Tennis Center will creep beyond its current borders

Justin Davidson reviews the Bloomberg administration's recently announced plans for Flushing Meadows Corona Park. Mr. Davidson is "skeptical of the new sugarplum visions" which would transfer about 40 acres of public land into the hands of private capital for various "goodies".