The ArtsPark at Young Circle : Information + Images

Information from Susan Grant Lewin Associates Apr 2007 THE ARTSPARK AT YOUNG CIRCLE, A NEW PUBLIC PARK DESIGNED BY GLAVOVIC STUDIO INC., OPENS IN HOLLYWOOD, FL Hollywood, FL—Fort Lauderdale-based architectural and urban design firm Glavovic Studio, Inc. recently unveiled The ArtsPark at Young Circle, a new public art project that takes the form of a ten-acre park. Located at Young Circle, long a gathering place for recreation, entertainment and relaxation in downtown Hollywood, FL, the ArtsPark provides daily, interactive, family-oriented cultural experiences for the general public. The design, led by Project Designer Margi Nothard, includes site-specific artworks blended with unique natural aspects of the South Florida landscape. The ArtsPark is a civic landmark that was created through strong female leadership; many women contributed to the realization of the project including Mara Giulianti, Mayor of Hollywood, FL; Mary Becht, Director of the Broward County Cultural Division; Cynthia Berman-Miller, former director of the Hollywood Arts and Culture Center and Nothard. ArtsPark at Young Circle - photos © Robin Hill 2007 “The concept of the ArtsPark is the integration of landscape and art through human discovery,” explains Nothard, Principal of Glavovic Studio, Inc. “It was conceived as an integrated artwork that transforms from an organic landscape into a constructed landscape; ultimately, the ArtsPark is architecture as landscape and as sculpture.” The design of the ArtsPark is scaled to the urban space it occupies and links the surrounding neighborhoods in which it sits at the intersection of Hollywood Boulevard and Federal Highway 1. Nothard’s design evokes Frederick Law Olmsted, America’s foremost landscape architect of the nineteenth century, in the layering of spaces and different heights that she created within the park. The ArtsPark comprises multiple activity spaces without walls designed for the activities that occur within them including the Grove, a place designed for sedate activity, and a highly interactive Children’s Play Area. ArtsPark at Young Circle - photos © Robin Hill 2007 Special events and festivals that do not require full staging will be held in the Center Court and Plaza. A Visual Arts Pavilion, also designed by Nothard, is currently under construction and is slated for completion this fall. It will have studios where professional artists will create their art, places for people to watch and learn how art is made and participatory art classes. Groundbreaking for a Performing Arts Pavilion that will replace the former bandstands and amphitheatres located in Young Circle has not yet been determined. Until the new building is constructed, a temporary stage will sit on the footprint of the future amphitheatre. One integrated design element of the ArtsPark is a site-specific artwork created by internationally renowned Japanese artist Ritsuko Taho in collaboration with Nothard. Entitled Millennium Springs, the piece consists of a long, narrow fountain with jets of water that shoot into the air in concert with the life energy wave patterns measured in one of five massive baobob trees located in Young Circle and striped walkway designs that link the fountain to the baobob tree. About Margi Nothard and Glavovic Studio Inc. Margi Nothard, President of Glavovic Studio Inc., has spent over fifteen years practicing and teaching architecture and urban design in the United States. She studied at the University of Natal in South Africa and graduated with her Masters from the world-renowned Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) in Los Angeles. She went on to work and teach in Los Angeles and New York where she was in charge of the west coast offices of Smith-Miller + Hawkinson Architects. Nothard moved to Fort Lauderdale in 1996 and established Glavovic Studio Inc. in 1999 while teaching at the Florida Atlantic University School of Architecture, where she has been teaching architecture, planning and urban design for the past six years Nothard has also served as a guest critic at Columbia University, UCLA and Rice University, among others. Photographs © Robin Hill 2007 Hollywood ArtsPark : PR from Susan Grant Lewin Associates 300407