Mary Miss, Stanton Eckstut, Susan Child
South Cove, 1988
 
South Cove is an unusual, meditative recess along the waterfront. Considered one of the country's most significant public artworks, the work is the result of a unique collaboration between environmental artist Mary Miss, architect Stanton Eckstut and landscape architect Susan Child. South Cove encompasses everything from- carefully sited rocks, natural plantings, and atmospheric blue lights along the Esplanade -to the water-racked pilings and the large, arching wooden jetty at the southern corner of the cove that extends into the Hudson like a pier. The jetty gently curves inward, back toward shore, as if in meditation of the city from which it sprung. Overlooking the view is a raised metal tower recalling the prow of a boat or the crown of the Statue of Liberty visible beyond. At once dramatic and serene, South Cove is a place where land and water, nature and metropolis, past and present, gently coalesce.

Mary Miss is one of the leading environmental artists in the United States and a pioneer of architectural sculpture. Architect Stanton Eckstut is theprincipal planner and designer of Battery Park City's waterfront Esplanade and co-designer of the 1979 master plan. In addition to the South Cove, landscape architect Susan Child (with Steven Goldberg) also designed Battery Park City's Belvedere.

 

 

 
 
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