Dan Barasch: A park underneath the hustle and bustle of New York City

Translator: Eduard Ferré Reviewer: Òscar Aznar Alemany

My dream is to build the world's first

Somio en construir

underground park in New York City.

el primer parc subterrani de Nova York.

Now, why would someone want to build an underground park,

Per què construir-lo?

and why in New York City?

Per què a Nova York?

These three tough little buggers

Aquestes tres petites bestioles

are, on the left, my grandmother, age five,

són, a l'esquerra, la meva àvia, amb 5 anys,

and then her sister and brother,

i els seus germans,

ages 11 and nine.

amb 11 i 9 anys.

This photo was taken just before they left

Aquesta foto va ser presa just abans de deixar

from Italy to immigrate to the United States,

Itàlia i emigrar als Estats Units,

just about a century ago.

fa un segle.

And like many immigrants at the time,

I com molts immigrants,

they arrived on the Lower East Side

van arribar a Lower East Side

in New York City

a Nova York

and they encountered a crazy melting pot.

i van trobar un gresol de races.

What was amazing about their generation

El sorprenent de la seva generació

was that they were not only building new lives

no només va ser que comencessin noves vides

in this new, unfamiliar area,

en aquesta zona desconeguda,

but they were also literally building the city.

sinó que també construïssin literalment la ciutat.

I've always been fascinated by those decades

Sempre m'han fascinat aquelles dècades

and by that history,

i aqueslla història,

and I would often beg my grandmother

i sovint pregava a la meva àvia

to tell me as many stories as possible

que m'expliqués històries

about the old New York.

sobre la vella Nova York.

But she would often just shrug it off,

Però sovint s'encongia d'espatlles,

tell me to eat more meatballs, more pasta,

i em deia que mengés més mandonguilles i pasta,

and so I very rarely got

i en poques ocasions sentia

any of the history that I wanted to hear about.

les històries que volia.

The New York City that I encountered

La Nova York que vaig trobar

felt pretty built up.

estava bastant construïda.

I always knew as a kid that I wanted

Sempre vaig saber de nen que volia

to make a difference, and to somehow

aportar una cosa especial,

make the world more beautiful, more interesting

fer el món més bonic, més interessant

and more just.

i més just.

I just didn't really know how.

Només que no sabia com.

At first, I thought I wanted to go work abroad,

Primer volia treballar l'estranger,

so I took a job with UNICEF in Kenya.

i vaig agafar una feina a UNICEF a Kenya.

But it felt weird to me that I knew more about

Però em resultava estrany saber més

local Kenyan politics than the politics of my own hometown.

de la política local kenyana que la política de la meva ciutat.

I took a job with the City of New York,

Vaig trobar una feina a Nova York,

but very quickly felt frustrated

però molt aviat em vaig sentir frustrat

with the slowness of government bureaucracy.

per la lentitud de la burocràcia governamental.

I even took a job at Google,

Vaig aconseguir una feina a Google,

where very fast I drank the Kool-Aid

on em vaig empassar el que em deien

and believed almost wholeheartedly

i creia gairebé de tot cor

that technology could solve all social problems.

que la tecnologia podria resoldre tots els problemes socials.

But I still didn't feel like I was making the world a better place.

Però encara no sentia que millorava el món.

It was in 2009 that my friend

El 2009 el meu amic

and now business partner James Ramsey

i ara soci James Ramsey,

alerted me to the location of a pretty spectacular site,

em va ensenyar un lloc força espectacular,

which is this.

que és aquest.

This is the former trolley terminal

És l'antiga terminal de tramvia

that was the depot for passengers

que era l'estació per a passatgers

traveling over the Williamsburg Bridge

que creuaven el pont de Williamsburg

from Brooklyn to Manhattan,

de Brooklyn a Manhattan,

and it was open between 1908 and 1948,

i va estar oberta entre 1908 i 1948,

just around the time when my grandparents were

just en l'època en què els meus avis

living right in the area.

vivien en la zona.

And we learned also that the site

I ens vam assabentar que el lloc

was entirely abandoned in 1948.

va ser abandonat per complet el 1948.

Fascinated by this discovery,

Fascinats per aquest descobriment,

we begged the authorities to draw us into the space,

vam demanar a les autoritats que ens hi portessin,

and we finally got a tour,

i vam aconseguir una visita,

and this is what we saw.

i això és el que vam veure.

Now, this photo doesn't really do it justice.

Aquesta foto no li fa justícia.

It's kind of hard to imagine the unbelievably magical

És difícil imaginar el sentiment màgic

feeling that you have when you get in this space.

que tens quan entres en aquest espai.

It's a football field of unused land

És un camp de futbol de terra no utilitzada

immediately below a very crowded area of the city,

a sota d'una zona molt concorreguda de la ciutat,

and it almost feels like you're Indiana Jones

i et sents com Indiana Jones

on an archaeological dig,

en una excavació arqueològica,

and all the details are all still there.

i tots els detalls segueixen allí.

It's really pretty remarkable.

És realment extraordinari.

Now, the site itself is located at the very heart

El lloc està situat en el cor

of the Lower East Side,

del Lower East Side,

and today it still remains one of the most

que encara és un dels barris

crowded neighborhoods in the city.

més concorreguts de la ciutat.

New York City has two thirds the green space

Nova York té 2/3 d'espai verd

per resident as other big cities,

com altres grans ciutats,

and this neighborhood as one tenth the green space.

i aquest barri és 10 % espai verd.

So we immediately started thinking about how we

Immediatament vam començar a pensar

could take this site and turn it into something

com transformar aquest lloc en una cosa

that could be used for the public,

útil per al públic,

but also could potentially even be green.

però que potencialment fos verda.

Our plan, in a nutshell,

El pla, en poques paraules,

is to draw natural sunlight underground

consisteix a portar llum solar natural sota a terra

using a simple system that harvests sunlight above the street,

amb un sistema simple que capta llum solar de la superfície,

directs it below the city sidewalks,

i la redirigeix per sota de les voreres,

and would allow plants and trees to grow

i permet a plantes i arbres créixer

with the light that's directed underneath.

amb la llum redirigida al subsòl.

With this approach, you could take a site

Amb aquest enfocament,

that looks like this today

un lloc que ara és així

and transform it into something

podria transformar-se en alguna cosa

that looks like this.

com aquesta.

In 2011, we first released some of these images,

El 2011 vam publicar algunes d'aquestes imatges,

and what was funny was,

i va ser graciós que

a lot of people said to us, "Oh, it kind of looks

molta gent ens va dir: "S'assembla

like the High Line underground."

al parc High Line sota a terra".

And so what our nickname ended up becoming,

Per això vam batejar el projecte

and what ended up sticking,

amb un nom que va agradar:

was the Lowline, so the Lowline was born.

el Lowline.

What was also clear was that people really wanted

Estava molt clar que la gent

to know a lot more about how the technology

volia saber-ne més

would look and feel,

i provar la tecnologia,

and that there was really much more interest in this

i que hi havia més interès en això

than we had ever thought possible.

del que pensàvem.

So, like a crazy person, I decided to quit my job

Vaig comentre la bogeria de deixar la feina

and focus entirely on this project.

i centrar-me en aquest projecte.

Here is us with our team

Aquí estem amb el nostre equip

putting together a technology demonstration

fent una demostració de la tecnologia

in a warehouse.

en un magatzem.

Here's the underbelly of this solar canopy

Aquesta és la part més vulnerable d'aquest pavelló solar

which we built to show the technology.

construït per mostrar la tecnologia.

You can see the six solar collectors at the center there.

Podeu veure els sis col·lectors solars en el centre.

And here's the full exhibit all put together

Aquesta és l'exposició de tot el conjunt

in this warehouse.

en el magatzem.

You can see the solar canopy overhead,

Podeu veure el pavelló solar a sobre,

the light streaming in,

la llum que entra,

and this entirely live green space below.

i tot aquest espai verd a sota.

So in the course of just a few weeks,

En unes poques setmanes,

tens of thousands of people came to see our exhibit,

milers de persones van venir a veure l'exposició,

and since that time, we've grown

i des de llavors ha crescut

our numbers of supporters both locally

el nombre de simpatitzants locals

and among design enthusiasts all over the world.

i d'entusiastes del disseny de tot el món.

Here's a rendering of the neighborhood

Aquesta és una representació del barri

just immediately above the Line's site,

just per sobre del Lowline,

and a rendering of how it will look

i una representació de com es veurà

after major redevelopment that is coming

després d'una important remodelació

over the course of the next 10 years.

que tindrà lloc en els pròxims 10 anys.

Notice how crowded the neighborhood still feels

Observeu com d'ocupat segueix el barri

and how there's really a lack of green space.

i la falta que hi ha d'espais verds.

So what we're proposing is really something that will

Per això proposem una cosa

add one football field of green space

que afegirà un espai verd de la mida d'un camp de futbol

underneath this neighborhood, but more importantly

per sota del barri, però el més important

will introduce a really community-driven focus

és que introduirà un espai per a la comunitat

in a rapidly gentrifying area.

en una zona de ràpid creixement.

And right now, we're focusing very closely

En aquest moment ens estem concentrant

on how we engage with the City of New York

en com implicar-nos amb la ciutat de Nova York

on really transforming the overall ecosystem

per transformar l'ecosistema

in an integrated way.

d'una manera integrada.

Here's our rendering of how we would actually

Aquesta és la nostra representació

invite people into the space itself.

de com convidar a la gent en l'espai en si.

So here you see this iconic entrance

Aquí veieu aquesta entrada icònica

in which we would literally peel up the street

en la que literalment obrim el carrer

and reveal the historical layers of the city,

i revelem les capes històriques de la ciutat,

and invite people into this warm underground space.

i convidem la gent a un càlid espai subterrani.

In the middle of winter, when it's absolutely freezing outside,

A l'hivern, quan a fora glaça,

the last place you'd want to go would be

l'últim lloc on anar

an outdoor space or outdoor park.

és un espai o parc a l'aire lliure.

The Lowline would really be a four-season space

El Lowline seria un espai per tot l'any

and a respite for the city.

i un respir per a la ciutat.

So I like to think that the Lowline actually brings

M'agradaria pensar que el Lowline tanca

my own family's story full circle.

el cercle de la meva història familiar.

If my grandparents and my parents were really

Els meus avis i pares es van centrar

focused on building the city up and out,

en construir la ciutat de punta a punta,

I think my generation is focused on reclaiming

crec que la meva generació vol recuperar

the spaces that we already have,

els espais que ja tenim,

rediscovering our shared history,

redescobrint la nostra història compartida,

and reimagining how we can make our communities

i tornant a imaginar com podem fer les nostres comunitats

more interesting, more beautiful and more just.

més interessants, més boniques i més justes.

Thanks.

Gràcies.

(Applause)

(Aplaudiments)