Aesop Park

The "Fox-and-Grapes" motif on the front gate was part of Mike Browne's initial concept, but the actual silhouette design was penned by Jennifer Dolecki at Langan, and constructed of laser-cut steel.

One hot summer's day a Fox was strolling through an orchard till he came to a bunch of Grapes just ripening on a vine which had been trained over a lofty branch. "Just the thing to quench my thirst," quoth he. Drawing back a few paces, he took a run and a jump, and just missed the bunch. Turning round again with a

One, Two, Three, he jumped up, but with no greater success. Again and again he tried after the tempting morsel, but at last had to give it up, and walked away with his nose in the air, saying: "I am sure they are sour."

— The Fox and the Grapes

Last May in New York saw the opening of Staten Island's latest park and playground: the Aesop Park, based on the immortal fables of the greek writer Aesop. The above fable, "The Fox and the Grapes" inspired the image adorning the front gate.

A host of other fables and their timeless lessons await inside the park, brought to life by bronze sculptures with engraved plaques and a refreshing fountain featuring nine different sequence of waterplay.

The site, which is just under one acre, was constructed next to Public School 6 from a section of a thriving wetland forest. The designers set out with two goals in mind:

1) Preserve the existing forest ecosystem

2) Integrate some of the more kid-friendly Aesop's Fables into the design

"The fables provide the teachers with a tool to catch the students’ interest," said park designer Michael Browne, Landscape Architect with the New York City Parks Department. "A lot of the fables are written about animals, and that fit the woodland setting. So the park's theme kind of grew out of the natural landscape. We also wanted to have a loop trail system, and we built an ampitheatre so the school would have one."

This fountain was inspired by the Aesop fable "The North Wind and the Sun." The two concrete columns represent the wind, feature seven water nozzles, and are carved into stylized clouds and cherubs, based on a sketch by Mike Browne. The sun is represented by the colored concrete paving. The fountain thrills visiting kids with a total of 25 water streams in nine different sequences.

The park’s focal point is the three-tiered amphitheater encompassing a colorful sundial at its base, where two concrete-sculpted wind columns frame a water play-area.

The amphitheater consists of terraced cobblestone seating walls with bluestone coping. Inward curving bluestone stairs on each side bring visitors down to the center sundial, while grass tiers at each level of the theater provide areas to gather, relax, and read. The amphitheatre was packed with at least 400 people last May during the opening ceremonies of Aesop Park.

Senior Project Manager Gerry McDonnell of Langan Engineering said it provides an ideal gathering area for teachers and classes. "We found that the granite steps and grass seating of the amphitheater make for a relaxing, heart-warming place – not to mention the thrilling randomness of the spray showers [from the nearby fountain] in summer."

A cohesive system of loop trails connects the park with the adjoining forest. Great care was taken to presere the ecosystem and minimize the effect of development on this natural setting. No artificial irrigation was installed, and the park's planting theme was based on the existing woodland species, including White and Black Oaks, Huckleberry and Blueberry shrubs, River Birches and native grass groundcover.

Bronze animal sculptures convey the theme of Aesop’s Fables and provide a backdrop to outdoor school instruction. Dispersed throughout the park, they have great surprise and entertainment value to kids and adults alike. The larger animal sculptures enact moments from Aesop’s Fables such as the "Tortoise and the Hare" and the "Fox and the Grapes." The bison supports the tree-like flagpole base and together they provide other fables for the children to discover such as "The Gnat and the Bull (Bison)," "The Ants and the Grasshopper," " The Mouse and the Frog," "The Dove and the Ant," "The Mice in Council," "The Boy and the Scorpion" and "The Farmer and the Snake."

A Gnat settled on the horn of a Bull, and sat there a long time. Just as he was about to fly off, he made a buzzing noise, and inquired of the Bull if he would like him to go. The Bull replied, "I did not know you had come, and I shall not miss you when you go away."

— The Gnat and the Bull

After entering through the Fox-and-Grapes gate, visitors are greeted by a Bison sculpture, beneath a towering camouflaged flag-pole reaching for the tree cover. Further into the woodlands, greater surprises await. There is a bronze "Fox" sculpture which is approximately double life-size, and the bronze "Hare-and-Tortoise" stands 6 feet high, both popular park rides.

Children are encouraged to interact with the lifelike animal sculptures in the park. Here, a group of girls takes a ride on the Fox statue from "The Fox and the Grapes" fable. The sculptures are composed of bronze, based on miniature designs by Browne.

Linking the play areas is a natural-looking pathway finished with fine stone screenings and defined by granite cobble curbing. Much appreciated by all is that the granite curb blocks are set on-the-flat and finished with "Hare-and-Tortoise" footprints. Other details include the use of a "Vine" element, intertwined as a decoration to the benches and gates, and tables for chess/checkers and picnics.

"The school was planning to cut a hole into the forest to build this park," said Browne. "They needed to figure out how all the park drainage would work around all these trees. So we did a survey to identify where all the trees were. It came to me that, in order to develop this, it should be a type of ‘outdoor classroom’ that would give the kids another dimension to their studies."

Browne drew up a concept plan and submitted it to the school board for approval in the spring of 1998. "We made a presentation in June, they agreed to it, and developed it over the summer," he recalled. "Almost a year from the date of the initial sketch, the school got approval for the playground budget. They took my sketch and gave it to the consulting engineers. It was two years from design to completion."

"The entire design and review process took about 7 to 8 months, and we had bids within another 2 months," said McDonnell. "Construction through planting took approximately a further 10 months, just in time for the May 29th 2001 dedication."

Browne planned a cohesive loop system of trails and all of them had to be handicap-accessible. "We also wanted to save the forest, so all the pavements had to be specialized to avoid damaging tree roots and soil perculation. The safety surfacing we used was a Fibar system, regulated screen woodchip. For the hardscape material we used a broken stone sub-base and a stone screenings finish. We were able to minimize the amount of disturbance to the forest’s ecosystem. We saved over 150 trees."

Once conceived, the design program became a series of play spaces, linked by the educational Aesop theme, for active and passive recreation, while preserving natural site areas. "NYC Parks decided that it would be best to preserve the woodlands setting, and at this point Mike Browne proposed the Aesop’s Fables connection," said McDonnell. "Animal sculptures and ornamental fence details were proposed to convey the fables and reinforce educational values. To some extent, the preservation in part of the existing woodlands as the park setting actually yielded cost savings."

Browne did the conceptual sculpting for the park, with final bronze work performed by Kenneth Lynch & Sons of Wilson, Conn. "I provided a 1/6 scale maquette for each sculpture --I used clay over a wire armature," said Browne. "Each 10-by-18-inch maquette was turned over to the fabricators. Everything we designed had to meet all the codes as well as meeting the vandal-resistance problems we have here. The fountain represents the fable of the North Wind and Sun--the wind is represented in the colums and the sun is replicated in the pavement. The columns were precast concrete by Lynch & Sons, based on an original sketch. Trystan of Ontario, Canada, hired a technical sculptor, Ken Memoli, to [fabricate] the columns. The sun on the ground is composed of colored concrete."

The North Wind and the Sun disputed as to which was the most powerful, and agreed that he should be declared the victor who could first strip a wayfaring man of his clothes. The North Wind first tried his blasts, the closer the Traveler wrapped his cloak around him, until at last, resigning all hope of victory, the Wind called upon the Sun to see what he could do. The Sun suddenly shone out with all his warmth. The Traveler no sooner felt his genial rays than he took off one garment after another, and at last, fairly overcome with heat, undressed and bathed in a stream that lay in his path.

— The North Wind and the Sun

The park's fountain recreates the fable of The North Wind and the Sun, with the sun represented as colored concrete and the wind manifested as two concrete columns sculpted into clouds with floating cherubs.

The fountain includes 11 ground sprays by Vortex Aquatic Structures of Montreal, Canada. The wind-columns feature seven more nozzles by Robert Miller Associates of Rosedale, N.Y. This makes for a grand total of 25 water streams. Electric valves deliver the sprays using mains pressure, and there is no need for pumps. Depressing an activation bollard initiates a randomly timed sequence of spray events.

"The fountain is run by a single pump with a backflow preventer, and is fed by six water lines," said Browne. "Nine different water sequences run for about six minutes each, one after the other with breaks in between. The first sequences start off small, and build to a crescendo. The kids eventually learn when the sequences are coming, and they know when and where to run. The fine mist from the fountain also serves to water the nearby grassy terrace."

Existing trees were transplanted and designed around in order to preserve the natural aesthetic, wildlife habitat, and mature canopy for shade and park enclosure. These wooded areas were designated as natural spaces and created open areas as traditional play spaces. Endangered tree species such as Black Jack Oak were transplanted to protected natural areas inside the park. The overall planting theme included a variety of native species to reinforce the existing forest canopy, and an understory layer of shrubs and groundcover in order to strengthen and maintain the natural character of the existing woodland. These species included White and Black Oaks, a mix of Huckleberry and Blueberry shrubs, and varieties of Aster and native grass groundcovers. River Birches were planted to highlight key areas of interest such as the Park entrance and amphitheater for their unique form, bark texture and color.

The park's centerpiece is a three-tiered amphitheater that rises above the interactive fountain, consisting of terraced cobblestone seating walls with blue coping. Grass tiers at each level provide additional gathering areas. The amphitheater can hold as many as 400 people, and can be used by the nearby school for educational events.

"An initial challenge was being tackled as the design process started: This was the existence of a very small isolated wetland coinciding with the amphitheater location, and environmental permits were needed for the disturbance," recalled McDonnell. "The wetland was not sustainable in any event, as the adjacent new Public School 6 construction included excavation to lower grades which drained away the shallow groundwater. In fact, we actually constructed a brand new 3-acre wetland just a few hundred yards away as "triple-mitigation" or compensation for the Public School 6 wetland disturbance, and this was another Landscape Architecture project in it’s own right."

The other primary challenge to the project was the construction budget, which was initially just over $1 million. "As the design evolved we found it difficult to keep the breadth of the program within the cost parameters," said McDonnell. "Certain value-oriented revisions were made, and they worked out very well. These included elimination of an asphalt pathway in favor of stone screenings, which has a more woodlands-friendly look. We also replaced standard plastic safety-surfacing around the play equipment in favor of the Fibar wood-chip carpet system, and although this can present some maintenance issues in more urban settings, it looks and performs well here."

Actual construction bids were still above budget, typical of the construction market at that time, but the School Construction Authority’s enthusiasm was such that it found the means to cover the cost. In fact the SCA elected to accept some items which had been set aside as "add-alternate" bids, meaning that the full design program was contracted and built.

The park's play areas cater to the youngest kids by means of swing-sets and sectional play equipment purchased from GameTime.

A Hare one day ridiculed the short feet and slow pace of the Tortoise, who replied, laughing: "Though you be swift as the wind, I will beat you in a race." The Hare, believing her assertion to be simply impossible, assented to the proposal; and they agreed that the Fox should choose the course and fix the goal. On the day appointed for the race the two started together. The Tortoise never for a moment stopped, but went on with a slow but steady pace straight to the end of the course. The Hare, lying down by the wayside, fell fast asleep. At last waking up, and moving as fast as he could, he saw the Tortoise had reached the goal, and was comfortably dozing after her fatigue.

— The Hare and the Tortoise

Public response to Aesop park has been excellent. "The park is visited literally every weekday, both during and after school-hours, and throughout the weekend too," reports McDonnell. "I visited the park myself one fine day last summer, and there were approximately 60 pre-through-k kids and their mothers or sitters enjoying the play areas; quite a large number given that the park area barely exceeds one acre."

In terms of design execution, McDonnell was pleased with how the play spaces are "spliced" together beneath the tree canopy by a meandering pathway of "wildlife" and "story-book" discovery. "One surprise is how the apparent contradiction of hiding life-size or larger sculptures within a forest can actually enhance their artistic merit," he said. "But the perception is that the backdrop of the trees really brings them to life, and you even have the feeling that you can 'steal up' on the fox."

The tortoise and hare sculpture represents perhaps the most popular of Aesop's fables. An additional treat for the kids are the hare and tortoises' footprints that appear around the park patterned into the granite curb blocks bordering the walking paths.

McDonnell says the project was a great team effort. "I would like to mention Fredante Construction of Woodbury, N.Y., who was the right kind of contractor for the job, very capable of the quality of work required. As to our client, Carl Colombo and Ciro DeSomma of the SCA were the personnel who administered the project from start to finish. I would also like to mention our staff landscape designers, Jennifer Dolecki who carried the design process right through the bulk of construction, and Steven Laudati who oversaw the construction to completion."

The biggest lesson learned here, said McDonnell, is how a special landscape design can give a project a special asset. "A well-executed idea can add unusual elements often omitted: in our case, nature/preservation, recreation, wisdom/education, art, surprise, and even animation and joy --without increasing costs out of proportion to the overall budget."

PHOTOs COURTESY OF Trystan and langan engineering