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Consider the existence of six identical trees of the same species across a variety of environments. The first tree is in a wild and isolated landscape. The second is in a wilderness park. The third is in a heavily forested “tree plantation” owned by International Paper. The fourth is in the Ramble in Central Park. The fifth is in a suburban yard. The sixth is inside the six-story atrium of a Manhattan skyscraper. This paper begins with the intuition that the identical trees have different values because they exist in different environments and biological-social contexts. To understand the different evaluations of the trees we must think along a spectrum that incorporates both axiology and ontology. This thought experiment is useful in exploring arguments about both the management and the preservation of the natural world. The conclusion is that we must think along a spectrum of natural being and value to understand the dualism between humanity and nature and thereby avoid the domination of the natural environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Low-lying coastal urban areas are vulnerable to frequent and chronic flooding due to population growth, urbanization, and accelerated sea level rise originating from climate change. This paper is part one of a 2 paper series, however a detailed literature review on the concept and the technical aspects of both papers is presented. In the 2nd paper, the application of the concepts and the proposed methodology are utilized to set the mitigation strategies for quantification of reliability attributes. The case study is the Hunts Point wastewater treatment plant and its sewershed in Bronx, New York City. The suitability of two major rainfall stations of Central Park and LaGuardia airport in the vicinity of the case study is tested. The copula-based non-stationary 100–year flood frequency analysis of rainfall and storm surge is analyzed to obtain the design values of surge and rainfall. A differential evaluation Markov Chain with Bayesian interface is used in this paper for parameter estimation. In this study, the likelihood of joint probability of co-occurring heavy rainfall and storm surge is determined to illustrate the risk of joint events. Therefore, the copula-based non-stationary 100–year flood frequency analysis of rainfall and storm surge are performed to obtain the design values of surge and rainfall. A multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) approach that incorporates the load-resistance concept is presented in Part 2 paper to assess the Margin of Safety flood reliability of a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP). The framework presented in this paper is applicable to other coastal sewersheds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the life and work of the nineteenth-century French-American artist Victor Prevost. While Prevost's name is familiar to photography historians, the diversity of his artistic accomplishments has not been fully appreciated. An artist celebrated for work in several mediums, Prevost was already making large-format calotypes in 1851 while living in New York City. He was also responsible for innovations in telescopic photography, joining with astronomers at the West Point Military Academy in 1854 to capture a solar eclipse on paper. This paper seeks to broaden knowledge of Prevost's life and work as a commercial artist in New York during the nineteenth century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social media is a rapidly developing field in architecture and landscape research, which is used to understand public opinions and landscape use. The year 2022 sees the 200th birthday of Olmsted, the founding father of landscape architecture in America. While we commemorate Olmsted's ground-breaking contribution to the landscape architecture discipline, in-depth analyses are always required to examine historic legacies for their current relevancy. Taking his first practical work, New York Central Park, as an example, this paper systematically revisits Olmsted's park design theory and vision, and investigates its post-occupancy conditions from 11,501 posts on TripAdvisor. The results show that the current park use pattern confirms the validity of his scenic image theory. At the same time, his design works have become increasingly popular as public projects to foster social interaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper addresses issues of race, species, and kind through an incident that took place 25 May 2020, when a birder and a dog owner crossed path in the Ramble of New York's Central Park. The birder, a gay Black man, was searching for scarlet tanagers and other songbirds. The dog owner, a white woman, was walking Henry, her blond cocker. The birder asked the dog owner to leash her spaniel, a bird dog, as required by park rules. The dog owner called 911, reporting that an 'African-American man was putting her in danger'. There is a pre-history to their encounter. Our dubious guide is John James Audubon, whose Ornithological Biography presents haunting scenes of life out of doors, the ramble, or the hunt, and how humans and animals prey upon each other. But the decisive voice is that of Frederic Law Olmsted, who not only designed Central Park (with Calvert Vaux), but also provided the moral and ethical code for its police force. Once it is shown how all the actors (human and animal) and the setting are in fact 'related,' it is the presence of the police in the park that must be explained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In April 2018, a statue commemorating J Marion Sims was removed from Central Park, New York, and relocated to Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, where he is buried. In 1849, Sims developed a repeatable surgical solution for obstetric fistula, a debilitating condition caused by prolonged, obstructed labour, which damages the vaginal wall, resulting in permanent leakage via the vagina from either the bowel or bladder and sometimes both. Initially, Sims appears worthy of widespread adulation. There are several commemorative statues of him, he has been afforded the title of the 'father of modern gynaecology', and for 37 years, the American Urogynecological Society held an annual eponymous lecture, among other honours. Obstetric fistula rendered women social pariahs, unable to engage fully in either domestic or public life. Sims was able to create a reliably repeatable surgical solution but did so through ongoing experimentation on enslaved women. One of these women, Anarcha, was operated on at least 30 times without the use of anaesthesia over a four-year period, despite the availability of anaesthesia for the majority of the experimentation period. Over 170 years later, Sims' story retains its relevance because it represents a clear point at which race, gender and class intersect with medicine. This paper will use Sims' own account to drive the narrative, then examine matters of agency, ethics and consent that come from it, to show that his work, and subsequent renown, were only possible because of the inherent violence of chattel slavery and other systemic forms of oppression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the significance of Strawberry Fields, the memorial to John Lennon in Central Park, New York City, as a place of secular pilgrimage. Situated within postmodern conceptualizations of secular pilgrimage, Strawberry Fields is shown to be the spatial focus of a variety of discourses related to John Lennon's life and music. Furthermore, this paper illustrates how autobiography as a qualitative research method can reveal the sentiments that motivate particular pilgrims to places associated with major figures in popular music. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In tracing the controversy-ridden social history of the West Indian Labor Day Carnival in Central Brooklyn, the phrase 'Zoo York' emerged as a powerful descriptor of city life as a staged and enclosed spectacle, an ethos that is enunciated by Carnival. The term 'Zoo York' was coined by the hip-hop generation of the 1970s. Zoo York is said to have been inspired by the physical, literal zoo in Central Park, but might have been influenced by the major construction projects that enclosed the inner city of New York City decades prior. In this analysis, Carnival is shown to be a method and praxis for examining the racial and gender aspects of the city. This method places the West Indian Carnival within a larger narrative of enclosure that has been critical in the policing of Black cultural aesthetics in the United States and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Central Park is an iconic feature of New York City, which was the first and one of the hardest hit cities in the United States by the Coronavirus. State-level stay-at-home order, raising COVID-19 cases, as well as the public's personal concerns regarding exposure to the virus, led to a significant reduction of Central Park visitation. We utilized extensive cellphone tracking data to conduct one of the pioneering empirical studies assessing the economic impact of COVID-19 on urban parks. We integrated the difference-in-difference (DID) design with the recreation-demand model. The DID design aids in identifying the causal impacts, controlling for unobservable factors that might confound the treatment effects of interest. Concurrently, the recreational demand model examines the driving factors of visitation changes and enables us to estimate the welfare changes experienced by New York City's residents. Our findings shine a light on the substantial, yet often overlooked, welfare loss triggered by the pandemic. The analysis indicates that the pandemic resulted in a 94% reduction in visitation, corresponding to an annual consumer surplus loss of $450 million. We noted a rebound in visitation following the initial outbreak, influenced by shifts in government policy, weather conditions, holiday periods, and personal characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To assess whether hematological and inflammatory parameters can be useful in assessing severity of disease and predict mortality in patients with COVID-19. Study Design: Cross Sectional Comparative Retrospective. Setting: COVID ward and ICU, Central Park Teaching Hospital Lahore. Period: 23rd April 2021 to 23rd June 2021. Material & Methods: The study population was selected by convenient sampling and all patients admitted to the COVID ward and ICU during this time span of two months with positive COVID PCR were included in the study. Results: Among the study population 29(58%) were males while 21(42%) were females with male to female ratio of 1.38:1 and the difference was not found to be statistically significant. The mean age of the patients was 65.2±08 years. The complete blood parameterswhite blood count, absolute neutrophil count, lymphocyte count and neutrophil lymphocyte ratio were compared between groups and it was found that white blood count, absolute neutrophil count and neutrophil lymphocyte ratio was significantly different between different groups. Inflammatory markers like IL-6, ferritin, C-reative protein and d-dimers were also assessed in different severity groups and all were found to be significantly high in severe/critical group. Conclusion: It is concluded that simple inexpensive parameters like white blood count, neutrophil lymphocyte ratio and neutrophil count can be used to evaluate the severity of disease and to predict those patients who are at increased risk of mortality. In the similar way inflammatory markers like C-reactive protein, D-dimers, IL-6 and ferritin can be used to group the disease severity and also to monitor the disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Obesity is a worldwide medical menace with a huge health-economic burden. Glucose metabolism can be regulated by cellular magnesium in many ways; by mediating secretions of insulin and enabling receptor interaction of insulin. The objective of this study was to determine correlation between serum magnesium levels and insulin resistance in obese male subjects and compares with non-obese male. Material and Methods: This cross sectional study was conducted at Central Park Medical College from December 2021 to May 2022 on 40 obese and 40 non-obese males. Homeostasis model assessment for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) index was used for determining insulin resistance and magnesium levels were assessed by using atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Results: A significantly low serum magnesium level was found in obese subjects as compared to controls (mean ±SD 1.356 ±0.215 vs. 1.79 ±0.267 mg/dl, p<0.0001). A significantly high HOMA-IR index was found in obese group than non-obese group (median (IQR); 3.12(2.65-3.46) vs. 1.61(1.46-1.83; p<0.0001). Conclusion: The study showed significantly lower serum magnesium level and higher insulin resistance in obese men as compared to non-obese. The study has also shown that serum magnesium is negatively correlated with IR. Lower serum magnesium levels and HOMA-IR indices were observed in obese group as compared to nonobese group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Severe wind with high altitudes may threaten the safety of the metropolitan city. This study investigates the relationship between the variation of vertical wind speeds (including 10 min average wind speed (avg‐wind) and 3 s average wind speed (gust wind)) and the height changes in Shenzhen, based on the hourly wind speeds observed on the Shenzhen Meteorological Gradient Tower, Ping An Building, and in the Central Park. The samples are grouped according to the wind speeds. The power law and least square fitting methods are used to obtain the Hellman coefficient value for each group. We find that the fitted Hellman coefficients for both gust wind and avg‐wind are subject to the exponential decay function. When the winds reach their corresponding high percentile level, that is, around 80% of the wind record, the Hellman coefficients almost keep constant. The Hellman coefficient is generally higher over the urban area than that over the rural area. Over the urban area, the Hellman coefficient is with the range of 0.49 ∼ 0.169 for gust wind and 0.64 ∼ 0.327 for the avg‐wind; while over the rural area, the Hellman coefficient is with the range of 0.33 ∼ 0.077 for gust wind and 0.49 ∼ 0.153 for the avg‐wind. There is an apparent diurnal variation of the Hellman coefficient, which is lower during the daytime and higher during nighttime. The monthly variation of the Hellman coefficient over the urban area is not evident, mainly due to the city's climate condition and urban heat island. Plain Language Summary: The value of the Hellman coefficient usually decreases with the increase of the wind speed. The fitted Hellman coefficients for both gust wind and avg‐wind are subject to the exponential decay function. When the winds reach their corresponding high percentile level, that is, around 80% of the wind record, the Hellman coefficients almost keep constant. Key Points: The Hellman coefficient decreases with increased wind speed for a certain topography area, subject to the exponential decay functionWhen the wind reaches its high percentile level for a certain topography area, the Hellman coefficients almost keep constantThe monthly variation of the Hellman coefficient is not apparent over the urban area in Shenzhen due to the urban heat island and its climate [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article mainly discusses the evaluation and optimization of the green space utilization value of comprehensive parks used by people in dense urban areas based on the desire for green and healthy living in the postepidemic era. As a qualitative study of urban parks, this study builds an evaluation system based on the American landscape performance series and combines it with comprehensive indicators of China's urban parks, including environmental performance (such as park planning, infrastructure, trails, and vegetation), health performance (such as cultural education, park activities, and transportation accessibility) economic performance (such as tourist consumption and stimulating the development of surrounding construction) and three other aspects: conducting a site evaluation; evaluating observed behavior, interviews and questionnaires; and performing the analytic hierarchy process–coefficient of variation weight comprehensive evaluation analysis. Additionally, the park comprehensive index, land use index, traffic convenience, park vitality index and other dynamic changes are analyzed over time. The purpose is to explore the foundation of urban parks after the epidemic. The role of the urban park environment in sustainable ecological development is verified, and appropriate optimization and improvement actions are determined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Financing Central Park by general taxation was controversial and precedent setting. It was justified by rationalizing that increases in property values around the Park would generate sufficient annual revenues to cover all the Park's capital costs. Accordingly, the Central Park Commissioners provided data as "evidence" to support the success of this vehicle in their annual reports. This article shows these data were flawed. Notwithstanding their egregious inaccuracy, these Central Park data were ubiquitously reiterated in arguments to support urban parks in cities throughout the United States for eighty years from the 1860s until World War II. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Filmed in New York City's Central Park, the 1968 experimental documentary Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One involved three film crews who were each tasked with capturing different aspects of the film production process simultaneously. One crew filmed the actors conventionally while a second crew filmed the first crew, and a third crew filmed the reactions of innocent passersby who happened upon the entire spectacle. At the center of the action is the (purportedly) bumbling director, William Greaves, who appears on camera throughout the film struggling (perhaps ostensibly) to give his cast and crew adequate direction. The result of this complicated exercise in acting and documentary filmmaking is a series of technical failures caused by Greaves's incompetent direction in addition to various equipment issues. This article considers the political dimensions of these technical failures that constitute the film's aesthetics. It argues that these technical failures create space for surprising critiques of 1960s American racial and sexual politics. Through its close readings, the article highlights the film's often overlooked themes of sexuality and offers a more capacious understanding of the revolutionary possibilities of failure in documentary cinema aesthetics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Epistemology needs to account for the success of science. In True Enough (2017), Catherine Elgin argues that a veritist epistemology is inadequate to this task. She advocates shifting epistemology's focus away from true belief and toward understanding, and further, jettisoning truth from its privileged place in epistemological theorizing. Pace Elgin, I argue that epistemology's accommodation of science does not require rejecting truth as the central epistemic value. Instead, it requires understanding veritism in an ecumenical way that acknowledges a rich array of truth-oriented values. In place of veritism, Elgin offers a holistic epistemology that takes epistemic norms to have their genesis in our collective practice of deliberation. The acceptability of epistemic norms turns on epistemic responsibility, as opposed to reliability, and truth-conduciveness is rejected as the standard of evaluation for arguments and methods of inquiry. I argue, by way of an extended discussion of a high-profile and controversial criminal case, that this leaves epistemic practices and their products inadequately grounded. I offer an alternative, veritistic account of epistemic norms that retains a modified version of truth-conduciveness as a standard of evaluation. However, my alternative account of epistemic norms is congenial to Elgin's holistic epistemology, and, I suggest, could be incorporated within it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on a case of failed consecration: the Egyptian obelisk in New York's Central Park, commonly known as Cleopatra's Needle. The obelisk arrived in New York from Alexandria in 1880, with great fanfare. For a brief period, it was the talk of the town: a tourist curiosity and star of advertising campaigns for consumer goods. After an initial surge in public visibility, the monument's prominence faded. Today, the obelisk is not on the list of New York's top cultural attractions, and no longer features in media campaigns or political rallies. I ask why the obelisk's initial popularity failed to crystallize into an enduring condition of consecration. To answer this question, I use archival data to chart the obelisk's transfer of ownership and planned move, through its Central Park début and subsequent decline in cultural salience. The obelisk met key criteria associated with successful cases of retrospective consecration. What weakened the obelisk's career were lack of consecrating institutions and inherently unstable material conditions. These mechanisms are symbiotically related: because no institution took responsibility for conserving and protecting the obelisk, its granite face rapidly deteriorated and frustrated attempts to attract potential consecrating institutions. The article makes a twofold contribution to the literature on retrospective consecration. First, by discussing a failed case, it highlights the linked efficacy of consecration formation mechanisms. Second, in focusing on an ancient monument, it demonstrates the role played by materials and the specific measures of consecration that obtain in the broader sphere of ancient monuments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article provides an overview of two of the audio walks of Janet Cardiff namely "The Missing Voice," and "Her Long Black Hair." It mentions that The Missing Voice is based around London's East End and Her Long Black Hair is based in Central Park in New York. It also mentions that the artist uses her own voice to lead the headphone wearing participant along a chosen route, weaving a disjointed narrative along the way.

Many of Central Park's bronze statues were coated with lacquer as a protective measure between the late 1970s and early 1990s. In several cases, these coatings outlasted their performance life and were no longer adequately protecting the sculptures. In 2010, a cyclical campaign to remove and refurbish the coatings provided an opportunity to closely assess the condition of de-coated surfaces and to develop suitable, sustainable treatment approaches. The Samuel F. B. Morse statue, created in 1870 by Byron Pickett, commemorates the 19th-century painter and inventor known for the telegraphic code that bears his name. Initially, samples from this statue were collected on the field and analyzed with various techniques to characterize the degradation products that were heavily affecting its surface and the organic coatings used to protect the bronze. Various corrosion species, mainly sulfates and chlorides, were identified by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), while pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS) revealed that the organic coatings were based on mineral wax and acrylics. These results informed a decision to relocate the statue to a controlled workshop space to aid in the manipulation of the large figure and optimize cleaning by laser ablation. Treatment was monitored through three campaigns of analysis using portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) spectroscopy, performed on select locations, to characterize the extent of corrosion across the sculpture's surface and monitor changes on the target areas throughout the cleaning. Following the initial phase of treatment, pXRF showed the substantial removal of iron- and lead-rich compounds from the brownish-toned coating and atmospheric pollution deposition. In the subsequent treatment phases, variations in the relative amounts of sulfates and chlorides were noted and further investigated through the examination of a cross section by means of scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM/EDS). Based on the findings of iron-containing pigments in the organic coating, a decision to apply a new, similar, translucent, brown-toned coating containing such coloring materials was made to achieve the desired visual nuance for the finish and provide additional corrosion protection to the bronze. Scientific analysis on the Morse statue has helped characterize its materials, methods of fabrication, and current conditions on a microscopic scale; in addition, it has guided the means and methodologies of treatment and relays essential information useful for future preservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

J. Marion Sims (1813–1883) is often regarded as the founder of modern surgical gynecology. Widely known and respected during his lifetime, he was honored after death with a statue erected in New York City's Bryant Park. It was later relocated to Central Park, where it remained until 2018, when it was removed after persistent public protests over its presence. The controversy arose over perceptions of Sims's most famous achievement: the development of the first reliable surgical cure for vesico-vaginal fistula, a catastrophic complication of prolonged obstructed labor, which was common in the nineteenth century. Sims developed his surgical technique by operating on a group of enslaved African–American women with fistulas between 1846 and 1849. Modern attacks on Sims are based more on a presentist revulsion over the institution of slavery than on a clear understanding of what Sims actually did within the context of his time and place. Modern critics attack his "experimental" surgeries, the patients' lack of "informed consent," and Sims's failure to use anesthesia during fistula surgery. None of these criticisms takes into consideration the appalling nature of the injuries these women had received, the suffering their condition caused them, the lack of any effective "standard-of-care" treatment for fistulas at that time, the social and legal constraints facing doctors who treated slaves, or the uncertain and problematic early history of anesthesiology. Although "retrospective indignation" may be emotionally satisfying, it does not illuminate the past nor help us understand difficult decision-making in surgery, whatever the time or place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Color, as one of the most important dimensions of vision, plays a key role in place identity and people's experience in the environment. This study aims to investigate people's visual experience of seasonal color change in the environment, and proposes an approach for analyzing and communicating environmental colors by combining color analysis and information visualization. Employing crowdsourced Flickr photos, the approach is tested in four gardens: the Humble Administrator's Garden, Ryoanji, the Garden of Versailles, and Central Park in New York. The results show direct comparisons of seasonal color change patterns in different environments, and reflect characteristics of the environments as well as people's experience of color during the four seasons. The primary contribution of this study is to provide a way of communicating colors in landscape design and color research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Obesity is a common clinical disorder featuring excessive buildup of body fat. The bioavailability of vitamin D in obese subjects is lowered because of its sequestration in the superfluous fat tissue. Hypovitaminosis D itself is associated with glucose intolerance, insulin resistance, dyslipidemia and hypertension, which are also linked to obesity. Objectives: To compare and correlate serum vitamin D and insulin resistance in controls and overweight / obese males. Study Design: Cross Sectional, Comparative Study. Setting: The study was conducted in the Department of Physiology, Post - Graduate Medical Institute (PGMI) in collaboration with Lahore General Hospital and Central Park Medical College. Period: From 7th June 2018 to 10th Oct 2018. Material and Methods: Eighty male subjects (age range 35-50 years) included in this cross-sectional comparative study were divided into two groups on the basis of BMI; Group I: non-obese (control) BMI < 25 Kg/m² (n=40) and Group II: overweight / obese males with BMI ≥25 Kg/m² (n=40). Fasting serum vitamin D (25 hydroxy cholecalciferol; 25-OH D, serum insulin and blood glucose levels were measured. Insulin resistance (IR) was estimated from fasting serum glucose levels taken in mmol/l and the fasting serum insulin taken in µIU/ml by using Homeostasis Model Assessment-estimated Insulin Resistance (HOMA-IR index). Results: Group II had lower serum 25-OH vitamin D levels and higher HOMA-IR index than control group. Significant negative correlation was present between serum vitamin D and HOMA-IR. Conclusion: Vitamin D deficiency may promote insulin resistance in overweight or obese individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An editorial is presented about transportation system in the U.S., citing the rapid transit lines to the suburbs, controversies in allowing cars in the Central Park and provision of space for bicyclists on bridges. It cites that the same problems on general issues are experienced from 1899 to 1999. The article also cites that the government is not making substantial progress towards resolving the issues.

The article discusses the transformation of landscape gardening into landscape architecture in the U.S. Topics include the book "Forty Years of Landscape Architecture," a two-volume work by Theodora Kimball and Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr.; the issue of building a memorial for landscape architect Andrew Jackson Downing; and the political context of the construction of Central Park in New York City.

Over the past decade, green infrastructure has emerged as a subject of significant interest in city and regional planning; yet, this discussion is not entirely new. Significant elements can be traced to the work of Frederick Law Olmsted, Sr., in the nineteenth century, and the roots of the urban planning and landscape architecture professions. As evidence, this article frames three aspects of Olmsted’s work within contemporary green infrastructure theory and practice: ecosystem services and human well-being; environmental restoration; and comprehensive planning. The article then addresses Olmsted’s philosophy regarding the civilizing influence of urbanism and concludes that green infrastructure may be integral to the evolution of the twenty-first century city. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article discusses the history of New York City's Central Park. According to the author, the park was a contested ground used and interpreted in different ways by a variety of social, economic, and ethnic groups. Details related to the eviction of people living on the site of the park and to its design by landscape architects Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux are presented. It is suggested that the architects altered and in some cases destroyed the existing natural landscape of the park in order to model the space after English park designs. The use of the park by marginalized populations, including immigrants and protesters, is also discussed.

The article discusses the design philosophy and aesthetics of landscape designer Frederick Law Olmsted, particularly focusing on his views on public parks and freedom. It examines his work designing the series of Boston, Massachusetts parks known as the Emerald Necklace and his work designing New York City's Central Park with landscape designer Calvert Vaux. The author considers the influence of several individuals, including theologian Horace Bushnell and authors Sir Thomas Dick Lauder and Archibald Alison, on Olmsted.

Imagine yourself in Central Park one million years ago. You would be standing on a vast ice sheet, a 4,000-mile glacial wall, as much as 2,000 feet thick. Alone on the vast glacier, you would not sense its slow crushing, scraping, ripping movement as it advanced south, leaving great masses of rock debris in its wake. Under the frozen depths, where the carousel now stands, you would notice the effect on the bedrock as the glacier dragged itself along. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a study which examined a series of Central park and Manhattan views in New York City produced by lithograph artist John Bachmann. Merger of the ideals of pastoralism and modernity in an urban context; Identification of two major 19th century view types; Role of landscape representation in the history of modern urbanism and utopian thought.

Provides information on the rectilinearly of Central Park at the heart of the curviliner island of Manhanttan. Information on what the park represents; Reference to the shooting of `Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One' in Central Park; Detailed information on the integration evident in the Park.

Throughout its 150-year history New York City's Central Park has inspired writers, painters, poets, and musicians. In 1906 Charles Ives was moved by its rich soundscape to compose his orchestral piece Central Park in the Dark; nearly one hundred years later, in 2005, the artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude unfurled 7500 saffron-coloured cloth panels for a sixteen-day installation at the park. Although separated by a century, these artworks appear similarly preoccupied with the construction, manipulation, and perception of nature and place, honouring and celebrating the park as a naturalistic setting, while also acknowledging it as a fabricated entity, shaped by human interactions, and as an ongoing cultural project. The present article suggests parallels between Ives's construction of the park in sound, and 'Christo's Gates', as the installation became known -- parallels that suggest the continuing resonance of Ives's musical contemplation, as well as the issues that occupied its composer as the Gilded Age gave way to the progressive era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the personal characteristics and preferences of individuals that encourage interactions with smart media displays (media façades). Specifically, it aimed to determine which key aspects of a smart display "media façade" enhance intuitive interactions. A range of smart display technologies and their effects on interaction decisions were considered. Data were drawn from a survey of 200 randomly sampled residents and/or visitors to a smart building, One Central Park, in Sydney, Australia. A binomial logistic regression analysis was undertaken to establish links between a range of design, perceptions and socio-demographic variables and individuals' decisions to interact with a smart media display. The results showed that the aesthetics of an installation, the quality of an installation's content and the safety of the operation-friendly environment significantly affected respondents' decisions to interact with the media display. Interestingly, respondents born overseas were more likely to interact with a smart display than those born in Australia. Respondents who expressed a preference for photograph-based interactions were also more likely to interact with the display. Somewhat surprisingly, age, residency and levels of familiarity with digital technology did not significantly affect respondents' decisions to interact with the display. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]