Projecting from the glittering vault of the Winter Garden and the base of the World Financial Center to the marina of the North Cove and the Hudson waterfront, World Financial Plaza is the center of Battery Park City. It is also the result of a singular collaboration between artists Siah Armajani and Scott Burton, architect Cesar Pelli, and landscape architect M. Paul Friedberg. From the earliest stages, these individuals joined forces to create a welcoming, celebratory public landscape that would look to the past and future alike. The design spans from th egently curving contour of the cove to Burton's stone seating and the fountains girding the plaza. Wooden benches tucked along tree-lined pathways provide a more secluded setting. Inset into the metal railings overlooking the cove are quotes from poets Walt Whitman and Frank O'Hara celebrating the exhilarating spirit of New York City. At once formal and congenial, World Financial Plaza is an ebullient stage set for New York City at the dawn of the 21st century.
