Unique garden installation reflects and delights New York

There’s a new luscious green lawn in the middle of New York. Its garden chairs, hedges and gazebo-like structure are reminiscent of a suburban American garden. Which is precisely what the latest project by Günther Vogt, Professor of Landscape Architecture at ETH Zürich, is meant to be: a suburban garden on the roof of a building in New York City. “The location is simply one-of-a-kind,” says Vogt. “You’re in the middle of this metropolis of eight million people, yet you’re also standing on an expansive lawn and can see the Manhattan skyline, which looks a little like a mountain landscape. As you gaze down on Central Park, you have the feeling you’re looking at a forest. The roof of the Metropolitan Museum is the only place in New York that offers such an impressive view.”

Garden pavilion reflects the museum, New York and New Yorkers

In addition to its unusual location, what makes this installation extraordinary is the striking S-shaped mirrored pavilion in the middle of the garden. The glass is slightly reflective on both sides, so when visitors walk past it they see themselves reflected in the Manhattan skyline, as well as everything  on the other side of the glass. “The idea here is to literally and figuratively reflect America’s suburban gardens, which are both distinctive and anonymous,” Vogt explains. The design of the pavilion is also unique, as it combines stylistic elements from various eras, such as the Baroque period and the age of modern architecture. “That’s why the project is such a perfect fit for the Metropolitan Museum, which also houses works of art from many different cultures and historical periods,” says Vogt.

The Hedge Two-Way Mirror Walkabout, as the New Yorkers call the installation, took one year to plan and two months to construct. It opened on 29 April of this year. The installation is truly in tune with New York’s zeitgeist and the tastes of New Yorkers. As the external page New York Times pointed out, “the roof garden is so obvious, so perfect, that it really should have happened years ago. But late is better than never.” The external page Financial Times was equally impressed, announcing that “A seriously charming and richly allusive installation has appeared on the roof of the Met”. However, it’s not just the media that’s thrilled with the installation: every day countless New Yorkers and tourists flock to the unique suburban garden in the heart of the city.

A little piece of Switzerland in New York

The American artist Dan Graham was responsible for Günther Vogt’s participation in the project. Each year, the Metropolitan Museum selects a single artist to create a summer installation on its roof terrace. Graham, a well known conceptual artist, was chosen for the 2014 installation — but he said he would only accept if he could work together with Günther Vogt and his team. The architecture enthusiasts met for the first time 15 years ago and have since carried out several joint projects, including a glass pavilion (One Straight Line Crossed by One Curved Line) at Novartis Campus Park in Basel, and a park with a pavilion in La Rochelle, France. For the Met project, which is officially titled “The Roof Garden Commission: Dan Graham with Günther Vogt”, Graham sketched the pavilion, while Vogt and his team managed the technical planning. The whole garden and the furniture and objects it contains were designed at the Vogt Zürich architectural firm in Switzerland. So at least on some level, the project also ‘reflects’ a little piece of Switzerland alongside American suburbia.