New York City's most poetic archicritic has turned his lyrical prose to the Bronx. For his latest Bloomberg review, James S. Russell toured Via Verde, the city's new eco-friendly affordable housing development designed by Dattner Architects and Grimshaw. To do the review justice, we've once again turned the archicritic's words into a free verse poem for a feature we like to call "Rhyme Time with James Russell." Enjoy:
A roof that sprouts just-planted Christmas trees,
A grove of cherry trees and vegetables beds,
In the once-blighted Bronx;
The roofline rises in jazzy syncopated steps.
Low-rise wings guide the winter sun;
Grillwork sun shades spray checkerboards of shadow,
Across the silvery building panels.
Colorful wood-panel accents dot the surface,
like an outsized Mondrian.
A remarkable multilevel roofscape;
Who wouldn't want to scale the bleachers,
To take in the expansive views among rooftop trees?
Or clamber higher to tend vegetables?
Via Verde shows the power
Of thoughtful design to transform low-income housing.
· Blighted Bronx Revives With Roof Gardens, Solar Panels [Bloomberg]
· Rhyme Time With James Russel archive [Curbed]
· Via Verde coverage [Curbed]
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