Packed Building
Lower Manhattan Packed Buildings
Christo and Jeanne-Claude “Wrapped Buildings, New York City”
- Packed Building (Project for 1 Times Square, Allied Chemical Tower N.Y.) Collaged photographs 1968 (Detail)
- Lower Manhattan Packed Buildings (Project) 2 Broadway and 20 Exchange Place | Photomontage 1964-66 (Detail)
In February 1964, Christo and Jeanne-Claude arrived in New York on board of the SS France. Shortly after seeing the tall buildings of downtown Manhattan from the bow of the ship, Christo did the first collages of Two Lower Manhattan Wrapped Buildings, No. 2 Broadway and No. 20 Exchange Place. Later, when Christo and Jeanne-Claude met with the owners to request permission to realize the project, the answers were negative.
Something about having an entire section on their website devoted to unrealized projects makes me very happy. Think of all the poignant ideas that sit dormant because we could not find the means to make them happen. Conceptual art is very much about ideas. Make it happen by any means and be willing to rethink it in a different medium or smaller scale.