Stephen Wise Towers Playground
Artist: Nivola, Costantino, 1911-1988, sculptor
With: Richard G. Stein & Associates, landscape architect
Status: Removed
Title: Stephen Wise Towers Playground
Dates: 1964
Medium:Entrance wall: cast concrete; Horses: cast colored concrete; Relief: cement stucco; Fountains: cast concrete; The Nanny, sculpture, cast concrete.
Dimensions: Entrance wall: 7 ft. x 20 ft. x 1 ft. 6 in.; Each of the 18 horses: H. 2 ft. 6 in. x 1 ft. 6 in. Relief: H. 10 ft. W. 80 ft.; Fountains: each 7 x 7 x 7 ft.; The Nanny: H. 7 ft.
Inscription: (Right side of plaza face:) NIVOLA/1964 (SOS survey indicates that signature is backwards due to cast.) signed
Owner: Administered by New York City Housing Authority, New York, New York
Located Stephen Wise Towers, Playground, between 90 & 9st Streets, New York, New York
Remarks: Constructed in 1963 for the surrounding housing project, the Stephen Wise Recreation Area spans an entire city block and was designed by the architect Richard Stein. The playground also included numerous abstract, modernist elements by the Italian sculptor Costantino Nivola (1911-1988) that helped define specific areas but also combined to create a thoughtful, unified space for recreation and relaxation. Nivola’s contribution to the playground involved five main features: an entrance wall; eighteen cast colored concrete horses, in white, black, and gray; a sand-casted relief wall along 90th street; two concrete pyramids that once functioned as a fountain; and a freestanding sculpture titled The Nanny, installed in the Northeast corner. The site had long suffered from neglect, and in 2021, Nivola’s horses were cut down and removed from the playground, though they remain in storage at Stephen Wise Towers.This playground sculpture was funded by the J. M. Kaplan Fund. In 2021,
References:
Gayle, Margot & Michele Cohen, “Guide to Manhattan’s Outdoor Sculpture,” New York: Prentice Hall, 1988, pg. 280.
Small, Zachary, “The Crumbling Art of Costantino Nivola, a Picasso for the People,” Atlas Obscura, March 12, 2020, https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/who-was-costantino-nivola
Small, Zachary, “Modernist Horse Sculptures Removed by City Housing Agency,” New York Times, March 17, 2021.
Goldberg, Bridget, “Costantino Nivola’s Concrete Horses Removed in Manhattan,” Architectural Record, March 23, 2021,https://www.architecturalrecord.com/articles/15040-costantino-nivolas-concrete-horses-removed-in-manhattan
READ MORE ON OUR WEBSITE AT: https://www.landmarkwest.org/nivolahorses/