Block Overview Assignment

Model Overview

North Slope, Sixteenth Street, between Seventh and Eighth Avenues[RK1] 

The block of 16^th Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues in Park Slope is very typical of the neighborhood’s character. [RK2]  Park Slope is a neighborhood of row-houses.[RK3]   Many of these, particularly in North Slope, are made of brownstone, with large stone stoops, detailed iron gates, and elaborate ornamentation on their facades.  Those brownstones were originally built to house the well-to-do, professionals such as lawyers, architects, professors, and businessmen who were drawn to the area’s proximity to Prospect Park and the easy commute by subway to Manhattan in the early 1900s, making the neighborhood a bedroom community. [RK4]  I chose to photograph the block on 16^th Street because its character depicts a more humble, but equally interesting history. [RK5]  The earliest buildings on the block were built in 1899 and 1901, are three stories, and originally housed workers who labored in the factories located in the nearby Gowanus neighborhood.  Like their neighbors to the north, these small houses are built in a row, and share attached walls with the buildings next to them.  On the north side of the street exist four-story structures, some built in the 1920s, while others were constructed as recently as 2007 and 2008.  The modern buildings were required to use the same width lot as the older homes, which accounts for why the attached apartments at 359, 361, and 363 have different addresses.  This row of buildings attempts to emulate the style of the block’s older structures.  The gray building at 349, however, is a renegade, breaking from tradition both in materials and design. [RK6]  The line of structures on this block visually indicate that the history of Park Slope is varied, unexpected and continually changing.

RECAP:

1. Introduce the location of your block.
2. Make a claim as to the character of your neighborhood.
3. Explain why you chose the particular block you photographed.
4. Describe how the block that you chose demonstrates the neighborhood’s character by giving background history as to why the structures were built when they were, and by providing details about how the buildings look.
5. Describe several particular buildings, connecting how they look to your claim about the neighborhood’s character.
6. Wrap-up with a conclusive statement.

TIP:  If you don’t feel like you know the history of your neighborhood well enough to explain why the structures in your neighborhood are there, do RESEARCH using the resources you have:

• Neighborhood reading
• Timeline
• PPT notes
• BK Bridge notes
• Other research

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