Waterburg Plaza
Date: 2010
Location: Ulysses, New York, USA
Project Type: Public installation with video projection, documentary video
Site: 1840’s farm chapel
Architecture Restored by: Paul Chambers
In Partnership with: The History Center of Tompkins County, Historic Ithaca, The Ithaca Post
Funded by: Community Arts Partnership grant,
Description: At the site, is a white building with a green roof sitting in a brown landscape. The town’s first light bulb turned on in this historic, rural chapel. It was built by the Bower family and recently restored by Paul Chambers. It’s architectural style is a consequence of Greek Revival. This architectural style enabled farmers to order building plans and kits to spruce up their property. Cruising on your bike through the Finger Lakes Region, columns and pediments are still being attached to vinyl barns and churches. The repetition of the form is accentuated by photographs of Greek Revival buildings being projected onto the Greek Revival chapel. In one sense, the installation is a story of the architectural history of the place and in another it is hollowing out the desire for style and questioning how to build value in a place.
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