FDR Four Freedoms Park Opens

When Louis I. Kahn died in New York City's Penn Station in 1974, he was reportedly carrying design drawings for a memorial to be located on the southern tip of Roosevelt Island. The memorial, to commemorate Franklin Delano Roosevelt's "Four Freedoms" speech from 1941, was shelved in the city's 1970s financial crisis, but interest in the architect and the project were revived after the release of Nathanial Kahn's 2003 film My Architect. Louis Kahn's detailed documentation of the project allowed Mitchell/Giurgola to faithfully realize what is officially called FDR Four Freedoms Park. The design features a raised lawn flanked by rows of Linden trees leading to a bust of FDR and "the room," which gives visitors a unique vista of New York City.