When people are looking for public space in New York City, they often look to the waterways. Of the many ideas in this vein, a new one is more ambitious than usual: an offshore park proposed for the Hudson River off of 14th Street.
Initial pricing puts the project, called Pier 55, at $170 million, and the proposal states that it would be located 186 feet from land and contain wooded areas and three performance venues, 6sqft reports.
Barry Diller, the billionaire Chairman of IAC, is sponsoring the plan. In fact, he initiated the design competition that produced this proposal. Thomas Heatherwick of Heatherwick Studio is responsible for the current plan for proposed park.
Diller has promised $130 million from the Diller-von Furstenberg Family Foundation, in addition to taking managerial responsibilities for the outdoor space and operating costs for the first 20 years. A veteran supporter of public projects, Diller was also the single largest donor to the High Line. The rest of the necessary funds, about $39.5 million, are to come from the city, state, and the Hudson River Park Trust.
Before the plan can go forward, the board of the Hudson River Park Trust, the Army Corps of Engineers, and the New York Department of Environmental Conservation must approve Pier 55.
Heatherwick's winning proposal for the park is based on 300 mushroom-shaped concrete columns, forming a parallelogram shape when combined. These columns would vary in height, making the park closer to the water in some places. This design allows sunlight to enter beneath the park, which is vital for the marine sanctuary in this area of the river.
The largest of the three proposed performance spaces would hold 1,000 people in the seats and 2,500 more on the lawn. The other two spaces would be an 800-seat amphitheater and a small stage with 250 seats.
Renderings courtesy Heatherwick Studios.
Related Stories
| Oct 14, 2014
Proven 6-step approach to treating historic windows
This course provides step-by-step prescriptive advice to architects, engineers, and contractors on when it makes sense to repair or rehabilitate existing windows, and when they should advise their building owner clients to consider replacement.
| Oct 12, 2014
AIA 2030 commitment: Five years on, are we any closer to net-zero?
This year marks the fifth anniversary of the American Institute of Architects’ effort to have architecture firms voluntarily pledge net-zero energy design for all their buildings by 2030.
| Oct 10, 2014
A new memorial by Zaha Hadid in Cambodia departs from the expected
The project sees a departure from Hadid’s well-known use of concrete, fiberglass, and resin. Instead, the primary material will be timber, curved and symmetrical like the Angkor Wat and other Cambodian landmarks.
| Oct 8, 2014
First look: Woods Bagot unveils plans for new Christchurch Convention Center
The locally-inspired building is meant to serve as a symbol of the city's recovery from the earthquake of 2011.
| Oct 6, 2014
Frank Gehry's $100 million Eisenhower Memorial gets preliminary approval
After a rejection earlier in the year, Frank Gehry has gotten some good news: his revised design for the Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial has received approval from the National Capital Planning Commission.
| Oct 2, 2014
Budget busters: Report details 24 of the world's most obscenely over-budget construction projects
Montreal's Olympic Stadium and the Sydney Opera House are among the landmark projects to bust their budgets, according to a new interactive graph by Podio.
| Oct 1, 2014
10 iconic modern buildings first to receive 'Keeping it Modern' conservation grants from the Getty Foundation
Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie House and Jørn Utzon’s Sydney Opera House are among the buildings to receive grants.
| Sep 29, 2014
Snøhetta releases final plan for terraced central library in Calgary
The competition-winning New Central Library is now in the final design stages, after two years of community engagement on the part of design firms Snøhetta and DIALOG.
| Sep 25, 2014
Jean Nouvel unveils plans for National Art Museum of China
Of the design, Nouvel describes it as inspired by the simplicity of “a single brush stroke.”
| Sep 24, 2014
Architecture billings see continued strength, led by institutional sector
On the heels of recording its strongest pace of growth since 2007, there continues to be an increasing level of demand for design services signaled in the latest Architecture Billings Index.
