|
| If you want to use 2 images delete from here
| < | to here ( delete this text after customizing document)
URBAN RESEARCH: PROBES
Timothy M. Rice
<
The Westside Highway between west thirty fourth street and Gansevoort Street is characterized by areas of "fleeting use" (temporary use) causing pockets of non activity. These areas of non - activity or "Dead Zones" result in multiple barriers on the site. These barriers serve only to isolate the site from the rest of the city.
This study proposes a "Hostile Takeover" of the existing abandoned New York Central Railway right-of-way, as well as the revitalization of the existing piers at the waters edge in an attempt to create a new pedestrian corridor along the westside. Using the viaduct as a continuous pedestrian walkway along its entire length and providing a mix of activities to be encountered will stimulate use within these pockets of non-activity and create a twenty four hour zone.
The viaduct transforms itself like a chameleon. It constantly changes form in order to adapt to new conditions as they are encountered. It is a park, housing, office space, outdoor market, media center and entertainment place. The use that occurs along its length will be influenced partly by the set of "conditions" that the viaduct encounters and partly by the existing buildings themselves. Many of the existing buildings have activity along the street but no use above the first floor. The intention of the viaduct reprogramming is to activate the vacant upper floors of these existing buildings in order to weave new fabric with the old.
The probe areas were chosen for their ability to most clearly express the project goals. The first probe is located at Washington Street at the corner of Little West 12th Street. At this point, both abandoned infrastructures (viaduct and piers) meet. Also, the buildings in this block are abandoned giving us the opportunity to totally transform this area. The second probe is a series of sites from West 24th Street to West 27th Street along tenth avenue. Each probe is unique, responding to a different condition that exists on the rail in order to take advantage of existing site characteristics.
|
|
| If you want to use 2 images delete from here
| < | to here ( delete this text after customizing document)
For comments about the project write to: [email protected]
For comments about the home page write to: [email protected]