SEGD_Design - (Page 59) On the Erie Canal Graphic interventions transform a decrepit urban site into a celebration of the canal’s heyday, and boost a $53 million waterfront redevelopment project. arly November 1825, and aboard the packet boat Seneca Chief, New York Governor DeWitt Clinton emptied two barrels of water from Lake Erie into the Hudson River, “wedding the waters” of the Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean and effectively opening the U.S. interior to commerce. The Erie Canal launched a new era of prosperity in New York, and along the banks at its western terminus, a new city arose. Almost 184 years later, the Erie Canal’s heyday has come and gone, and Buffalo has seen some economic ups and downs. But a nine-year, $53 million redevelopment of its commercial harbor is aimed at reigniting the waterfront’s potential and contributing to the city’s revival. To tap into that potential, developers needed to create an inviting space and get users excited about Buffalo’s maritime heritage. Part of that challenge fell to C&G Partners (New York), which created interpretive elements for what is essentially an outdoor museum. “Overall, the project was an attempt to begin to convey—through a series of landscape elements, archaeological enhancements, and new buildings and bridges—what might have been there before,” says Keith Helmetag, who directed C&G’s design effort. “That was the context our work needed to live within and add to.” The lack of existing historic fabric on the site was a major factor in the team’s interpretive approach. “If there had been a lot of existing Previous page: An evocative 37-ft.-tall glass façade recalls the warehouses on Buffalo’s bustling waterfront during the Erie Canal’s heyday. The bottom third is a recreation of a 1908 canal surveyor’s map. Above, enlarged vintage photographs mounted on a tracery of stainless steel “bricks” project images of the tradespeople who would have occupied the warehouse lofts. E Above: Typography for the site’s primary identification was inspired by an 1800s broadside advertising passenger traffic on the canal. Adirondack Studios fabricated 4-ft.high, LED-lit aluminum can letters spelling out the harbor’s historical name. Above inset: Above the identity sign, a 20-ft.-long glass interpretive element affords views of the existing site while recalling the Commercial Slip at four key points in the past. Below: Atop a small rise, a ghostly portal overlooks the ruins of old canal warehouses. A steel doorjamb supports glass panels depicting scenes of the city during the canal’s heyday. 56 segdDESIGN
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