Oculus - Spring 2015 - (Page 20)

one block over ©SHoP Architects As seen from the East River Esplanade, the South Street Seaport redevelopment project, designed by SHoP, includes a proposed 42-story residential tower, moving and renovating the 1907 Tin Building (center) as a food market, and a new, mixed-use building on Pier 17 (right), currently under construction. Rough Waters Squalls continue over the redevelopment of South Street Seaport I t's not smooth sailing for South Street Seaport, where a replacement for the Pier 17 mall is underway, along with a plan to revitalize the once-bustling 19th-century seaport as a mecca for new area residents and tourists. The most contentious issue is a proposed 42-story waterfront residential tower with a new middle school at the base. Community groups say the tower is out of character with the neighborhood. "When you look at the historic area with the ships, low-rise buildings, and Schermerhorn Row, the tower just doesn't fit in," says City Council member Margaret Chin. Howard Hughes Corp. (HHC), the developer, leases the seaport property from the NYC Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC). Gregg Pasquarelli, AIA, founding principal of SHoP Architects, which designed most of the seaport redevelopment, Pier 17, and the East River Esplanade, defends the project, citing increased waterfront access, a restored street grid, and more public green space. (In one concession, the tower was shortened by 10 stories, and it was proposed that its 60 units of affordable housing be shifted to Schermerhorn Row.) Pasquarelli also argues that revenues from the glass-and-zinc striated tower will support the rest of the project for years to come. "You need something to pay for what everyone wants," Pasquarelli says. "You are talking about hundreds of millions of dollars. The city can't write that check, but we have a corporate developer who wants to do it." Community Board 1 will apply for the eighth time (since 2002) to stretch the NYC landmarks district to include the 1939 New Market building, once part of the Fulton Fish Market, that would be razed to make way for the tower. If approved, authorities could veto the tower. But that would mean losing the much-needed school and community space. All aspects of the project are subject to the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure. The 1907 Tin Building (also once a fish market) is slated to be moved out from under the FDR Drive, renovated, and raised above the flood plain by SHoP, and given an additional floor on top. Moving it will also provide a larger plaza in the front, designed by James Corner Field Operations, which will meet the East River Esplanade, a project commissioned by NYCEDC and designed by SHoP with Ken Smith Landscape Architects and HDR/ 20 Oculus Spring 2015 ©Claire Wilson B Y C L A i r e W i Ls o n (above) Once it is moved and renovated by SHoP, the 1907 Tin Building (center) will be a food market; the 1939 New Market building (far right) will be razed to make way for the proposed SHoP-designed tower. Arup. Once completed, at a cost of $54 million, the Tin Building will be a food market. The South Street Seaport Museum will remain in Schermerhorn Row and gain some funding from HHC. The community consensus, however, is that the entire seaport area has lost sight of its original mission as memorial, research center, and outdoor ship museum. Michael Kramer of Save Our Seaport bemoans the chaos created by the inadequate infrastructure that already can't handle the crowds from concerts and special events in the area. He also sees no place for a private marina planned for the area just north of the tower at the expense of the "street of ships" for historic vessels. There are approximately six historic ships now berthed at the seaport - half the number that berthed there in the past. Pier 16 now services commercial passenger boats instead of reflecting its history as a working harbor. "Dozens of historic vessels could dock here each year, making it a destination attraction," he says. The developer "should be happy for anything that draws people down here." Claire Wilson writes for the New York Times. Dialogues from the Edge of Practice

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Oculus - Spring 2015

First Words Letter from the President Repositioning All Around By Tomas Rossant, AIA
Letter from the Editor The Edge of New By Kristen Richards, Hon. AIA, Hon. ASLA
Center for Architecture Center Highlights
One Block Over Rough Waters: Squalls continue over the redevelopment of South Street Seaport By Claire Wilson
Opener: Thinking Into Other Boxes By David Zach
Mars in the Bronx CASE gets new environmental technologies out of labs and into buildings at (relative) warp speed By Jonathan Lerner
Spinning Research Into Practice Intense experimentation with digital technologies is yielding remarkable designs and products by ARO By Lisa Delgado
A Results-Oriented Think Tank Defining architectural practice broadly enough to include research, theory, and public discourse, Grimshaw’s Urban Research Unit is a full-circle activity leading to a richer built environment By Bill Millard
The Resilience Factor Perkins+Will is making resilience design and planning a growing area of practice and income By Richard Staub
Socrates at the Drafting Table REX champions a slow thinktank architecture of methodical problem-solving By Janet Adams Strong
Architecture in the Social Data Era Transforming our practice to engage new data sources and design intents By Melissa Marsh
Museum as Incubator The New Museum hatches a multidisciplinary workspace to nurture creative entrepreneurs By Julia van den Hout
When Bottom-up Meets Top-down The benefits of community engagement in post-disaster rebuilding plans By Deborah Gans, FAIA
In Print Bricks & Mortals: Ten Great Buildings and the People They Made By Tom Wilkinson Tales of Two Cities: Paris, London and the Birth of the Modern City By Jonathan Conlin Visionaries in Urban Development: 15 Years of the ULI J.C. Nichols Prize Winners By Trisha Riggs, et al. American Urban Form: A Representative History By Sam Bass Warner and Andrew H. Whittemore Preservation is Overtaking Us By Rem Koolhaas, with a supplement by Jorge Otero-Pailos Reviews by Stanley Stark, FAIA
31-Year Watch Architectural practice once embraced dinner plates and candlesticks produced by Swid Powell By John Morris Dixon, FAIA
Last Words Eve of Construction By Rick Bell, FAIA
Index to Advertisers Alphabetical & Categorical Index

Oculus - Spring 2015