Space for change

Abstract

The city of New York is densifying wherever it can, more pencil-like skyscrapers are being constructed every year, adding more housing and office space that is in high demand. Recently, industrial areas such as Hudson Yards have been transformed to gain more area to build on. Hell’s Kitchen forms one of the few exceptions for this trend of densification. The combination of an industrial waterfront and the protection of the low-rise character has prevented new developments from taking place. The industrial waterfront, however, is undergoing a transformation with manufacturing and warehouses moving out of Manhattan. The vacancy creates opportunities for the development of a city with a different character along the waterfront. This desolated waterfront is unique in its character as is the only waterfront stretch in Manhattan that has not been developed further in the post-industrial time. What is lacking in the current situation is the lack of destination and purpose of being along this waterfront. Culture is often used as a means of sparking a new type of development in an underserved area. At the same time, the lack of culture in the current situation makes that there is nothing that brings people together. Therefore. the introduction of a new cultural attraction also binds together these new types of development along the waterfront. This led to the research question of this thesis: “How can a new type of inspiration lab bring people together and spark an all-inclusive redevelopment in the post-industrial waterfront of Midtown New York” The project is a 38.000 square meter inspiration lab and public park, showcasing the new public waterfront of Hell’s Kitchen. Along this waterfront, the project creates a new destination and acts as a trigger for urban redevelopment. With its location on the pier, the building signifies the change from a manufacturing society to a knowledge-based society. While the building extends the public Hudson River park further north, it is mostly aimed at serving the new developments as well as the Hell’s Kitchen area directly. The building is very flexible in its program and integrates a more diverse mix of functions as compared to a traditional library to connect people and inspire them to create, share and consume knowledge in a new collective space along the waterfront.