Architectural Record – August 2019

1    ESPLANADE

2    FOOTBRIDGE

3    WALKWAY

4    PORCH

5    STEEL-MESHROOF

6    SANITATIONGARAGE

PIER 35

PIER 17

EASTRIVERESPLANADE

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ROOF PLAN 15 M.

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0 50 FT.

ROOF PLAN 15 M.

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15 M.

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37

LIFE AQUATIC Localsflocktotheparktoenjoyitsporch(right)andobservesealifeat

"MusselBeach"(opposite,top).KenSmithplantedvinesonthesteel-meshstructure

(above,andopposite),whichwilleventuallyserveasagreen”billboard.“

has planted to create a green “billboard” visible from the highway

that runs along the riverfront.

Linking the pier to the mainland is an existing footbridge that

both firms helped reconstruct. Working with marine biologist Ron

Alveras, they created “Mussel Beach,” where strategically placed

boulders in the inlet provide a habitat for sea life.

Throughout, Smith designed the pier’s two east–west walkways

with a deliberate “meandering plan, where you have to look up from

your phone while walking,” he says.

Pier 35 is not the final step in this revitalization scheme, first

advanced by the Bloomberg administration in the post­9/11 rebuild­

ing of lower Manhattan. But it is the last large piece. While work

began on this portion in 2010, the project stalled under the current

De Blasio administration. Now the federally funded stretch of water­

front needs just a few finishing touches and should be completed

next year.

“Most New Yorkers are cut off from the water, and this is one

of the places where you can really see it,” says Smith. Amid the

bustle of a dense downtown, this narrow multiuse oasis allows

city­dwellers to hear, smell, and feel the water and the breezes—

and relax. n