HOTELANOT
Sint-Lucas Brussels Faculty of NoAllwww.ellahassin.comellahassin@gmail.comEllaAuthor:SchaarbeekPaleizenstraatBelgiumKULeuvenArchitecture65/67,1030AntoniaHassinrightsreserved.partofthepublication
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2022
Architectural interventions for the Hudson Riverfront, Manhattan, New York, USA
THIS IS NOT A HOTEL
Revitalized Waterfront: Balancing Contrasts in the Meatpacking District's Streetscapes Towards Diversity And Resilience
Master Dissertation Project PROF. DR. ARCH. KRIS SCHEERLINCK
Ella Antonia Hassin
2.1 e block as a microcosm of diversity
1.1 In and out of the everyday
e City
2.4 Qualities and territorial con gurations
1.3 e hotel
2.3 Catalog of composite coastal blocks
DialoguesResearchIntroductionAbstractPrefaceQuestionsWith
Dis-Harmony of ‘High’ And ‘Low’
1.2 e museum
3.1 Re ection on the Meatpacking District
2.5 Intakes
Chapter ChapterChapter1.2.3.
2.2 Morphology of composite coastal blocks
Composite Coastal Blocks
1.4 e piers
3.2 History of the Meatpacking District
3.3 Streetscape snapshots p. 8 p. 10 p. 12 p. 14 p. 18 p. 20 p. 26 p. 36 p. 46 p. 50 p. 52 p. 88 p. 90 p. 94 p. 96 p. 100
CONTENTS
4.3 A call for action
6.3 Peripheral isometries, elevations and plans
6.4 Model 1:1000
Chapter 6.
e Proposal6.1
5.3 Waterfront past and future
6.2 Waterfront strategy
6.6 Perspectives
e Site
Chapter 4.
Chapter 5.
5.2 Site impressions mapping
4.1 e importance of small manufacturers in the city
p. 118 p. 120 p. 122 p. 128 p. 130 p. 132 p. 134 p. 136 p. 140 p. 142 p. 150 p. 162 p. 170 p. 194 p. 198 p. 200 p. 202
AcknowledgmentsBibliographyConclusions
4.2 e decline of the district’s meatpacking businesses
6.5 Building isometry, construction, plans and sections
Primary model
5.3 Basic analysis
5.4 Section towards east
5.1 Drawing the site
e Last-Standing Meatpackers
PREFACE MOTIVATION LETTER TO THE STREETSCAPES TERRITORIES STUDIO (REVISITED)
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In June 2008, my parents sent us, their two daughters (11 and 16 years old) to New York City, to be hosted by a friend, a painter. Looking back, this long summer had been one of the pivotal experiences of my early life, witnessing the reality of a New York artist through her daily struggles, living in a small apartment in Greenwich Village.
As I see it, the Streetscape Territories’ starting point is the personal stories and experiences of the city, which encompass the whole. Bouncing between various scales, from the individual to the collective and back. A connection to the stimulating historical and cultural narratives that no other city can o er better. It means to me that the challenge I face in this dissertation studio is to nd a threshold that I can hold on to, and then to explore, lm, shoot, map, read, talk, draw, sketch, model, interrogate, speculate, analyze, provoke, dwell, question. To use whichever tool in order to write and design a relevant thesis about its past, present and potential future. I am fascinated by the approach of the streetscape territories studio and by New York.
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is experience has made me change my route, I chose to study art in high school, instead of music. Furthermore, this suburban girl started dreaming of the idea of living in big incredible cities. Over the past decade of my life, I have lived in Berlin, Haifa, Melbourne, Tel Aviv, Budapest, and today I live in Brussels.
From within another apartment in Greenwich Village, the camera of Hitchcock in Rear Window lets us observe the inner courtyard of a block. What I love about this movie is that through a narrow frame we discover the intricate urban reality. For me it reveals a desirable working scale, one that interlaces private and public space: links rstly the living unit, evolving residential typologies and their openness to the public realm and secondly the city’s mechanism and form: the urban block, the height, the materiality, the density.
I remember the long walks through loud streets, the perplexing subway, the art studio and its big windows. ere I watched her mix oil with pigments, using thick brush strokes over white canvases, and followed her evening painting classes, drawing still life and nude models. I absorbed her sharp opinions of art pieces at the Met, MoMa, the Guggenheim. Since then, New York has attained its permanent place on my cultural canvas, through cinema, art, literature and in architectural studies: New York is always there.
ere is a duality in living in a big city: on the one hand, you are very much a stranger to your surroundings and to your neighbors, yet on the other hand you can see them and they can see you, and this duality becomes the landscape of your life. You can feel protected by the public eye observing your steps (Jacobs, 1961). e waterfronts unfold another dichotomy, being a physical edge where the city unravels from the rigid grid. While the water frames the urban landscape and can o er escape and tranquility from the hectic atmosphere, it also holds an uncertainty regarding its permanent nature.
In my rst semester, I created a project about imagined cities, constructing the layers of complexity out of my mind. is time, I want to deal with an existing city, one that inspires me, intrigues me, even a bit intimidates me. I want to try and approach it, with the eyes of my 16-yearold self, without all the layers of knowledge I accumulated over the years.
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ABSTRACT
To stir the driving force from capital development wrapped in an evocation of the city’s meatpacking industry history, into actual conservation of this last standing manufacturing area that still exists. To act through design towards social inclusion together with a coastal resiliency long-term strategy that will protect and strengthen the community.
Keywords: streetscape, collective space, waterfront, meatpacking, small manufacturing, art, hotel, resiliency, diversity, inclusivity.
In an area under constant transformation, ‘ is is not a Hotel’ aims to balance conservation with progress, social-economic gaps, and locality with foreignness.
Photo
by the author, 2022
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INTRODUCTION
e project aims to create a space where diverse people can live, work, and express themselves freely. At the starting point of this project, I investigated New York’s creative history through three lenses: the privileged path of the Guggenheim family as philanthropists in the arts, the underprivileged lens of the photographer Alvin Baltrop, who documented the gay community hanging out on the West Side piers in the 70s and 80s and nally, the third angle was directed at the Chelsea Hotel, where these characters potentially could have met. e Chelsea is not a typical hotel, and the project aims to create a hotel in its spirit in the Meatpacking
e capital-driven development of the city transformed this area in the past two decades into a district housing global fashion brands that wear its heritage as an ornament. I could not help but wonder, can architecture today produce more than manipulating scenery that attracts visitors to purchase more goods and services?
e meatpackers’ future had become a primary concern in my project. e project formulates a business model that can assure their future in this location, the ideal location, as they referred to it in their words when I interviewed them.
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I want to open up the space of the Whitney and give back part of the area to the meatpackers. On the vast at roof of the meatpacking building, eye-leveled with the High Line I planned a unique hotel, hosting permanent and temporary dwellers, artists in residency from the Whitney, plus artists’ studios, and informal gallery spaces. rough a cooperation with the Whitney, the High Line HQ, and the hotel’s pro ts, the meatpackers could thrive.
What I de ne as the disharmony of ‘high’ and ‘low’ refers to the meeting point of decadent and humble, old and new, luxurious and dull, shiny and rusty, lthy and perfumed, sloppy and knit. ese contrasts have a strong presence in this block and its surrounding. During the search for similar cases along the coast of New York, I investigated a set of eight areas, that I call composite coastal blocks. One vital observation from visiting them is that they are all in the process of transformation, and that they are all composed of di erent functions that represent layers of time, society, and diverse forces that act in the city.
e seven last-standing meatpacking businesses sit together in a two- oor building adjacent to the Whitney Museum of American Art, the beginning of the High Line and its headquarters, sharing the same block. Ironically, the meatpackers are still based here due to the economic forces aiming to overtake the area. A special lease was signed with the city for giving up a part of their territory to the Whitney, allowing them to pay a mere 18 dollars per sq , whereas the average fee in that area is about 370 USD today. is lease terminates in ten years (2032), a er that, their future on these premises is not especially bright, and they will most likely have to leave Manhattan, together with many other small manufacturers that have already abandoned it in the preceding decades.
District.ejuxtaposition
of grids produced a distinct block morphology in the area of interest.
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Photo by Louise Beerts, February 2022
QUESTIONSRESEARCH
How to reinforce the West Side of Manhattan in the face of the rising risk of ooding near the waterfront, while harnessing the change to enhance the level of collectivity in the vicinity?
e project deals with research questions that are tied together in the ambition to create a resilient community.
How can the multilayered quality of New York streetscapes be embraced to generate inclusive and diverse collective spaces?
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How to sustain and promote small manufacturers and local production in New York, focusing on the Meatpacking District, in the context of a hyper-gentri ed neighborhood?
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WITHDIALOGUESTHECITY
01CHAPTER
One of the most remarkable aspects in New York for me is its ability to accommodate a diverse range of people. e fact that any day of the week you can nd any niche cultural event you can dream of, any type of cuisine taking you on a sensory journey at di erent price levels, any type of sports club to belong to. It is all there, to serve a vast audience.
e rst example is the institution of the museum: where visitors can nd escape in the diverse collections. More speci cally I will examine the art museum and its dual promoters: the art foundations and the city.
space doesn’t necessarily connect to a location, but can exist virtually and be experienced remotely, where relations are more than ever possible without borders, designers are called to rede ne heterotopias, whether it is a utilitarian space or a cultural one, to question old conventions and to o er alternative ways to use and operate them.
e birth of a heterotopia, whether planned or emerging spontaneously, is in response to the needs of social and market forces (Foucault and Miskowiec, 1986). In the next three chapters, I will give examples of three types of heterotopias that exist in New York. ey are all on one hand typical, but on the other hand exceptional.
Foucault, Michel. 2008. “Of Other Spaces* (1967).” In Heterotopia and the City. Routledge.
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1.1 IN AND OUT OF THE EVERYDAY
Perhaps thanks to its diversity, its strong economy, and its status as a global city, New York is full of heterotopias. e term heterotopia was de ned by Michel Foucault as a space outside all other spaces (Foucault, 2008). It is a place that people have designated for a speci c cause, de ning its rules and rituals. For New York, which is designed in a rigid network system, the heterotopias o en serve as breaks from the monotonous machine-like character of the streetscapes. Where everyone is in a hurry, in the demanding race of everyday life, a heterotopia is somewhere else from the everyday. It is a space to stop, dwell and have a di erent
Inexperience.atimewhere
is the Chelsea Hotel. e hotel is not a typical heterotopia since it is o ering accommodation, where people perform activities of everyday life: sleeping, bathing, and eating. What makes it a heterotopia is the fact that it is temporal, out of the everyday. e Chelsea Hotel, in particular, is not a typical hotel, it became a community for creative people, and gained fame as a legendary building in New York. People have written poems about it and created movies in its rooms (Tippins, 2015).
rough these three di erent examples, I will present the entry point of my work, the lenses through which I started my research, what questions they made me ask and what they inspired me to look for.
Tippins, Sherill. 2015. Inside the Dream Palace: The Life and Times of New York’s Legendary Chelsea Hotel.
e second example are the Manhattan West Piers as they existed during the 70s and 80s. At that time they were abandoned from their industrial role and le neglected, while the city went through an economic crisis. e piers at that time became a meeting point for the gay and transgender community, as a form of bottom-up heterotopia.ethirdexample
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Photo by the author, 2022
Museum locations of New York and their aura of infuence on their surroundings
GIS layer from NYC OpenData
1.2 THE MUSEUM
“[ e museum should embrace] all known human history, the in nite capacity of man to act, to think and to lo ve, and the many departments of science and of art which he has developed. rough its collections in the arts and sciences, and through its libraries, it should be possible to read the history of the world.”
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Franklin Hooper, Director of the Brooklyn Institute claimed in 1895. Quoted in the exhibition “Brooklyn Museum: Connecting Cultures: A World in Brooklyn,”
1000 M
Tenth Anniversary Party, Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1970
What is le to think about is the local scale impact that is deprived, does the neighborhood gain from hosting a new museum on its premises?
Museums on the scale of the Guggenheim Foundation museums tend to have an immediate and long-lasting impact on the neighborhood they settle in. ey change the demography of the streetscape as they attract visitors of certain circles of interest, o en also tourists. On more expansive waves of impact, they may bring new businesses to the area to bene t from the crowd attracted to the museum. ese signi cant shi s are accelerators of gentri cation processes, Zukin describes this as “cities’ conscious use of culture to polish their image and jump-start investment.” (Zukin, 2020). Many of them in uence the metropolitan, as well as have a reach on the global market scale.
PracticallyMuseum.
speaking, art museums are container spaces with an advanced exhibition ability, they are storage spaces for art, a type of bank to preserve the foundation's estate. ere are other secondary roles and sometimes cultural, educational, and social goals are combined with the program of a museum. Further, there is another player who bene ts apart from the foundation: the city, which has a motivation for major museums to prosper.
The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles The Ralph M. Parsons Foundation Photography Collection
Cities like New York are in a global competition today not only to be the biggest global nancial capital, but also to be a cultural capital. Sharon Zukin (2020) demonstrates the phenomenon: “In the 1960s France created the Centre Pompidou for modern art in the rundown Beaubourg area of Paris partly in response to the postwar success of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City; twenty years later the Basque regional government in Spain built another museum of modern art, Guggenheim Bilbao, in a rundown industrial district in the city of Bilbao, partly because of the Beaubourg’s success in restoring a glow to the image of Paris as a cultural capital.”
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e museum has a prominent role in the city as one of the formal outlets of the arts scene, typically divided into exhibiting classic, modern, and contemporary art. Some prominent museums in the city are established based on extensive art collections of wealthy families’ foundations. e Guggenheim and the Whitney Museums are two such examples. In the case of the Guggenheims, two family members are known as philanthropists of the arts: Solomon Guggenheim in a more conformist way, while his niece Peggy Guggenheim in a more groundbreaking, non-conformist style. ey were both art collectors, establishing art galleries and museums during their lifetime. Later, as the foundation grew, it started establishing more museums around the globe, more and more cities wanted to have their own Guggenheim
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“Every city wants a 'McGuggenheim'.”
Collage of an old map of New York with multiple Guggenheim museums.
Sharon Zukin
Renovation and Expansion / Diller Scofdio + Renfro in collaboration with Gensler
24 Centre Pompidou Architecture / Renzo Piano Engineering / Richard Rogers1977
MoMA - Museum of Modern Art Architecture / Phillip L. Goodwin and Edward Durell 1938--1939Stone
Guggenheim Museum Bilbao Architecture / Frank Gehry1997
Israel Museum Architecture / Alfred (Al) Mansfeld and Dora Gad Landscape architecture / Isamu Noguchi1965
25
e Pompidou Center holds a rectangular footprint, doubled from its building size. e surface of the open plaza is tilted at a mild two degrees towards the museum. is small gesture creates an open space, initiating a dialogue with the museum, that is pleasant to lie down or sit on, observing the marvel of its extraordinary design. e space cra ed for the Parisians resonates with the open oor plans of the indoor areas. e captivating observation is countered by the museum visitors, looking down at the activity of the plaza, in a dual theater.
MoMA is camou aged within the New York grid: it blends into the urban fabric and quietly attracts visitors from within the lines. It gives New Yorkers two key features: one is that it produces an urban passage in the middle of the block between the two streets, and the other is that it creates an urban sculpture garden, which isolates the loaded city experience and gives the visitor another world to be in, one of harmony and beauty.
A distinguishing feature of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao is the rounded staircase which is mildly inclined towards the building, creating a space that unwinds to the public. e museum is a sculptural structure with virtuoso wild shapes and provocative forms. e Guggenheim’s presence had transformed the city and gained many visitors' attention as a response to its appearance.
e Israel Museum in Jerusalem is far from the dense urban fabric on a mountainous slope in an area of public buildings. e building is designed with the inspiration of Palestinian villages, translating it into a modernist creation. Geometric modules are placed on the slope, creating spaces inside and between them, with an organic growth ambition as the museum ages. e visitor ascends an external staircase, getting in and out of the various halls. A sculpture garden on the side of the mountain merges with the landscape in wavy curves.
Photograph from the book ‘Inside the Dream Palace', by Sherill Tippins, 2015
26 1.3 THE HOTEL
In a er years, so o en made and unmade By the changing generations, until today It stands a tomb of happiness passed away, Of an era long overlaid?”
is old street’s populace. en who will know About its ancient grandeur, marble stairs, Its paintings, onyx-mantels, courts, the heirs Of a time now long ago? Who will then know that Mark Twain used to stroll In the gorgeous dining-room, that princesses, Poets and celebrated actresses Lived here and made its soul;
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“Anita! Soon this Chelsea Hotel Will vanish before the city’s merchant greed, Wreckers will wreck it, and in its stead More lo y walls will swell
Excerpt from ‘The Hotel Chelsea’ by Edgar Lee Masters, from the book 'At the Chelsea' by Florence Turner, 1986
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Film stills from 'The Chelsea Hotel', BBC Arena Documentary, directed by Nigel Finch,1981
e Hotel o ers accommodation solutions in diverse terms, capacities and quality levels. e business model is supported by the fact that people look for a temporary residency, most basically: a room, a bed, a space to store their belongings, a bathroom and a toilet.
e hotel is an atypical typology of a heterotopia, since in a way it is part of everyday life because it accommodates the basic need for shelter. Be that as it may, a hotel is a home away from home, a temporary home, managed by the ones who own it, operate it, and take care of it. Legally, it is a short-term lease, but emotionally it is a time o .
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e Chelsea Hotel was not a typical hotel, it hosted both temporal and permanent residents, you could come to the Chelsea rst as a temporary user, then get to what it can o er you, and then attach yourself with it as your home for more permanent time. e Chelsea was run by Stanley Bard, a son of one of the original owners who had an agenda for managing this facility, that allowed this special place to exist. It was in his intention that this hotel will host creative people, it was more important to him than the formalities or the economic pro ts, he wanted to create a community.
e original oor plan of Hotel Chelsea, planned by the architect Phillip Hubert in the late 19th century as a cooperative apartment building, divided the oor into ten lavish apartments. e main corridor with a central circulation area leads to each apartment door. Above the main staircase, a skylight is shedding vertical light. roughout its history, the oor plan was adapted to t the market's needs and transformed the building into a hotel in 1905. One hundred apartments were divided into four hundred hotel rooms and apartments. As a result of the adaptation, each room was unique in size and shape. Some apartments were kept as a whole, dedicated to people with more means, while others were separated into singular or double rooms, sharing the utilities of bathrooms, toilets, and kitchen. e mixed-sized living units allowed people with di erent means to be accommodated, sharing the same oor. ey could also change their living units during their stay as they become more well o and want to upgrade their space if a better room becomes available. e massive constructive walls dividing the original apartments were sound insulated and prevented noise from crossing between sections. (Tippings, 2015)
Kris Scheerlinck's mapping methods teach that depth con gurations can be mapped on the domestic scale. Looking at a typical oor plan of an apartment layout at the Chelsea Hotel, each line symbolizes a possible route from the circulation points and the endpoints made with a dot leading to a private room or apartment. (Scheerlinck, 2011, Habraken 1998) In some routes, one can go through four di erent spaces with di erent privacy scales until one arrives at their private room or apartment.
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31 5 M 15 M 30 MN
“
e Chelsea was like a doll’s house in the Twilight Zone, with a hundred rooms, each a small universe. I wandered the halls seeking its spirits, dead or alive.”
Patty Smith, Just Kids (2010)
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e freedom of expression and creativity came forward in the interior design of spaces. Each room or apartment became a wholesome creation of its owners, even though they were all working with similar conditions of light, structure, and divisions of space, each apartment had its own character and identity. e interior space became an outlet for the soul.
A collage of the Chelsea Hotel foor plan, composed of interior photos from its aparments along its history
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doorknob, sensing nothing but silence. e yellow walls have an institutional feel like a middle school prison. I use the stairs and return to our room. I take a piss in the hall bathroom we share with unknown inmates. I unlock our door. No sign of Robert save a note on the mirror. Went to big 42nd street. Lo ve you. Blue. I see he straightened his stu . Men’s magazines neatly piled. e chicken wire rolled and tied and the spray cans lined in a row under the sink.
Patti Smith writing about the Chelsea Hotel in Just Kids (2010)
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I re up the hot plate. Get some water om the tap. You got to let it run for a while as it comes out brown. It’s just minerals and rust, so Harry says. My stu is in the bottom drawer. Tarot cards, silk ribbons, a jar of Nescafé, and my own cup—a childhood relic with the likeness of Uncle Wiggly, rabbit gentleman. I drag my Remington om under the bed, adjust the ribbon, and insert a esh sheet of foolscap. ere’s a lot to report."
Patti Smith, 1977 Unknown Photographer
"I’m in Mike Hammer mode, pu ng on Kools reading cheap detective no vels sitting in the lobby waiting for William Burroughs. He comes in dressed to the nines in a dark gabardine overcoat, gray suit, and tie. I sit for a few hours at my post scribbling poems. He comes stumbling out of the El Quixote a bit drunk and disheveled. I straighten his tie and hail him a cab. It’s our unspoken Inroutine.between
e elevator is slowgoing. I get o at the seventh oor to see if Harry Smith is around. I place my hand on the
I clock the action. Eyeing the tra c circulating the lobby hung with bad art. Big invasive stu unloaded on Stanley Bard in exchange for rent. e hotel is an energetic, desperate haven for scores of gi ed hustling children from every rung of the ladder. Guitar bums and stoned-out beauties in Victorian dresses. Junkie poets, playwrights, brokedown lmmakers, and French actors. Everybody passing through here is somebody, if nobody in the outside world.
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1.4 THE PIERS
“During the 1970s and into the 1980s, when Baltrop photographed there, the piers were a site of pleasure and danger for men seeking sex, sunbathing, making a pro v isional home, or just hanging out and taking in the splendor of the industrial ruins. More nefarious deeds also took place: the , gay-bashing, even murder. Baltrop claimed to be terri ed of the place initially, but also intrigued; he began taking photographs, he said, as a voyeur. Eventually he became a denizen of the piers, at times living nearby in his mo v ing van, which also pro v ided his source of income.“
Douglas Crimp, 2016
Alvin Baltrop, The Piers (collapsed warehouse), 1975-86
Original photo by Alvin Baltrop, Risograph by the author
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is place was emerged and not planned, it answered a need of society, but it was not conducted from above, the rules of its operation, emerged from within, from the people who inhabited these spaces, used them and occupied them in di erent ways and for di erent means.
The Piers (sunbathing platform with Tava mural) 1975-86
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rough Baltrop’s images, one can not only see but also feel the breeze, the warming light, the darkness over the enclosed rooms, one can hear the echo that would surely resonate in the large and empty spaces or the so sound of the river waves. e spaces were at varying levels of openness, with the view from them being either to the Hudson River or to the monumental urban landscape, the city’s skyline.
e piers of New York during the ’70s and ’80s can be romanticized to an extent as a utopia, a safe haven for the gay and transgender communityn the outskirts of the city and the outskirts of society. is freedom and oasis came from a point of neglect, discrimination, and rejection and in turn, It is not a coincidence that this marginal community found a place at the margins of the city. A place that is far from the eye of the public or of the authorities, it became no man’s land, where the usual enforcement of law does not apply.
Original photo by Alvin Baltrop, Risograph by the author
Baltrop documented the piers, structures supported by foundations deep into the river ground, and oated on the water’s surface. e docks hold abandoned structures: large industrial spaces, some bright and some dark, ruptured, broken, dirty yet spectacular.
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ZINE ABOUT ALVIN BALTROP AND THE WEST SIDE PIERS
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02CHAPTER BLOCKSCOASTALCOMPOSITE
“We are in the age of the simultaneous, of juxtaposition, the near and the far, the side by side and the scattered.”
Michel Foucault, Of Other Spaces (1967)
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45
The rooms or apartments at the Chelsea Hotel each colored diferently symbolize a potential human with rich and individual life, race, background. The hotel housed a diverse group of creative people from diferent social economic levels. The spaces between the private realms are shared between the residents; the circulation zones, the service area, kitchens and more. It is in these spaces that the residents meet and create a
In the same manner the entire urban fabric is constructed. The blocks are connected by a system of Avenues and streets, that allow space for circulation and place to dwell. It is in the streetscapes that the diverse people that construct the city can meet and mingle.
of the Chelsea hotel, inner spaces between the buildings within the block create spaces for people to meet, places to share, the inner courtyards are often not accessible or create pleasant spaces. The back windows from the buildings are facing each other and allow people to observe and see one another.
Thecommunity.urbanblock
Schreurs (2022) de nes di erent types of change that in uence the city: (1) shocks, a sudden event such as the horri c 9/11 terror attack, and (2) stresses that tend to have a long term presence such as the Covid-19 pandemic. Both of these types of transformation can be (1) solicited, such as the regeneration of the High Line or (2) unsolicited as Hurricane Sandy that hit across eight countries from the Caribbean to Canada in 2012. ese types of changes manipulate the urban fabric and create ripples of change, not only in the physical, but also in the economic, demographic and social realms.
2.1 THE BLOCK AS A MICROCOSM OF DIVERSITY
Gitte Schreurs (2022) writes about another shaping factor in her doctoral research, claiming that change transforms the city, " e urban fabric is o en perceived as a static notion, but ultimately, change becomes an inevitable part of it, creating ongoing transformation processes and unique situations with temporal
Gitte, Schreurs. 2022. “Insights on the Reconfguration of Vulnerable Industrial Waterfronts Facing Shocks and Stresses. Coney Island Creek, New York City, USA.
Manycharacteristics."blocks,streets,
is a cluster of buildings and real estate properties. is cluster is a component of the urban fabric, the same way that bricks are components of a wall. e streets can be seen as the bonding material between the blocks, they separate and connect them simultaneously. ey are the lifelines of the city, in uenced on all scales: from the rhythm of the grid, the permeability of the block, the use of each building, and the window's ledge of the singular facade.
Although the urban grid of Manhattan seems uniform, according to the commissioner's plan from 1807, there are two features that dictate its variety. e rst attribute is the width of the street (which di ers between the avenues and streets) and the second is the dimension of the blocks. All blocks are 200 feet in length from North to South, but their dimensions from East to West vary, decreasing in width from the center of the island to the shorelines. Each block is divided into plots that are owned by either individuals or organizations. ese properties can be used and organized according to the owner's ability and will, taking into account regulations that need to be followed such as air rights, setbacks, zoning, land-use restrictions, landmark and preservation status, among Basically,others.ablock
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or neighborhoods were planned in one way and transformed over time. O en, it is not the original plan that creates the diversity within them, since it normally was planned in a homogeneous way.
Map of the estates of Sir Peter Warren, Samuel Boyd, George Rapelje & John Staples / compiled from ofcial sources by J.B. Holmes, C.E. & City Surveyor, April, 1881.
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is multi-layered, above the rigid regulated grid, there are layers of society, architectural styles that keep updating, construction methods and technology that keep improving, disasters that destroy and make new realities, meeting points of old and new regulations, grids, zonings. ey are all stacked and lay in adjacency. It is where the anomalies and change happen, where the complex richness of the city reveals itself.
In an October 25, 2015 article in the New York Times, Mireya Navarro wrote about a Chelsea resident: “Ms. Waters, 70, a retired assistant nursery school teacher, lives in public housing, so at least she can a ord her rent. But her surroundings have undergone a dizzying economic transformation in the past two to three decades, with an in ux of wealth a ecting the residents of less means in both obvious and insidious ways. And that change shows no signs of slowing.”
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e aging society and increasing migration ows do not always go hand in hand with economic growth. e latter is the most signi cant force that reshapes the city; the Babylonian race towards the clouds that de ne the skyline of Manhattan, does not take care of the rising population, but of an elite layer of society that exists in rich global cities like New York. Manhattan can hardly accommodate its old population of lower-income households, and it slowly pushes them to the outskirt of the city. Diversity is a rare resource in the domestic realms of the city, as well as new public housing projects. It is where the block is diverse where the population of it is, its dwellers or temporal users.ecity
e work of Gordon Matta-Clark ('Reality Properties: Fake Estates’) exposes the irrationalities of a city, the 'cracks' in the system. In 1973, he started assembling his work: Clark purchased and then documented plots that are le overs in existing blocks. ese o en are inaccessible tiny parcels that might have been surveying slips or zoning oddities. is work illustrates the perplexing character of the block. On one hand strictly regulated and controlled, but at times unplanned mistakes occur that de ne its shape. Clark bought only parcels that have no economic value, in this way he put in a critical light the forces that mold the built environment, where reality becomes real estate. Once the imaginative borders of a block are drawn on paper and the plots are sold, its future is in the hands of its owners. Even with all the urban planning regulations, its behavior and evolution cannot be controlled.
Photographic collage, property deed, site map, and photograph
2018 Estate of Gordon Matta-Clark/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Reality Properties: Fake Estates, Little Alley Block 2497, Lot 42 Gordon Matta-Clark 1974 (posthumous assembly, 1992)
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e waterfront is one big component in all of them, as also parks and community gardens, parking spaces, transportation infrastructure, and other public spaces and amenities. e block cannot be understood without looking at the a ecting gures of its Eachsurrounding.blockholds
3. Overlapped territories
e catalog of Blocks was studied through the lens of the study of Prof. Scheerlinck in his text “Depth Con gurations. Proximity, Permeability and Territorial Boundaries in Urban Projects.” Where he describes theories of the urban landscape through built projects on di erent scales and illustrates the streetscape approach that is the framework of the studio.
Each block I characterized by one or more territorial con gurations. Most of them, I de ned on the spectrum between Aggregated to Adjacent territories.
e rst understanding is that the territorial boundary of each block is not con ned to the lot areas that comprise it, but includes
the streets around it, and every component that has an in uence on it.
4. Adjacent territories
2.2 MORPHOLOGY OF COMPOSITE COASTAL BLOCKS
1996109814876990148572644915
1. Separated territories
5. Integrated territories
One vital observation from visiting them is that they are all in the process of transformation. ey are all composed of di erent functions that represent layers of time, society, and forces that act in the city. e fact that they are all positioned on the coast adds up to their fringe character, as o en they are le out of the development spotlight, Each holding a di erent relationship with the water; proximity, barriers, piers, they will all have to deal with the future prospects of sea-level rise and ood risks.
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2. Aggregated territories
Eight compostire coastal blocked were chosen in the scope of the catalog. ree of the blocks are located on the west coast of Manhattan, three on the East coast of Manhattan, one in Astoria, and the last in Coney Island.
Territorial depth was another theme I tried to understand in the small gestures that are typical to New York buildings, and how they can increase the feel of territorial depth. One of which is the outer staircase at the entrance to some tenement residential buildings.
a di erent model of proximity, and therfore re ects di erently nto the streetscape. e territorial con gurations that were referred to, as Scheerlinck (2020) de ned them:
1485 72 6990 1487 1098 644 1996 915 1000 M
2.3 CATALOG OF COMPOSITE COASTAL BLOCKS
MaidenLnFrontSt
54 100 m
is block is undergoing a transformation process, in the past decade two new buildings were built while one more is under construction. e parking lot and the buildings that are not under preservation restrictions might be redeveloped to match the tall neighbors from the Financial District. Fletcher Street is a tiny historical alley that carves through the block about a third in from the southwest. It runs through three blocks, paved with cobblestones. Today the street is closed due to the construction of the skyscraper at 161 Maiden Lane. Walking into the street, which is barely wide enough for a single lane of tra c, you feel enclosed from both sides by extremely tall buildings, disproportional to the street's width.
/
JohnSouthStSt
MANHATTAN SEAPORT BLOCK
/
Type of territorial co guration: Adjacent territories
is block in the Seaport sits inside the hyper-developed Financial District of Lower Manhattan. e border of the historic district of South Street Seaport cuts through it, dividing its condensed territory into two separate eras; one of the future and one of the past. On the southern part of the block one can nd: an under-construction contemporary skyscraper with luxury apartments, and two hotels 31-33 oors high. In the middle part: industrial and o ce buildings that look half abandoned, and on the northern part,historic low-rise buildings with restaurants, residential apartments and a parking lot.
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55 2000-20221950-19991900-19491850-18991800-1849
Built between the years Building uses 2% parking 34% residential 18% hotel 10% industrial 1% commercial 18%
o ces
MANHATTAN
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/ SEAPORT / BLOCK 72
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e High Line is aligned with the roof of the meatpacker’s building and walking on this segment one can hear the sounds of the AC units while observing the horizon of the Hudson River. On the corner of the meatpacking building, is “Hector's Cafe & Diner”, a typical American diner, serving the meatpackers and other locals for the past 80 years.
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Type of territorial con guration: Adjacent territories
MANHATTAN / MEATPACKING DISTRICT / BLOCK 644
WashingtonSt
WestSt 10thAve
LittleW12thSt
100 m
Gansevoort St
e composite block in the Meatpacking District is an assembly of three prominent buildings and one public park: e Whitney Museum of American Art, the HQ of the High Line Foundation and the eldest of the three, the Meatpacking Business Corporation. ese diverse entities are in close proximity, sharing walls and service utilitiesyet, each is operating individually. e museum’s entrance is located underneath a dramatically cantilevered ‘largo’, a public space between street and museum, with views to the Hudson and the High Line. e HQ of the High Line Foundation can be reached from Gansevoort Street or from the High Line itself. Its roof serves as one of the terraces of the museum.
From Washington Street, one can get into a small courtyard that serves as a parking and docking space. e meatpackers sit in a two- oor building, each business has its own front, this is key to the operation scheme as each business uses its terrace to load the goods in and out of the building.
Built between the years Building uses 22% industry 62% cultural 9% commercial 7% o ces
2000-20221950-19991900-19491850-18991800-1849
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Photos by the author, 2022
MANHATTAN / MEATPACKING DISTRICT / BLOCK
644 60
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QUEENS / ASTORIA / BLOCK 915
are connected by a three-level volume, housing the commercial and shared spaces for the residents. ese include a supermarket, tness and yoga studios, terraces, outdoor lounges, a playroom, and a parking garage.
100 m
On the southeast corner of the block, is an asylum for homeless and at-risk New Yorkers that was built in 2012.
Partly aggregated territories and partly integrated territories is block is partly residential and partly contains light industry buildings. It is divided into three di erent zoning districts that dictate the di erent characteristics of its
Type of territorial con guration:
On the other half of the block, di erent lots are holding di erent buildings, most of which are not higher than two levels; amongst them are a carpentry shop, a metal fabrication warehouse, a balloon artist workshop, and a mechanic’s garage.
Onbuildings.about
27thAve 2ndSt 1stSt 26thAve
half of the block's territory, sits a new development of mixed-use complex named 10 Halletts Point, which opened in 2016. Cladded with orange panels and carrying a pattern of oor-to-ceiling windows, the two separate residential volumes
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2000-20221950-19991900-19491850-18991800-1849
Built between the years Building uses 1% parking 84% residential 7% shelter 6% industry 2% commercial
63
Photos by the author, 2022
64QUEENS / ASTORIA / BLOCK 915
65
W50thSt 11thAve 12thAve
MANHATTAN / HELL’S KITCHEN / BLOCK 1098
66
Pier 90 W130thSt
Type of territorial con guration: Aggregated territories
e block in Hell’s Kitchen contains mainly buildings that were built in the rst half of the twentieth century. ere are two parking lots, a building of car dealerships of three luxury brands, commercial and o ce buildings, a night club and an events hall. A new building from 2019 is a warehouse renting storage spaces. It is the only block from the catalog that does not hold residential buildings or hotels, therefore its character is rougher.
A few barriers are situated between the block and the Hudson River; three long piers are connected by a three-leveled brutalist concrete structure, for cars to port onto the docks of the ships or to park on the roofs of the pier's structure before going on a cruise ship, or attending an event held in one of the piers large spaces. is structure has a prominent presence and is blocking the view of the river for the buildings and streets that are adjacent to it. Apart from that a fast highway serves as a partition and prevents pedestrians from easily reaching the coast.
100 m
67
2000-20221950-19991900-19491850-18991800-1849
Built between the years Building uses 5% parking 28% o ces 31% commercial 5% nightclub 33% industrial
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MANHATTAN / HELL’S KITCHEN / BLOCK 1098
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Type of territorial con guration: Adjacent territories
100 m
MANHATTAN UPPER EAST SIDE / BLOCK 1485
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/
e next two blocks are located on the Upper East Side and hold similar characteristics; both of them have elongated dimensions, 210-220 m from east to west and the typical 60 m south to north. ey are perpendicular streets to the river, ending with a dead end, with a narrow and unpleasant East passageway to walk on next to the highway, blocking the waterfront. is fact makes the tra c of people in these streets low, as they are not leading to anywhere, merely to the buildings that sit on those streets. York Avenue is much more lively with an active commercial oor on the ground oor and a high circulation of people.
FDRDr
E73thSt
YorkAve E74thSt
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2000-20221950-19991900-19491850-18991800-1849
Built between the years Building uses 3% o ces 1% commercial 32% educational 2% industrial 53% health 9% residential
MANHATTAN / UPPER EAST SIDE / BLOCK 1485
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73
100 m
MANHATTAN / UPPER EAST SIDE / BLOCK 1487
Looking at the zoning & land use map, both blocks are holding between 14-20 lots, that are divided into 3-4 di erent zoning districts: from high-density districts, areas with light industries, and contextual districts that are designed to preserve the character and scale of taller rowhouse neighborhoods and area that are addressing local retail needs within residential neighborhoods. e multiple zoning divisions are the main reason for the diversity of the block in terms of building typology.
FDRDr
Type of territorial con guration: Aggregated and adjacent territories
Both blocks are almost completely impermeable, from all street fronts. ey have very narrow spaces between the buildings in the inner part of the blocks that are inaccessible to the public.
YorkAve E76thSt
74
E75thSt
Building uses 2% commercial 6% industrial 2% health 30% educational 60% residential
Built between the years
2000-20221950-19991900-19491850-18991800-1849
75
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MANHATTAN / UPPER EAST SIDE / BLOCK 1487
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is block is characterized by its dissection. It is a perforated block, with three di erent islands sitting between wide roads with busy tra c.
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e two parts closer to the waterfront hold buildings that were built in the rst half of the 20th century. ere is an elevated highway on a steel truss structure separating them. Another four-lane road diagonally cuts through the block and splits it into one smaller triangular island and one bigger trapezoid land.
MANHATTAN / WEST HARLEM / BLOCK 1996
100 m
e two islands closer to the water are much more fragile and desolate, since they are proportionally smaller than their surrounding roads, and since they are less connected to the urban fabric as the bigger trapezoidal part. is part holds new buildings that are part of Columbia University, one is e Wallach Art Gallery, and the other is Jerome L. Greene Science Center. Both are designed to be single volumes in the area of the block, with collective spaces between them such as passages and a small square. e west part of the trapezoid is a vacant triangular lot of 4000 sqm, a designated development area of Columbia University.
129thSt
HenryHudsonPkwy W130thSt
Type of territorial con guration: Separated territories
Broadway RiversideDriveW125thSt
2000-20221950-19991900-19491850-18991800-1849
Building uses
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7% vacant 1% venue 5% commercial 10% cultural 78% educational
Built between the years
Photos by the author, 2022
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MANHATTAN / WEST HARLEM / BLOCK 1996
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corner that is quiet and conveniently hidden for this purpose. e business fronts on this side enjoy quietness and e uent parking space.
e composite block in Coney Island has a derelict atmosphere. It is located in an area with lower socioeconomic status, it is apparent by the maintenance of the buildings and streets. e block itself is the only one from the catalog that sits directly on the edge of the water, there is no passage to separate the building and the water, and this close relation to the water is beautiful and serene.
W23rdSt
100 m
On W 23rd St, in the adjacent block, there is a community garden. At the end of the street one or two people were probably living there in cars and tents, probably since it is a
On the corner of Neptune Ave and 23rd St, there is an active grocery shop and bakery. e motel itself is on the corner of Neptune Ave and W 22nd St, it is clad with panels in shades of blue, turquoise, and white. It is facing another desolate deadend street, trash and litter are spread around, two small boats are docking on the creek bank, and ducks are seen oating on the steel water. AveW22ndSt
Type of territorial con guration: Adjacent territories
BROOKLYN / CONEY ISLAND / BLOCK 6990 Neptune
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83
Built between the years Building uses
80% hotel 17% industrial 3% commercial
2000-20221950-19991900-19491850-18991800-1849
84BROOKLYN / CONEY ISLAND / BLOCK 6990
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85
MANHATTAN / MEATPACKING BLOCK 915
by the author, 2022
BLOCK 72
Photos
MANHATTAN / SEAPORT BLOCK 644
QUEENS / ASTORIA BLOCK 1098
MANHATTAN / HELL’S KITCHEN
Building usesOCommercialIndustrialHotelResidential2000-20221950-19991900-19491850-1800-18491899ce
ParkingHealthEducationalVenueCultural
Built between the years
MANHATTAN / WEST HARLEM
BLOCK 1996
MANHATTAN / UPPER EAST SIDE
BLOCK 6990
MANHATTAN / UPPER EAST SIDE
BLOCK 1485
BLOCK 1487
BROOKLYN / CONEY ISLAND
88 2.3
parallel relationsBorders with waterland extensionsphisical barriars
1. Relation to the water
As opposed to the grid which was manmade and imposed, the origin of the island's waterline is not. e island was manipulated by man and expanded with land lls. Yet, it does not match the grid perfectly, and the edges of the island clash with the grid in various compositions. Other factors come from other coastal urban projects that mostly happen on the urban scale, such as the construction of highways, bridges, and more. Lastly, the more local extensions, in the shape of small land lls or oating piers also create more complexity to the waterfront.
QUALITIES AND TERRITORIAL CONFIGURATIONS
2. Transformation cycle
Since the blocks were formulated, many changes shaped the block, and most of are currently in a transformation process that was easy to witness. e cluster holds buildings in di erent stages of the life cycle of a building. Amongst them:
2. e roo op layer, where connections between the buildings can occur,
1. the ground level, which is connected to the streetscape, and can be also a ected by fences and walls that close the interior of the block to the public.
C. Collective connections between the properties can occur on all levels:
A block is a cluster of buildings and can be organized in di erent ways according to three main layers of complexity:
89 thegroundparcelvolumesdivisionlevelsurfacesrooftopandterracestheundergroundspaces
3. Territorial con guration
3. And the underground levels, where hidden connections can occur for example shared underground parking or operational spaces.
A. e drawn two-dimensional layer of the measurements of each parcel, is divided into di erent owners.
B. e layer of architecture, molded within the boundaries of each parcel. e di erent territorial con gurations between the buildings contribute to the spatial quality within the block, as well as to its relation with the streetscapes; Proximity, adjacency, aggregation, overlapped and integrated con gurations can take place.
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2.4 INTAKES
In the primary stages of the research, I identi ed multilayeredness as a dominant quality of New York streetscapes. As the city evolved and changed, ambiguous compositions emerged in an eclectic assemblage. is paradox of multiple contrasting fragments within the systematic grid can appear perplexing but can also better accommodate hetero geneity. Di erent prices for various socio-economic levels, old archi tecture situated next to contemporary buildings can bridge older and younger generations of people, and the diverse needs of New Yorkers, cultural or operational, can create more encounters between di erent communities.roughacritical
investigation of the composite blocks along the coasts of Manhattan, I realized their intrinsic qualities. It encouraged me to embrace multilayeredness and use it as a resource. e approach to the block is from the inside out, as a eld of levels, entry points and connections, questioning the blocks' relation to the coastline and the streets around it, planning the overall transformation cycle of construc tion at the site of intervention, considering the block's users shi ing needs throughout the hours of the day during a workweek, eventually addressing it as a case study for dealing with spatial intricacy.
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03CHAPTER
OFDISHARMONY'HIGH'&'LOW'
Today the ratio of 'high' and 'low' in the neighborhood has shi ed from Greens' photos: the glorious and rich part of the triangle has overtaken
In 2003, the Landmarks Preservation Commission held a public hearing on the proposed designation of the Gansevoort Market Historic District. In the same year, Friends of the High Line launched an "ideas competition," calling people to imagine a di erent future for the old elevated railway, the act that will, above all, jumpstart the change in this area. e preservation e orts and the visionary call came to fruition. Together they formulated a makeover of postindustrial ruin fabric; on the exterior, frozen in time, but on the inside, utterly changed content.
In her book "Blood and Beauty" the photographer Pamela Greene presented her documentation of the Meatpacking District between 2002-2010, taking photos during its most active hours at nighttime. e three active populations inhabiting it at the time were the meatpackers, the nightlife scene, and more well-o people and entrepreneurs who recognized its hidden potential and started to settle there. ese photographs demonstrate a time of transformation in the district.
sun.e
Colorful signs with neat graphic typography brand the Meatpacking District as the most desirable place. ere are still some empty buildings awaiting to be reused by those who can a ord the renovation and the rent price.
Tourists have a prominent presence in the vicinity, visiting the High Line park, museums, galleries, shops, and restaurants and residing in the many hotels in and around its borders. e 'industrial rough' dominate the interior design of the shops, feeding on the place's heritage.
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the two opponents. e rise in rents pushed out the main protagonists of its history, the meatpackers, that are now forti ed together in the last surviving property authentic to its original use.
juxtaposition of grids between the irregular pattern of northwestern Greenwich Village and the 1811 Commissioner's Plan grid formed a unique street layout. Triangular and trapezoid-shaped blocks alter the building's typologies and the usual 90-degree street corner.
3.1 REFLECTION ON THE MEATPACKING DISTRICT
e gentri cation process formed a notable distinction between what is considered 'high' and what is considered 'low' at the site. e high is de ned as exclusive, shiny, new, or luxurious, while the low I de ne as the mundane, dirty, old, cheap, industrial, and rough.
Architecturally, brick facades dominate the streetscapes of one-to-six-story high buildings, most of which were renovated. Belgian stones are the surface of many of the streets, and various steel canopies cast shade over the streets; eir original purpose was to avoid exposure of meat to the burning
Gansevoort Plaza
Expensive fashion shops
Little WhiteIslandColumns Gallery
Meatpacking businesses
ConstructionGarbagePatinaHotdogGraNoiseMeatHouselessPlaygroundpeopletransporttrucksofACenginestistandonthestreetworks
Posh cafés and bars
Boutique hotels
Hector’s Diner & Cafe Seravalli
e High Line
e ‘low’
95 e ‘high’
Exclusive Restaurants
Roo op restaurants and bars
X
Whitney Museum of American Art Chelsea Market
Until 1970 the number of meatpacking businesses in the district went down to 160 (Pincus, 1997).
In 1999, Friends of the High Line was formed with a mission to advocate the preservation and reuse of the elevated railroad as a public open space. e bloom of the district was boosted by the opening of the rst segment of the High Line in 2009, later the Whitney Museum of American Art built its new home adjacent to it.
96 e neighborhood’s history begins with residential development in the 1840s of tenement buildings. Later it transformed into a market area with major distributors of wholesale foods, the new piers, and the Manhattan Refrigeration Company fostered the meatpacking industry, until in the 1940s, meat and poultry had become what the district was known for, housing about 250 meatpacking businesses.
Today the district is still under constant change and gentri cation where luxury takes place in the old structures, caters, and addresses a very speci c crowd that is not part of the original local community.
Due to the exodus of the meatpackers, empty warehouses were transformed into nightclubs. With not much patrol of the area, the neighborhood soon became home to drugs and prostitution (Pincus, 1997).
Around that time, the West Side Line elevated railroad was completed and replaced the old ground railroad in the mission to distribute goods through the city. National processes, including the rapid consolidation of the slaughterhouse and meatpacking industry into the hands of only a few powerful corporations, alongside technological developments such as home refrigerators, and the appearance of the supermarkets, had in uenced the meatpacking industry, and it slowly declined (Whitaker, 2016).
In the late 90s, a shi started, when highend boutiques, hotels, and other companies identi ed the real estate potential and started to settle in the district.
3.2 HISTORY OF THE MEATPACKING DISTRICT
The 21 km project eliminated 105 streetlevel railroad crossings, added 32 acres to Riverside Park, and included construction of the West Side Highway.Elevated
industry in the Hudson River ports declined, and by 1979 the Manhattan Refrigeration Company closed its doors.
The New York freewayRailroad’sCentralelevatedwascompleted.
Theliving.shipping
The Manhattan Refrigeration Company operated a power plant and nine warehouses throughout the neighborhood, and had also invented an innovative underground pipe system that could carry refrigeration to many of the businesses in the area.
Zoo the frst nightclub was opened on lot 57. Number meatpackingofbusinessesdownto160.
WashingtonMarketGansevoortandWestMarket
1840 1812 1907 1929 1931 1934 1963 1847 1867 1906 1939 1970 1894-1974 1910 late 1920s 1880s 1950s 1950s 18781960s
Timeline of High and Low
The Whitney Museum of American Art opened in 1931 on West Eighth Street near Fifth Avenue.
Sculptor VanderbiltGertrudeWhitney started collecting American pieces and stored them in an old stable in Village.Greenwich
The MarcelopenedWhitneytheBreuerdesignedbuildingonMadisonAvenueat75thStreet.
developmentResidentialoftenementbuildingsThe
Refrigerators started to see increased popularity in private homes
FortHudsonpositionedGansevoorttodefendtheRiver.
Robert Moses West Side Improvement Project
Growth interstateof trucking due to the highwayinterstatesystem.
Andrew Muhl from Texas built an ice-making machine to help service the expanding beef industry.
The unions were so successful that meatpacking became one of the highest paying segments of U.S. manufacturing. Meatpacking jobs had become a fast track to middle class
For safety the railroad hired “West Side cowboys”, men who rode horses and waved fags in front of the trains. However, so many accidents occurred between freight trains and other trafc that the nickname “Death Avenue” was given to Tenth and Eleventh Avenues.
Gustavus Swift created the frst refrigerated train car after many unsuccessful tries. Modern meatpacking dates from the introduction of refrigerated railway cars. were developed frst for produce and after the development of reliableforrefrigeration,meat.
The Gansevoort and Chelsea Piers were built by the New York City Department of Docks, resulting in even more of an attraction to the area by major distributors of wholesale foods.
Meat and poultry industry had become what the district was known for and was home to about 250buisnessesmeatpacking
City of New York commissioned a street level railroad tracks along Tenth and Eleventh Avenues on Manhattan’s West Side. The trains were used to transport commodities such as coal, dairy products, and beef.
High-end boutiques opened, including Diane von Fürstenberg, Christian Louboutin, Alexander McQueen, Stella McCartney, Barbour, Rubin Chapelle, Theory, Ed Hardy, Puma, Moschino, ADAM by Adam Lippes
The Standard Hotel opened.
Hurricane Sandy hit NYC fooding streets, tunnels and subway lines and cutting power in and around the city.
The exodus of the industrymeat footacceleratedwaswiththeopeningofa100,000squarerefrigeratedwarehouseinHuntsPoint,Bronx.
The opening of the frst segment of the High Line designed by James Corner Field Operations, Diller Scofdio + Renfro, and Piet Oudolf
GiulianiadministrationTheofmayorRudyplannedtodemolishtheHighLinestructure.
opened.AppleStoreThe
The LineHighhad nearly fve annuallyvisitorsmillion
1992 1999 2000 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2009 2012 2014 2015 2019 2021 1979 1980 1995 2002 2011 1980by2022 late 1990s 1980s
Friends of the High Line hosted an “ideas competition,” receiving 720 ideas from over 36 countries for ways the park might be used.
Five districtcompaniesmeatpackingstilloperateinthe , their future is unknown, as what will happen to them in the end of there lease in ten year time
Little Island completed, designed by Heatherwick Studio Following a design competition the Hudson River Park Trust.
The High Line had nearly eight million visitors annually
Friends of the High Line was formed by Joshua David and Robert Hammond to advocate its preservation and reuse as public open space.Thegroundbreakingshow
RepurposingtheWestSideLineelevatedrailroadbegins.
The closedRefrigerationManhattanCompanyitsdoors. The discontinued.asLine’sHighusearailroadsystemwas
Due to the demise of the industry in the Meatpacking District, the neighborhood soon became home to drugs and prostitution With many empty warehouses and not much patrol of the area, the Meatpacking District became known for its sex clubs and risqué activity.
Half of meatpackingthebusinessesleft.
Rapid consolidation of the industry into the hands of only a few powerful corporations. The number of plummetedslaughterhousescattlehasfrommorethan600to170.
Standard Hotel opened. The Whitney Museum of American Art announced it would build a second, Renzo Piano-designed home here.
New York Magazine called the Meatpacking District “New York’s mostneighborhood”.fashionable
Whitney Museum of American Art opened, with the world’s largest collection of American art
Sex and the City saw one of its leads, Samantha, move to the neighborhood.Meatpacking
The meat packers renegotiate with the incoming Whitney that in return for them giving up a some space to the museum, the city agreed to extend their lease to 2032, with a ludicrously low rent of $18.75 a square foot, while the average for retail space in the area is $372.
STREETSCAPE SNAPSHOTS
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3.3
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04CHAPTER MEATPACKERS
Manufacturers are a crucial part of the US economy, being one of the biggest sectors in terms of employment. (Scott, 2015). Most people think about gigantic industrial areas when mentioning the term, yet, there is also a different side of American manufacturing. Small manufacturing enterprises (those with less than 50 employees) are responsible for over a third of the employment in the sector according to a 1997 white paper by the National Academies of Sciences and Engineering. More recent, 2017 data from the US Census Bureau shows that in some segments (such as cement manufacturing, sewing and cut apparels and other businesses) the ratio of small manufacturers is above 90 per cent.
e rationale behind their success can be manifold: small manufacturers are quicker and more flexible, thus providing more meaningful job opportunities and at the same time fostering local communities. A local entrepreneur can offer cheaper products since there is no need for shipping, and the money from the business stays within the local economy, supporting an entire
Small manufacturers have other advantages too, being a more inclusive and diverse environment, where people from varied socio-economic backgrounds work closely together. In contrast to the usual labor market, English might not be the shared language of the workplace and an MBA holder might share the same desk with a high school graduate.
Photo by
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community. is financial interdependence can also come in handy in difficult times, when the neighborhood can help out the struggling business to stay afloat. Often, independent, privately owned small businesses reflect the local culture more closely than big multinational corporations and offer regional specialties and unique products not found in a standardized, globalized environment. In a similar fashion, workers feel more related and involved in small manufacturers, where they personally know the entire labor force, compared to a corporation with thousands of shareholders and executives in a far away city (National Research Council, 1997).
4.1 THE IMPORTANCE OF SMALL MANUFACTURERS IN THE CITY
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contributing factor to the decline in New York City has been the urban-to-rural relocation of the plants, weakening the unions even more. At some rural locations, more than three-quarters of the workers are not native English speakers, many can’t read and many are illegal immigrants as reported in Mother Jones journal: “ ey’re also unlikely to complain or challenge authority, to le
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What explains the current state of the meatpacking industry? One of the main culprits is corporate America. Already by the turn of the century, the majority of the industry’s labor force was made up of newly arrived Eastern European immigrants. When they started to unionize and strike, they were promptly replaced by blacks in the 1930s Further, the consolidation of the industry into a handful of big corporations in the 50s started a trend that culminates today in the fact that the top four businesses control 85 percent of the sector (Greeley, Another2006).
lawsuits, organize unions or ght for their legal rights. ey tend to be poor, vulnerable and fearful. From the industry’s point of view, they are ideal workers: Cheap, largely interchangeable and disposable.” (Schlosser, 2001).
4.2 THE DECLINE OF THE
DISTRICT’S BUSINESSESMEATPACKING
As a result, the industry was able to cut its hourly wages by nearly half. What was once the highest paid job in the manufacturing industry has been one of the lowest since the late 1980s. In the once best organized industry, the density of unions in many plants is now only 10-30 percent (Greeley, 2006). is is not because small producers are not good for local communities and, in fact, can promote diversity and innovation, but because of the capitalist consumer culture that spread during the twentieth century and has only recently become more challenging.
Photo
and editing by the author, 2022
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PhotoSeaport.by the author, 2022
e spaces created in this project are intended to increase the quality of shared, public spaces, rather than seeing such spaces as just recreational areas, as the contemporary projects of omas Heatherwick in Manhattan. e Vessel and Little Island are beautiful standalone centerpieces, yet they mainly serve tourists as places to take an attractive sel e at.
Creating a business model for the meatpacker businesses and helping them to stay in the city by renovating their building and tting it to contemporary needs and by building a hotel and galleries, utilizing their air rights and territory, connecting to the long history of the district’s mixed use area, immersing it with a cultural aspect, with the small-scale manufacturing spaces and with a ordable residential space will embrace the multilayered nature and complexity that are the best features some parts of New York are known for.
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e historic exodus of the meatpackers is part of a large, complex phenomenon, of a city that transforms from the secondary sector, from producing goods to an environment characterized by the tertiary sector and a predominantly service-focused economy de ned by overconsumption.emetropolis
e waterfront regeneration project for a resilient coast can be utilized for the same e ort, to insert more qualitative public space into the city that will diversify the streetscape. is also happened in the East Side Coastal Resiliency project (the Big U), which served as a study case in the design of the coastline of the coastal strip on the site.
Boyer, Christine M. 2012. Cities for Sale Merchandising History at South Street
of New York is not merely a tourist destination, a place to visit and marvel at. Visitors should appreciate the everyday and to be able to distinguish it from a showcase of what life used to be behind preserved facades. Christine Boyer's (2012) testimony of the South Street Seaport regeneration project is an example of a situation similar to what has been observed in the Meatpacking. e Seaport is a neighborhood that turned into an area of consumption “laden with historical allusions to the traditional vision of the city [...] e aim is theatrical: to represent certain visual images of the city.” New York streets and collective spaces should not be simply a place for entertainment. e city should be a place of work, of local community going through everyday life, of content!
4.3 A CALL FOR ACTION
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05CHAPTER THE SITE
5.1
DRAWING THE SITE
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“Day’s End” is an artwork by David Hammons at Pier 52, a homage to the work of Gordon Matta-Clark.
5.2 SITE MAPPINGIMPRESSIONS
The wind has a strong infuence over the site, it is the strongest in the area that is exposed to the coastline.
Larger and more formal street with the entrance to The Whitney Museum, a plaza and the entrance to the High Line. The south side has buildings with commercial functions such as ofces, fashions shops, a restaurant and a gallery.
Busy and noisy road with few crosswalks. From West to East it has a pedestrian path, a bicycle path a double sided seven-lane road and a service road.
Gansevoort Peninsula is a large area that was once the Pier 52 and 53. Today it is a construction site, planned to be another open, green recreational area like many of the piers projects along the Hudson River Park.
Little Island
A lifeguard station is located north on the peninsula at the end of a road.
On a sunny day, there are stands of artists selling their artworks.
A narrow path underneath the High Line leads to a small courtyard, the Whitney Museums' terrace, the High Line Headquarters, and the Meatpacking Collective gather around it and use it as parking space and backyard for their operations.
Strong winds from the direction of the West
5.3
Open view from the High Line towards the Hudson River
Large shade casted by the Whitney over the meatpacking building
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Fast highway blocking the neighborhood from the waterfront and the Hudson River Park SITE ANALYSIS
e High Line headquarters Whitney Museum of American Art High Line
e
133 e Meatpacking building
Solar
134
StandardTheHotel restaurantMonkeyBrassTowerCarve TeslaChelseaMarket GalleryMilk FurstenbergDianevon SECTION TOWARDS EAST CHELSEA TO GREENWIGH VILLAGE
TheApartmentsLuxuryCaledoniaResidentials 5.4
FROM
135 MeatpackingTheCollectiveThe High Line AmericanMuseumWhitneyHQofArt ColumnsWhiteGallery 110 Horatio St Apartments by Rockrose 100 Jane ApartmentsStbyRockrose PicturesArcadia WestbethArtistsHousingResidentialsWix Ofces Simo Pizza
e waterfront strategy in the site is driven by studying historical maps and future projections over the coastline. e original coast of Manhattan in this area runs approximately one or two blocks inland of today’s street plan, demonstrating the natural tendency of the water. e expansion of the island happened gradually from around 1650 up until the 1980s. Hurricane Sandy hit the coasts of Manhattan in 2012: the mapping demonstrates what areas of New York City were ooded, showing similarity to the made land coastline of 1865. e ood projections of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the sea level rise projection of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) both indicate the same tendency at di erent levels due to the land’s curve and altitude.
PASTWATERFRONTANDFUTURE
136 5.5
137 1865 made land line Preliminary Flood Insurance Rate Maps 2015100500yearyear intermediatehigh 2100 Intermediate and high Technical2022basedscenariosonNOAASeaLevelRiseReport 2012 Sandy Inundation Zone Based on InundationSandyZone 2022 Current situation 1800s
06CHAPTER THE PROPOSAL
Photos by Daniel Halasz, PRIMARY MODEL
140 1:1000
2022 6.1
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142 WashingtonSt
10thAve
9thAve 8thAve WATERFRONT STRATEGY
6.2
e project applied an integrated approach to spatial and water mitigation design, in order to achieve long-term ood risk reduction and sea-level rise preparedness. To deal with the ood risks, installment of breakwater systems and wetlands will be applied, so ening the hit of the waves while understanding that water will reach the coast area and arrive at the building doorstep, for that, an individual preparedness in the responsibility of each building has to be introduced, actions such as constructing emergency sealing doors that will prevent water from entering the building. For the sea-level rise, the project combines the prevention of water from entering, together with controllingly inviting them in through a canal system.
Flood risk mitigation 1. Breakwaters 2. Wetlands 3. Permeable lands 4. Individual building protection plan Sea level rise preparedness 4. Elevated ground and walls 5. Canal system 1 2 4 5
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e canal solution resonates back to the historical coastline. Installing a canal system with controlled gates of entries on the First Avenue parallel to the coastline allows for balancing out the water level and monitoring it. It also allows using the water as an amenity inside the urban fabric, a new experience of the streetscape inside Manhattan.
e creation of two scenarios allows taking advantage of a new street-level that is cra ed on the banks of the canal for the next 100 years at least, within them the water level should not overtake the level of the bottom canal.
WATERFRONT STRATEGY CANAL SYSTEM
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e relation between the three infrastructural lines is demonstrated in the mapping on the right: the waterfront, the High Line, and the canal system run parallel to each other.
e overlaps and meeting points between those three layers, as well as the splitting points of the water channel, serve as potential places for a series of urban interventions, where collective spaces can be developed and enrich the streetscape experiences. ese points can bene t from the richness of multi-layered spatiality, combining water ow, vegetation, bridges, stairs, ramps, and tribunes.
e canal is the new proposal of the three, it formulates two platforms for the changing scenarios of water levels, in the near future and far future depending on the rise in water level.
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e canal solution is part of the water resiliency strategy: it o ers a means to monitor and balance sea level while allowing it to ow into the city, harness it into the urban fabric, and utilize it as a new experience. Together with the High Line, the two levels, one hovering above the streetscape and the other digging under it, celebrate the multilayered quality of the spaces, allowing connections between the di erent levels through staircases and elevators. e new park bordering the water canal has multiple launching points with the High Line and division points where the canal connects to the Hudson River. is system of focal points serves as a potential space for urban interventions.
+9.3 +0.0 -3.3 -9 -2.2 -2.6 A future water level in the canal in a hundred years on a high risk forecast 147 5 M 15 M 25 MN
-9 -2.2 -2.6 148
5 M 15 M 25 MN
CROSS LEVELS
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CROSS CANAL
5 M 15 M 25 MN
150 Breakwaters Fire FDNYstation/Marine Wet lands with low vegetation Day's End by David Hammons Pier 51 marineMeatpackingbranchWhitneyMuseumofAmericanArt Docking pier for the marinemeatpackingbranchIndustrialhubforsmallmanufacturers N 6.3 PERIPHERAL ISOMETRY
High Line
To protect the meatpackers' continuous activity, the Gansevoort Peninsula renovation was incorporated into the project, regenerating the waterfront area as an industrial waterfront. On the peninsula, an industrial hub with a shared courtyard will be built, with two main parts, one intended to be used as a marine branch for the meatpacking collective and the other as an open industrial hub for small manufacturers in the city. While the meatpacking building will be under construction, the meatpacking collective will be operating from the industrial hub of the Gansevoort Peninsula.
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HotelMeatpackersThe Canal
EAST ELEVATION
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153 10 M 30 M 50 M 60 M
NORTH ELEVATION
The High Line HQ
New entrance to the Whitney from courtyardtheCanal Washingtonon St. The High Line
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Road section 2 lanes in each side 1 outer lane of public transportation
10 M 30 M 50 M 60 M 155
Hudson River Park
Industrial hub for small manufacturing businesses located in the Gansevoort Peninsula
ROOF PLAN
50 M 150 M 250 MN
50 M 150 M 250 MN
e infrastructure layers of the city serve as melting pots in the daily life of New Yorkers. is is revealed in urban circulation areas: the subway system, streets and waterfront parks. Introducing the canal system as a new layer of infrastructure allows not only to address the urgent matter of sea-level rise, but to extend beyond its operational goal and to improve the quality of public space.
MAGNIFIED VIEW OF CANAL LEVEL -1 PLAN
160 10 M 30 M 50 MN
161
6.4 MODEL 1:1000
Photos by Daniel Halasz,
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2022
Photos by Daniel Halasz,
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Photos by Daniel Halasz,
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6.5 BUILDING ISOMETRY
One of the rst lenses, Hotel Chelsea, inspired the hotel's design, and the aim was to create a creative community hub connected to the Whitney Museum of American Art. e hotel beign on the Second ooe, leveled and connected to the High Line. e two levels above the lobby serve as gallery spaces and studio spaces for artists in residency. e hotel includes rooms for short-term and long-term lease for shared residency or family living. e revenue of the hotel will allow the meatpacking business on the two bottom oors to operate.
N
A
connectsPasarella the second foor of the Meat branchtheCollectivePackerswithnewmarine galleryMuseumtheconnectingbridgeWhitneytotheonthe fourth foor
Green terraceroofonthe tenth foor
172CONSTRUCTION ISOMETRY
Circulation shafts made of constructive concrete
Steel skeleton grid of I-profle beams and columns with dry connections
The constructiveisenvelopebuildingexistingmadeof red brick walls
Trusses of the bridge passarellaandare made of welded ribs of round steel profles
Structural foor joist system, foors of steel,corrugatedcastconcretereinforcedslabs,inplaceoverribbedone-wayspan
THE MEATPACKERS COOPERATIVE
10 M 30 M 50 MN
174
+0.0 +0.0 +0.0 -3.30 +0.0 +0.0 +1.20 A A
Refrigerated room - packing area
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Export and Import Manager
SEGMENTS OF THE MEATPACKERS COOPERATIVE
Rails hanging from the ceiling carry the meat from the dock throughout the building
Front Unloadingdockand loading area
+0.0 +0.0 5 M 15 MN
Refrigerated room - butchers' area
cofee shop
177 +0.0 +0.0 -3.30 +0.0 5 M 15 M 30 MN
Street level foyer to the hotel and to the &Charcuteriebuildingmeatpackingdiner
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HOTEL LOBBY AND OPEN ROOF TERRACE
10 M 30 M 50 MN
+0.0 +9.25 +9.25 +9.92 A A
SEGMENT OF LOBBY HOTEL AND OPEN ROOF TERRACE
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+0.0 +9.25 +9.92
5 M 15 M 30 MN
GALLERY LEVEL WITH MEZZANINE TOWARDS THE STUDIOS LEVEL
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10 M 30 M 50 MN
+19.40 +15.40A A
10 M 30 M 50 MN
HOTEL DWELLING FLOOR
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+23.0+23.40 A A
FLOOR +23.0+23.40 5 M 15 M 30 MN
SEGMENTS DWELLING
OF HOTEL
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187 1 M 3 M 5 M N HOTEL ROOM
THREE-ROOM FLAT APARTMENTSSHARE
THREE-BEDROOM APARTMENTSFAMILY
10 M 30 M 50 M 188 N
SECTION AA
-9-3.3+0.0+1.2+5.35+9.3+51.7+47.8+44.4+40.9+37.4+33.9+30.4+26.9+23.4+19.4+9.9+15.4 189
SECTION AA MAGNIFIED
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191 1 M 3 M 5 M N
1 M 3 M 5 M N
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6.6 PERSPECTIVES
Perspective drawing from The Whitney Museum terrace towards the High Line and the meatpacking collective Created in collaboration with Roni Shalev
195
Perspective drawing from Gansevoort street corner with Washington street Created in collaboration with Roni Shalev
Whyeproject
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Embracing the complexity this entails, while understanding that each of the topics dealt with requires a level of expertise deeper than the ocean, the focus was on how the multitude of layers of intervention operate together, where do they overlap and meet rather than solving each component individually, from the metropolitan scale of coastal infrastructural solutions to the intermediate scale of the building. is allowed the design process to be a laboratory of overlaps, eye contacts, transitions, pathways, entry points, and various collective spaces.
e project's title, ' is is not a Hotel,' was given a er a sign displayed on the sca oldings of a historic building renovation in the neighborhood. When I asked the builders what this building will be, they replied, "a boutique hotel." is statement lingered on in me. Inspired by my rst research ‘lens’ of Hotel Chelsea, I took on the challenge to design a hotel that is not pro t-maximizing like the contemporary investments around the area, but community-driven. A place that can become a haven for a diverse set of people: bluecollar workers, artists and foreigners.
Whatesite of intervention propagated di erent challenges that ultimately directed two main segments to the project: One is an intervention in and around a block that houses the last meatpacking businesses in the Meatpacking District of New York. e second is o ering a waterfront strategy for the West Side of Manhattan, allowing the community to use the area for the foreseeable future by minimizing the impact of natural hazards. ese two segments together contribute to increasing the resiliency of the local community, undertaking economic and ecological concerns as well as cultural aspects.
CONCLUSIONS
started from a simple observation of the dissonance between high and low while wandering the streets of the Meatpacking District. ese impressions eventually evolved into a curiosity about contributing toward a more balanced situation between the growing gaps in our society and, consequently, in our cities. Creating a uniform place might be impossible, yet building bridges is crucial, especially in a polarized society like the one in the US and its capital. If we succeed in creating connections between the di erent layers, we can imagine a more harmonious and inclusive environment for all city users.
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to its surroundings: it is fusing with the High Line, opening the courtyard towards the river, connecting the Gansevoort peninsula with a passerelle above the highway and the Whitney Museum with a bridge to a new gallery.
e waterfront strategy proposal emerges at the riverfront and ows into the streets in the shape of a canal. e canal wraps the hotel from two of its facades and transforms the area, the block becoming an island surrounded by water.
sits in a complex block between the Hudson River Coast and the Gansevoort Market Historic District. e intervention includes a business model that will ensure the continued presence of the meatpacking cooperative on the premises, not only renovating and tting the building to current standards, but also working with market forces, establishing a hotel that uses the air rights and the territory above the existing building.eGansevoort
Howehotel
Peninsula renovation was incorporated into the project, regenerating the waterfront area as an industrial waterfront and protecting the meatpackers' continuous activity by a ording a temporary home for them while the hotel is under construction.ehotelisresponding
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It has been an incredible journey.
anks should also go to my friends and family. ank you Louise, for being such a wonderful friend in laughter and tears, my dear friend Roei Yosifof, both a critic and a helper throughout the process, and Roni for your outrageous splash of talent. I am deeply grateful to my father, David, my biggest fan, who told me to add a price o er to this thesis and submit it to the Mayor of New York City, and my mother, Sharon, for being my role model. My brother Yoav and sister Tamar for who they are and our strong connection. Words can not express my gratitude to Dani, my love, who supported me and proved to be my best editor.
I would like to thank the faculty and sta of KU Leuven Campus Sint Lucas Brussels and Pratt University, New York City. Finally, I also want to acknowledge my teachers at the Technion, Ruth Leonov and Dan Price, who have in uenced me greatly and mentored me in the past.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
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Special thanks go to Prof. Kris Scheerlinck, my promotor through this challenging year, who navigated my fellow students and me through the perplexing streetscapes of New York and cra ed an unforgettable experience and a big lesson in architecture, urbanism, and generally of being a human on this planet. ank you for constantly pushing me forward, asking me why my work is fabulous, and telling us that we are on track.
I would like to thank the people that colored our New Trip of March 2022. e Flanders House for their hospitality, Koen Meersman and Suzanne Strum for their perceptive remarks, Erin Butler from the Municipal Art Society for her caring guidance, and David Burney and Beth Bingham from Pratt Institute for the thought-provoking debates. Special thanks to Gitte Schreurs, for the stimulating and enthusing conversations about New York.
My gratitude goes to the people I talked to in the neighborhood, especially the meatpackers, for sharing their knowledge and insights.
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ELLA HASSINANTONIA
ISTHIS
