03 Pier 40: until further notice
When read from above, the roof of Pier 40 consists of surfaces and marks. Specifically, there are two kinds of marks coexisting at present: Marks that regulate the movement and stoppage of vehicles; And marks that regulate the movement of human bodies.
Back in the 50s when Pier 40 was still a cargo terminal, it bore two scales of marks that indicated parking spots for cars at its periphery and for trucks at the center. It was an infrastructure made for machines purely.
The repurpose in 2005 couldn’t have been made more simple. Only through repaving and repainting partially the ground, was a new life made possible.
As Pier 40 awaits its long overdue rebuild, I propose to excavate the existing structure through partial disassembly. This “temporary” yet indefinite state will kick off its disassembly process in preparation for a complete rebuild.
The disassembly nevertheless follows found traces of the original assembly. The 800 ft by 800 ft structure was built in 8 pieces, leaving visible marks as expansion joints, gaps between fences, double columns, girders, etc. Moreover, the pier was built with pre-topped double-tee slabs and girder system. Every element was trucked, hoisted, and assembled on site.
The excavation would simply be the reverse of the assembly process. Starting from the expansion joints, slabs, girders, and columns are removed one after another to create new spaces.
As the disassembly begins, cargo ships arrive and dock at the pier; They bring the disassembled elements away as the process goes on; When the excavation nears its end, paving and painting works start. Finally, the new is born out of the old. It is an architecture made of marks on the ground and nets as enclosures.
The roof is repaved and repainted with new marks. As the structure was originally designed for trucks, its floor heights allow for sports like basketball to occupy the interior of the second floor.
Each court starts to measure the existing structure and the distance between columns, then fits itself in almost automatically.
On the ground floor, the excavation brings extra light into the rather deep free plan. It reads as an open field, an extension of Hudson River Park superimposed with a grid of pilotis, with minimal amenity rooms enclosed. A jogging track takes a detour into the structure, with park benches populated on the sides of the sports court. The structure is now a park.
Rusted hangars are replaced by new fences that trace the original height of those steel components. They not only create necessary divisions between sports courts but also produce the building’s new appearance together with enclosure netting.
The new is made with nothing other than fences, marks, nets, and the process of removal. As the old claddings are replaced by nettings, the porous open structure is now integrated with the waterfront park and urban activities that were excluded formerly.