Interior Design Alliance
Recently
by Heatherwick
Heatherwick designed the floating park Little Island
was officially opened to the public
With the principle of letting New Yorkers enjoy nature and art, it is the largest and most creative public space after the High Line Park.
The newest New York City hot spot has been getting a lot of attention
For the past seven years
Because of high construction costs and environmental concerns
It has been shelved and resumed
The budget has increased from $35 million
to $260 million (about 1.6 billion yuan)
This shows the complexity of its design
Today, let’s explore the magic of this floating park.
01
A floating park built in the sky
Little Island is located at Pier 55 of the Hudson River
The entire island seems to be built in the air
From a distance, it looks like floating in the air
The island is shaded by greenery and undulating
Stage theater, leisure plaza, small bridge, picnic area
Everything is available~
267 mushroom-shaped concrete pillars
Slowly rise from underwater
creating a unique exterior form
The top of each column forms a square planter
Each planter is connected at different heights in a mosaic fashion
creating an undulating island landscape
The island covers 2.4 acres (approximately 9,712 m²)
On this undulating park platform
Contains 66,000 potted plants
Over 350 varieties of flowers and 114 trees
The park consists of three divisions.
Playground, Open Air Theater, and Wooded Open Space
The site meanders and undulates
Where the site meanders to form a floating island.
▲Plan of the Old Pier Trail
The biggest highlight of the project is the undulating structural tube
The unique concrete column is 0.9m in diameter and 61m deep underwater
The shape is very new and unique
02
Design Concept
The design work for the renovation of this wavy landscape park
by heatherwick studio and mathews nielsen
The park is erected on 300 mushroom-shaped concrete columns
The park has a unique shape and includes a venue for outdoor performances
There is an amphitheater with a capacity of 800 seats
Visitors can reach the park from the shore of New York City through two parallel visitor paths
The park is accessible from the shore of New York City
Open space to accommodate a variety of recreational needs
The park entrance construction site @ Michael Young
One of the highlights of the project is the undulating structural tubes
The designers defined it as a structural container that can be planted
to create a diverse topography with this element
As the structure is finally coming together
the first pre-purchased trees have arrived on site
The subsequent work will focus on the creation of dense greenery
The designer’s green design will protect the city from storms
It also serves as a marine sanctuary for bass
Undulating structural tubes
300 mushroom-shaped concrete columns
rise slowly from underwater
Creating a unique exterior form above the water
The top of each column forms a square planter
Each planter is connected at different heights in a mosaic pattern
forming an undulating landscape
Like a leaf floating in the water
Column model
Concrete columns slowly rise underwater
Concrete column surface texture
@fieldcondition
The designers selected over 100 different species of trees and plants
to suit New York’s climatic and environmental conditions
to create a vibrant space for art, education and community.
At the same time, the designers sought to use the project
to express their possibilities and resilience to climate change
To provide a strong protective barrier for New York City
03
Construction Process
The island contains a total of 267 concrete structural tubes
These unique columns and “planters”
were prefabricated at the Fort Miller Company
concrete plant
▼
Mold Making
▼
Concrete Pouring and Forming
▼
A total of 39 different formwork types were created during the process
655 precast concrete components were made
▼
▲Section of reinforcing steel
The components were transported from the factory to the port
and then transported by water to the project site
▼
The prefabricated mantle is lifted on site
Precisely lifted onto the concrete pile foundation
▼
The concrete piles are 0.9m in diameter and 61m deep underwater.
▼
Final installation, testing and adjustment
▼
After assembly
The landscape design firm MNLA began work on the design
Since all plants require a lot of drainage and soil bedding
So they designed a complex system
to address the extreme slope changes
▼
From the concrete slab, a 1.9cm drainage mat was added in sequence
followed by a 45-cm layer of gravel
Between 30cm and 60cm of foam soil
And finally, the soil is laid down
MNLA has divided nine different zones to accommodate different
9 different zones were defined to accommodate different climate changes
It also reduces the burden on the concrete structure
Evergreen trees were planted in the north and northeast to
shield the highway and winter winds
In the higher southwest, sheet pile retaining walls were added
and geotechnical foam to create planting beds
The higher south corner was designed to allow sunlight to reach the area below
▼
Soil is loaded onto the island by hydraulic boom crane
▼
All trees are weighed upon delivery and assigned specific cranes based on their size and placed precisely into the reserved holes. Because Hudson is prone to strong winds, the design and engineering team resisted the risk of tree uprooting by tying the root structure to a wire mesh pre-drilled into the concrete slab.
▲Effects
The leaves of the trees chosen for the park are on the small side
Minimize the impact of strong winds
The passage under the park also provides people
The park’s lower walkway provides a comfortable space for people to relax.
Although Little Island has been a difficult project with many twists and turns
The project ended perfectly
The completed island is lush and poetic
A beautiful addition to Manhattan
After seeing this cool floating park
What do you think?
您好!Please sign in