Puncture

A puncture is a breach of one material into another, causing a disruption in the form of the original mass. This definition, along with the forms developed in “Alice in Wonderland”, was used as a driver in the design for an intervention to an abutment of the Queensboro Bridge on

Left: longitudinal section and sections

Roosevelt Island. Both horizontal and vertical punctures were used to articulate space and create distinct experiences within a visiting center that would bring occupants from the top of the bridge to ground level. N

First Station Point

Third Station Point

Fourth Station Point

Left: axon

Following pages: model photos

The horizontal and vertical punctures of the site intervention are both made from aluminum, but the coatings on this aluminum are what differentiate the two. The Cornell Tech campus is one of the intervention’s main focuses on Roosevelt Island. On campus is the Morphosis building, a building whose facade appears to shift from a copper-gold color to a blue-green one as one walks in front of it. Its facade is made from aluminum with an iridescent copper patina, a coating intentionally chosen for its blue-green hues as a reflection of the East River and for its copper-yellow tones resembling those of the Queensboro Bridge. For the site intervention, the blue-green hue of the horizontal punctures mimics the horizontal condition of the East River while the vertical nature of the copper colored punctures is reminiscent of the Queensboro Bridge’s upright abutments.

The intervention’s staircases tie the entire composition both to itself and to Roosevelt Island as a whole. Nature is vital to every station point within the intervention. East Main Street connects a bike trail along the East River to Southpoint Park at the other end of the island, two locations that are made to appreciate the island’s natural beauty.