The Urban Estuary: integrating city and nature

The Urban Estuary integrating city and nature Hudson Rail Yards - Manhattan

Lee M. Pouliot December 10, 2008 LA-602 - Trowbridge/Ruggeri/Hammer

Context / Interaction Hudson Rail Yards

Mid-town

Theatre District

Garment District

Chelsea

The Hudson Rail Yards represent one of the last large scale, under-developed sites in Manhattan.

While located at the nexus of four neighborhoods, the rail yards also connect the city to what remains of ‘wild nature:� the Hudson River

Sun/Wind patterns

Inventory Hudson Rail Yards

Green space/Water flow

View East

View West

View South

Natural systems are confined and controlled by Manhattan’s grid. Stormwater is conducted to sewers then to treatment plants, while possible energy inputs from the sun and wind remain untapped.

The High Line

The High Line, a piece of Manhattan’s industrial past links a major portion of Chelsea to Hudson Yards

Street grid

Site/High Line

N

Research Hudson Rail Yards

ecology + architecture = arcology

Arcosanti, Arizona Paolo Soleri

‘Ziggurat,’ Dubai Timelinks

Auroville, India

X-Seed 4000, Tokyo Taisei Constuction Corp.

‘Ultima’ Tower Eugene Tsui

“In nature, as an organism evolves it increases in complexity and it also becomes a more compact or miniaturized system.

Similarly a city should function as a living system. Arcology, architecture and ecology as one integral process, is capable of demonstrating positive response to the many problems of urban civilization, population, pollution, energy and natural resource depletion, food scarcity and quality of life. Arcology recognizes the necessity of the radical reorganization of the sprawling urban landscape into dense, integrated, three-dimensional cities in order to support the complex activities that sustain human culture. The city is the necessary instrument for the evolution of humankind.”

- Paolo Soleri

Habitat 67, Montreal Moshe Safdie

Concept Hudson Rail Yards Natural

Built

Rigid Static Active Growth Degradation (Active Renewal) Linear

Dynamic Flexible Passive Growth Passive Renewal Cyclic

Collision Social Nexus

The creation of an environment where natural and urban systems depend and respond to one another.

Parti Development Hudson Rail Yards

River estuary structure

+

Combination parti

Manhattan grid structure

Analysis

Plant regions

Full sun / Moist - wet Full sun / Dry - moist Part sun / Moist - wet Part sun / Dry - moist

Hudson Rail Yards Analysis of the parti diagram reveals where natural and built form & process interact. This interaction creates an environment where the natural informs the built and the built informs the natural. The result is the Urban Estuary.

Shade / Moist - wet Shade / Dry - moist

Green space & Water flow

Existing green space Proposed green space Proposed water flow

Pedestrian circulation Existing green space Proposed green space Proposed water flow

Vehicular circulation

Figure ground

N

Roof area

Land Use

Institutional / Office

Green space

Commercial

Residential

Cultural / Parking

Master Plan Hudson Rail Yards

Buildings & Vegetation Hudson Rail Yards

Planting Concept: Natural form and function to controlled form and purpose Shenyang Architectural University (Yu Kongjian) Greenhouse tomato production

Rabobank - Utrecht, Netherlands Kraaijvanger Urbis BV Bestuursgebouw de Lens - Nieuwegein, Netherlands Architectenbureau Jaco D. de Visser

Energy Production Hudson Rail Yards Power generation from wind turbines is yet another way to meet energy demands without the use of fossil fuels. By positioning buildings perpendicular to general wind direction, rooftop wind turbines can supplement the site’s energy supply.

Aerotecture - 510V Aeroturbine Chicago, Illinois

At completion, the Hudson Yards master plan includes 227,150 square feet of roof surface. By maximizing solar exposure, an extensive photovoltaic system could account for the site’s energy demands while contributing clean energy to Manhattan’s grid.

1400000 1200000

Value ($)

1000000 800000

Possible Solar Generation Consumption 5,000

600000

Comsumption 10000 400000 200000 0 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Stormwater Usage Green roof ‘strips’ can collect and filter stormwater

Hudson Rail Yards By ‘harvesting’ and keeping stormwater in a closed circuit of re-use within buildings, pressure on existing water management practices can be reduced. When the ‘harvesting’ system is overloaded, bioswales leading to the Hudson River can purify water before release into the natural system.

Shenyang Architectural University (Yu Kongjian)

The Lanferbach Schüngelberg Estate Gelsenkirchen, Germany

Perspective Hudson Rail Yards City Park

Perspective Hudson Rail Yards

City Park

City Park

City Park

Perspective Hudson Rail Yards

Beyond Hudson Rail Yards

“The problem I am confronting is the present design of cities only a few stories high, stretching outward in unwieldy sprawl for miles...�

- Paolo Soleri