THESIS

REFLECTION
URBAN FAÇADE: MANHATTAN CRUISE TERMINAL
COMPLEX PROJECTS
LI ZHANG/4906349
l.zhang-15@student.tudelft.nl
MENTORS: OLINDO CASO, JOS LAFEBER
MAY 2020
0 Project Description
Maritime Mobility played an important role in shaping Manhattan’s spatial structure and cultural image.
The busy waterfront featured with steam ships connecting the two sides of the Atlantic in the early 20th
century defined an architype of maritime urban periphery. The drastic shift of modes of mobility in favor of
aviation and automobile after WWII, however, transformed the purpose of Manhattan waterfront. It is no
longer a necessary gateway for travelers and residents to enter and exit from the city, while the area is now
left with highway and infrastructure inherited from the age of manufacturing. How to repurpose the
waterfront in the post-industrial and post-modern city? The maritime mobility in the age of service
industry, the cruise lines, reveals new possibilities.

The project is a transportation complex combined with functions of cruise terminal, ferry terminal,
commercial spaces, event venue and TV studios. It provides a monumental experience for travelers with
high quality processing spaces. At the same time, it offers diverse spaces for the gathering of people by
introducing various public activities. At the urban scale, it reshapes the landscape of the post-industrial
waterfront into an imageable interface which becomes significant again in the entire urban structure of
Manhattan.
The project is around 34,000 square meters in floor area (above the deck), located between Pier 92 and Pier
94 in Manhattan. It is composed of:
1. A deck at the bottom, which is 6m above the original ground level and landscaped at the surface for
pedestrians, with automobile roads and logistic facilities covered underneath. It is designed to be flood
proof.
2. Two volumes for TV studios and cruise terminal respectively alone the water, and one volume for
flexible event venue on the Pier 92 combined with two boarding bridges for two cruise ships berthing. The
volumes are placed above the deck. Various open spaces are created around the volumes.
3. A large span roof along the water with cantilevering edges, at 28m above the deck, which covers the
volumes and integrates different public spaces.

Regarding architectural quality and architectural expression, it emphasizes on two themes. First, movement
and display. It is a horizontal surface that displays the continuous movement of people along the water,
creates a sequence of pictures framed within the deck, the volumes and the roof. It marks the transition
between water and the city. Second, plug-and-play. It functions differently depending on the itinerary of
ships and the schedule of events, thus can be used temporarily for different purposes. It should celebrate the
gathering of both locals and travelers.

1 The Relationship Between Research and Design

Design is never an autonomous process that is driven solely by the professionalism of architects. It starts
from vague curiosities on certain questions, evolves with the guidance of certain methodologies, and ends
up giving answers in a much wider scope. During the graduation period we are fortunate enough to be
given enough time to explore our fascinations. The project started from my interest and investigation on
historical evolution of Manhattan as a maritime city, from where I encountered the scope of the spatial-
temporal understanding of a maritime city, the efforts and attempts to define the waterfront space through
time by architects, the transformation of post-war modern cities, the traditional and new service industries
of New York, including cruise and television industries, and the professional knowledges of navigation and
passenger processing. The research process leads to the assessment and ambition of my design. It helps me
define the programs, characters and architectural qualities that the building has to have. It ensures that the
project is a unique solution based on the specific condition and tradition of the chosen site, thus will be
coherent with the entire landscape of the new waterfront space of Manhattan. The project is not only an
architectural object, but also an attempt to address the issues raised by the research, which is the
transformation and revival of an industrial urban waterfront in the contemporary context, and the
rebranding of the image of a maritime city. The professional knowledges of architects about scale,
proportion, structure and construction, here, become tools in responding the issues rather than the final
objective. This dialog between research and design no doubt helps me to think beyond my own profession,
while constantly brings me new inspirations.

2 The Relationship Between the Project Topic, the Studio Topic, the Master Track and the Master
Program
The project that I have chosen serves the initial objective of the studio topic, New York Midtown. Midtown
is a significant urban area in Manhattan with glorious history, while it is faced with changing demands
coming from new economical, social, political, technological and environmental situations. My topic
addresses on the specific challenge that comes from mobility, and focuses on the waterfront area of
Midtown. The product of my graduation project is an architectural object, which is developed from
research and concept to space, materialization and construction details. It responds to the research topic
with solid, technologic solutions. It is thus highly relevant to the track of Architecture and the master’s
program of Architecture, Urbanism and Building Sciences.

3 The Relationship Between the Methodology Chosen and the Methodology of the Studio
The studio offers a clear framework and guideline for carrying out research. We are encouraged to look
into the complex context of the site by collecting hard data, from where we formulate our personal
fascination, and develop it with various methods, including typology studies and mapping. The personal
topic, at the same time, has to contribute to the group urban strategy, and always be relevant to the urban
context. The methodology that I have chosen keeps in line with the methodology of the studio. It is
contextual lead (according to Raymond Lucas, 2016), and is defined by the uniqueness of Midtown. Kevin
Lynch’s approach helps me develop my perspective on the perceptual quality of the city, and understand
the influence of the perceptual image on an area. While the historical record of the Department of Docks
and other materials gives me a grasp of the evolution of the research area and the underlying driven forces.
Through various mappings and site surveys I got both macroscopic and microscopic views on the problem.
The broad scope of research combining various methods, aspects, scales and time periods encouraged by
the studio helps me develop my own methodology.

4 The Relationship Between the Graduation Project and the Wider Social, Professional and Scientific
Framework
The transformation of industrial waterfront has become a common concern in waterborne cities in
developed countries since the decline of maritime passenger transport. The action of turning waterfront into
urban green space does not always produce successful and highly engaged public spaces. At the same time,
the potential of integrating new modes of tourism such as cruising into local urban environment in creating
new types of public spaces and stimulating local economy, is not fully exploited. My project is thus an
experiment in testing the alternative possibilities that a transportation complex can bring to a post-industrial
waterfront area.

The project, at the same time, test the new possibilities of architecture typology. It combines transport
terminal with event venue and television production functions, which are all about the gathering of people
and temporal use of spaces. It is also a revival a traditional typology in New York, which is seen in the
Grand Central Terminal combined with CBS studios. The flexible use of transportation architecture for the
sake of spatial efficiency and architectural quality, is paid with more and more attention in recent years in
the profession of architecture, and worth more exploration.

The project is supported by the state-of-the-art technology. The large-scale tectonic object of the roof,
which shapes the waterfront landscape, is also combined with geothermal climate control system.
Displacement ventilation is applied in the big space, and assisted with passive ventilation. The curtainwall
is supported with pre-tensioned cable net to become a clear and transparent interface. The sustainable
conscious of the building makes it an authentic contemporary architecture.

5 The Ethical Issues and Dilemmas

Through the research into transformation of post-industrial waterfront, I developed my position of
introducing maritime mobility and tourism as a stimulating intervention. However, about what the
waterfront should be, the topic is always controversial. Should it be an active and busy “front yard”, or
should it simply be kept as a peaceful “back yard”? Should it be for people all over the world or should it
be for the locals only? I do not believe that there is one general answer for the questions. It is rather a
matter of balancing different demands of people. It also depends on if the designer could successfully solve
the specific contradictions in each project.

In designing the building, the sheer size of it is another difficulty for me. On the one hand, viewing from
the exterior, it is an infrastructure, it is part of the waterfront landscape, and it should contribute to the
urban space. On the other hand, it has its inherent functional and organizational requirements from both the
terminal and the studios. The perspective from “outside-in” and from “inside-out” is a constant dialog in
defining the shape, scale, proportion and position of each element. It is a difficult process, but also
interesting. I think this is a dilemma that an architect cannot avoid when he cares not only about the
autonomous order of the building, but also its role in a wider urban context.