Cities across the United States are actively reclaiming their waterfronts for public use.

 

APT was awarded First Prize in this international design competition for the re-conceptualization of the Westside waterfront in Manhattan, from Battery Park City to 44th Street.

 

The studio’s premise for the project: “Every city has its own logical urban structure, generated and shaped by its design, history, and geography. Every site has its own morphological character, shaped by its relationship with nature as well as with the built environment. Any urban intervention should recognize and understand both the urban structure and the site character as the starting points for architectural ideas.”

 

Our design concept was for streets to extend well into the river, flanked by new piers about 60 feet wide and 120 feet high. The use of the new structures would reflect the character of the adjoining neighborhoods.

 

Five marinas, including the conversion of Pier 40, marked the various neighborhoods. They would have mixed commercial and residential use besides serving as ferry terminals.

 

The natural shoreline along the project site, a visceral memory of the original seaboard, is interlaced with the city blocks, streets, and pier structures. The reconstructed shoreline would become a park, a natural recreational space contrasting with the built environment.

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Publications and Exhibits:

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• 1998 Controspazio "Chiarezza e semplicita’: lo studio Pagnamenta e Torriani a New York"

• 1990 Swiss Institute of Contemporary Art, "From Architecture to Art" Solo Exhibit of APT work​

• 1988 Progressive Architecture, "West Side Waterfront" ​

• 1988 Arredo Urbano "New York Wanted a Waterfront"

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Drawings are part of the Smithsonian Institute’s Cooper Hewitt Collection.