containerization

This project takes the use of the container and infuses it with multi-programmatic elements so as to allow for public access to the waterfront while at the same time maintaining the character and use of the site. The “Containerization” occurs when these elements of community & leisure programs, juxtaposed with storage and shipment are captured by the transformable quality of the container itself. Removed from its strict use, it takes upon more significant roles.

As its panels literally unfold, it allows itself to be used as an artificial plot of sand, or strip of grass. It is accessorized with different elements which can activate a new use... floating buoys...gas for a floating barbecue on the Hudson...electricity for a disco barge... or for a temporary homeless shelter. As they unfold they are also given a new translucent skin, thereby revealing its use from a distance. The stacks of backlit transluscent containers become an artificial glowing landscape that produce a play in shadow and light reflected in the water. While containing public space, the site facilitates for the reuse of existing cranes and pier structures. The piers become the framework for the containers. While they store junk, the containers are mobilized by activity such as the weekend marketplace or the junk shop. Programmatically, the containers serve as a refuge for the ever growing low-tech objects; 486’s, monitors, appliances, radios. In effect they catalogue a specific junk which chronicles the rapid advance of technology. It is the containerization of flotsam as well as a public forum for local activity which activates the waterfront.