The design for the 'Waterfront Artcolony Manhattan' or WAM on the Hudson waterfront in New York is an initial step towards revitalizing waterfront and city alike. Once the cradle of the metropolis that is New York, these days the waterfront is in a sorry state. An analysis of the two poles - city and waterfront - identified the spatial qualities latently present in the area. These are exploited at all planning levels in the project. A number of links placed strategically at the boundary between city and waterfront have been revitalized. One such link is the WAM, joining Downtown Manhattan and the bend in the Hudson. This artists' colony is primed to receive a variously constituted group of young artists from all over the world. For artists, the city is a source of inspiration, with the waterfront acting as moment of repose, filter and workplace in one. Putting the resulting art on show is an attempt to entice New Yorkers to the waterfront and to reinstate the rapport with the city.

The site on which the WAM stands is a surviving fragment of a land reclamation. It includes a number of buildings that have been assimilated in the design. Two new elements are added that emphasize the alignment and the shape of the site: the sunken plaza and the outstretched studio building. Both elements absorb the existing buildings and express the bend in the river.

The project's principal design is the studio building containing artists' studios and amenities. At the root of the design for this 250-metre-long building is a spatial reworking in which both city and waterfront figure prominently. Lengthwise, the spatial build-up picks up on the confrontation between the two poles. The waterfront side with studios and the city side with facilities meet at the building's centrally placed main entrance. On their way to the studio, the artists distance themselves from the city and from each other in several stages during which the great expanse of the waterfront gradually unfolds. Breadthwise, the design constructs a tripartition into three zones: a technique zone, a main through-zone and a use zone. All three include quotes from the city. The stage-set effect of the translucent south wall pulls the recycled buildings into the overall image.

From the integration of construction and context at the detail development stage, there emerges a character that draws heavily on the offshore industry, sturdy and transparent in equal measure. The double-height studios all face north. The view across the bend in the Hudson is framed by loggias composed of steel grids. These transform the waterfront into a screen on which artists 'project' images of the city. The two poles finally come together.

link: Arnold Homan

Place of education: TU Delft
Specialization: architectuur
Tutors: Umberto Barbieri, Clemens Steenbergen, Carl van Bruggen & Arie Krijgsman