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Architects: Thomas Balsley Associates, Weiss/Manfredi
- Photographs: Albert Vecerka
Text description provided by the architects. Opening at the end of the summer, Hunter’s Point South Waterfront Park is phase one of a larger master plan that encompasses the transformation of 30 acres of post- industrial waterfront on the East River in Long Island City and includes the largest affordable housing building project in New York City since the 1970’s. Surrounded by water on three sides, Hunter’s Point South is a new model of urban ecology and a laboratory for innovative sustainable design. The park and open space is a design collaboration between Thomas Balsley Associates and WEISS/MANFREDI with ARUP as the prime consultant and infrastructure designer.
The site is waterfront and city, gateway and sanctuary, blank slate and pentimento. Design leverages the site’s industrial heritage and spectacular views to establish a resilient, multi-layered recreational and cultural destination. Adjacent to a future school and an emerging residential development of 5,000 permanently affordable units, the park will provide a public front door and new open spaces for recreation that connect to the surrounding communities. The integrated design weaves together infrastructure, landscape, and architecture to transform a post-industrial waterfront site into new ecological corridors that anticipate the inevitable patterns of flooding and rising water levels along the East River, transforming Hunter’s Point South into both a new cultural and ecological paradigm.
