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PETALING JAYA: Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) and Michael van Valkenburgh Associates (MVVA) have unveiled their design for Pier 6 of Brooklyn Bridge Park, located at the intersection of Furman Street and Atlantic Avenue in New York City.
BIG won the project in Spring 2013 after the project was unanimously approved by the community board’s executive committee and the city’s Public Design Commission.
The firm’s proposal for Brooklyn Bridge Park consists of a sleek 6,000 sq ft triangular cross-laminated timber structure, serving both as a pavilion and platform for events and skyline gazing. The platform will slope 5.3m upwards from the foot of the large gathering lawn, providing magnificent views of the surrounding harbour, the Statue of Liberty, Manhattan skyline and Brooklyn Bridge.
The terraced stairs, which are softly illuminated, can accommodate large and small events and are fully Americans with Disabilities (ADA) accessible. The pavilion, supported by thin steel columns, is brightly lit and provides shade, shelter and space for indoor activities. Movable site furniture underneath the platform will accommodate a variety of programmes — from food carts and picnicking, to community events and small performances.
“The Mantaray is a small public platform at the end of the pier — equally accessible above and below. Its namesake organic slopes and curves have been shaped by concerns over accessibility, safety, shelter, structure — like a manmade reef evolved to accommodate human life,” Bjarke Ingels, who heads BIG, said in a statement.
“This spectacular structure will provide the much-needed shade and a unique space for public events, while offering a dramatic ascent to the water’s edge,” said Brooklyn Bridge Park president Regina Myer.
Pier 6 will be further beautified by a flower field and green lungs, giving the area seasonal displays of colour throughout the year.
Myer said the committee is pleased with the collaboration between MVVA’s landscape design for the southern portion of the park, and BIG’s design for a breathtaking architectural addition, that provides a truly special moment on the waterfront.
BIG is an international partnership of architects, designers, builders and thinkers, operating within the fields of architecture, urbanism, research and development.
The firm is led by partners — Bjarke Ingels, Andreas Klok Pedersen, Finn Nørkjær, David Zahle, Jakob Lange, Thomas Christoffersen and managing partners — Sheela Maini Søgaard and Kai-Uwe Bergmann, with offices in Copenhagen and New York.
MVVA is a landscape architecture firm that creates environmentally-sustainable and experiential, rich places for a wide range of landscape scales, from city to campus, to garden. The firm has offices in Brooklyn, New York and Cambridge, Massachusetts.
This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on September 20, 2013.
