Li Zhang

Complex Projects

Main perspective from DeWitt Clinton Park

Maritime Scope - Manhattan Cruise Terminal

Maritime mobility has shaped Manhattan’s spatial structure and cultural image. The busy waterfront filled with trans-Atlantic steam ships in the early 20th century defined the architype of the maritime urban periphery. The drastic shift of modes of mobility in favour of aviation and the automobile after WWII, however, transformed the purpose of the Manhattan waterfront, while challenging its traditional values.

The project is an attempt to rediscover the qualities of the waterfront in its post-industrial age - not only as an access from the ocean to the city, but also as a public interface combined with contemporary service industries, including cruise tourism and TV production. It is about monumentality, publicness, flexibility, and display. The piers, the cantilevering roof, the big spaces enclosed with curtain wall, and the continuous landscaped deck, together form an active urban interface, where the dynamic and theatrical relationship between Manhattan and its river is appreciated.

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