 Located at the edge of Manhattan alongside Hudson River Park, this new Sanitation Facility for three garages and a salt shed operates 24 hours a day and houses office, locker, lunch, and workout spaces for staff as well as full maintenance facilities for vehicle repair and storage. 

Department of Sanitation Garage and Salt Shed 

Garage and Salt Shed

Department of Sanitation Manhattan Districts

The Drawing Center was founded by former MoMA assistant curator Martha Beck and initially operated out of a $900-a-month ground-floor warehouse space in SoHo. In its first year, it attracted 125,000 visitors.

This small museum specializing in works on paper required extensive renovations to its public, conservation and office areas as well as a complete upgrade to museum-quality climate systems. After completing these improvements in 2000, WXY was asked for a space-need feasibility study that led to a further commission as the consulting architects for The Drawing Center's long-term expansion strategy. The firm led the unique institution's consideration of sites for a new home first at the World Trade Center site and then at the New Market Site at the Old Fulton Fish Market, but eventually decided to stay at its iconic Wooster Street home. The capital project for 35 Wooster Street expanded the galleries and created dedicated spaces for education programs and artist services. The new Drawing Center is 11,900 square feet with 50% more gallery and programming space. The main architectural plan for ReDraw connects a new ground floor bookstore, visitor services desk, Main Gallery, and indirect sky-lit Drawing Room gallery to office spaces on the second floor and a renovated lower level. The new lower level includes a room dedicated to art education, a conference room for artists and curators, and The Lab, which will feature a media system for exhibitions and public programs. This allows the museum to provide artists, students, and visitors with the facilities to further explore issues raised by the dynamic and evolving drawing medium well into the 21st century.

The Drawing Center opened in 1977 in 137 Green St.

The Drawing Center

Claire Weisz, Principal at WXY Architecture + Urban Design speaks on how the Drawing Center was designed exhibit drawing thoughtfully. 

 The Zipper conceptually strives to positively encourage social interaction with any different number of people gathering, relaxing and engaging. The bespoke elements of the bench design facilitate a multiplicity of options in their arrangement. These components act as parts within the urban whole. 

Several benches are placed around the plaza.

Zipper Bench

 Claire Weisz discusses the zipper bench designed by WXY Architects. 

 Active recreation is a highly desirable element in cities rediscovering their waterfronts as places for living and enjoyment. As families move into buildings along former industrial areas. the need for sports courts, bike routes, playgrounds, dog runs, boat launches and skateboard parks arises. To respond to these needs the plan for The Hudson River Park created a number of piers that concentrated these recreational uses. Pier 25 opened November 2010 and Pier 25 opened in 2011. Four buildings were required to support dozens of planned activities they are expected to hold. WXY's group of hybrid buildings articulates the new uses of this segment of the Park: miniature golf and snack bar with Dock Master's office, utility and maintenance, a boathouse and restaurant with a floating deck, and a skateboarding facility combined with comfort station. The architectural vocabulary draws on the history of robust marine structures and garages. WXY reinterprets the pragmatic nature of utility building with sculptural gestures using scale shifts and a sense of playfulness. Angling rooflines and 3-dimensional signs animate the compositions. The set of buildings share a material palette that shifts in color and shape. They are all single story with the walls and roof zinc clad and equipped with broad overhangs for shade and shelter from the elements. Glimpses of hardwearing glazed brick at their bases and openings punctuate their components with vivid color. The restaurant building currently under construction is the only structure with an upper level; it serves as an open air deck for viewing of the waterfront and its plethora of activities and events. 

Hudson River Park Activity Buildings

 Claire Weisz discusses Pier 25 and Pier 26 in the Hudson River Park. 

 Security devices and protection for police officers have become part of urban life. Unfortunately due to the ad hoc nature of these kinds of changes to the cityscape they often take the form of temporary barriers, concrete blocks and solid metal boxes. This project necessitated by security needs post 9-11 allowed the city agency to develop security elements that met their needs and stringent standards. The new parallelogram-shaped security kiosks create a slimmer profile and changeable views from every approach. It was important to challenge the notion that security enhancements automatically result in an aesthetic of unattractive, industrial materials and forms by providing a design solution that gave even greater interior view angles to the security personnel while being a positive addition to its environment. The sculptural quality of this unusual booth enhances and softens its presence in the street. Its cladding, made from multilayered glass panels, produces an ever-changing combination of shadows and reflections within its layers. The design attention to booth transform this post 9/11 necessity into public architecture. 

11 Metrotech Security Enhancements

 Claire Weisz discusses the security kiosks at 11 MetroTech. 

 In Times Square, one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world, it is a challenge to create places for visitor services and information. The Visitors Center gives new life to the retired Embassy movie theater, located at 47th Street &amp; Broadway, directly opposite the new ruby-red stepped TKTS booth. Part museum and part zeitgeist happening, with healthy dollops of theatricality and sleek sophistication, this re-purposed space straddles the 20th and 21st centuries to reflect the continuity and vitality of the world`s crossroads. 

Times Square Visitors Center

 The NYC Information Center was a commission that prompted the invention of new ways to look at tourist information. It transforms a storefront into an 'information space', seamlessly integrating media design and architecture to meet visitors at any level of engagement. All levels of physical and digital design are customized to extend and anticipate the contents of the new NYC-Go web site and create an object-based live experience for users. Evolving the current best practices of brochures and human guides, the project develops a new paradigm for visitor information distribution. The view from the street pull the visitor into the information architecture. The universal symbol of information, the single "i", enlarged and extruded through the space, accommodates the Center's interactive 'Smart Tables'. These 6'x 4' multitouch screens with a sophisticated mapping capability enable visitors to create their custom NYC guidebook. You take a virtual walk in the city's streets by moving a puck, similar to a "You Are Here' dot, to find highlights and save them for itineraries. The 100 top questions are answered at the "FAQ" stations in ten languages. Chosen itineraries can be emailed to users on the go. Graphic banding of floor and walls organizes the interior into coordinates creating a "mapped" foreshortened space. The information tables and their digital mirrors above simulate the intensity of the city experience. Layers of information, electronic interfaces, brochures, a video wall 'FlyNYC' feature, and ticket and metro card vending are carefully incorporated into the design, resituating each individual experience and linking them as a unified system. This project, a collaboration between WXY and Local Projects, exemplifies the cross disciplinary nature of WXY's work in both analog and digital enhanced spaces and has become a prototype for the clients approach to tourist information. 

New York City Information Center

 Claire Weisz on NYC Information Center. 

 The award-winning design of the Bronx Charter School for the Arts reflects the school's founding principle that arts education is critical to human development and learning. Color, space, and natural light create a direct physical connection with the content and aims of the curriculum. The budget restrictions and use of a former factory require a simple but innovative approach to achieve a healthy environment that enhances the learning spaces. A community driven design process resulted in a unique, light-filled space. Through its adaptive re-use of the building, the school plays a role in the transformation of the Hunts Point neighborhood. With its bright colors, the school's strong street presence in its urban industrial neighborhood promotes community participation through the arts. Its design satisfies the school's desire to explore the way openness and easy communication can be encouraged by the built environment. The design incorporates many sustainable features and exceeds the minimum standards for air changes and natural light. The decision to reuse the facade structure with a new insulated brick layer for the exterior wall added energy savings. Filtered fresh air and north facing skylights supply the building with an ethereal aesthetic while meeting health goals. North-facing insulated clerestories reduce heat gain, bring natural light into the deep interior spaces throughout the day, and allow the school to save money on heating and cooling. Many of the materials used are a minimum 60% recycled content. The LEED checklist was used as a guide throughout. 

Bronx Charter School for the Arts

 Claire Weisz talks about the architecture of the Bronx Charter School for the Arts. It was formerly a windowless factory, and now it is an elementary school for 400 kids. 

 The design accommodates 11,218 square feet of complex programs on the limited property footprint with two interlocking functional blocks, each connected by a double-height space. An intertwining, color-coded scissor stair links the diverse programs, which include ambulance and utility storage, offices, personnel areas, dining and meeting spaces, and a locker room. This circulatory core extends above the main roof, where it becomes both access and armature for the penthouse lounge resting atop the neighborhood. 

Emergency Medical Services by  the Official Fire Department of New York

FDNY EMS station 27

Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Station 27

The Sherman Creek Waterfront project is a major civic opportunity for northern Manhattan and adjacent neighborhoods in the Bronx, focusing attention on the last undeveloped waterfront land left in Manhattan. Northern Manhattan's upland is rich in parks, but access to the waterfront remains limited, particularly along the Harlem River. This stretch, long disconnected from the upland communities of Inwood and Washington Heights by topography and industrial lands, is rich in unexplored potential. The plans will improve waterfront access and create a riverside esplanade (the &ldquo;Malec&oacute;n&rdquo;) to connect five existing waterfront parks at the ends of 202nd to 206th Streets. Further connections to existing and planned greenway improvements in both upper Manhattan and adjacent areas in the Bronx will reconnect Sherman Creek to its surroundings, filling a local need and linking to recreational opportunities city-wide.

Sherman Creek Waterfront Parks

Sherman Creek Waterfront Master Plan

 SeaGlass Carousel demonstrates an innovative collaboration of art and design to create a distinctly contemporary, ecologically themed environment for The Battery in Lower Manhattan. Inspired by the ocean's beauty and The Battery`s history as the first home of the New York Aquarium, SeaGlass is an aquatic carousel, featuring huge fish rather than the usual horses and chariots. The project transforms the traditional ride structure into an instrument of the future, employing underground mechanisms to eliminate the need for a center post - allowing clear views across the pavilion and into the park's lush gardens and landscape. In addition, unlike traditional carousels, SeaGlass riders sit inside the figures. This design makes the rider feel a part of the fish--even &ldquo;becoming&rdquo; the fish. The scale of the figures, from 6 feet to 13 feet high, adds to the wonder and grandeur of the experience. 

SeaGlass Carousel

 Formerly an uninspired, unmaintained plaza built in 1980 over the roof of the river-water cooling plant of the original World Trade Center buildings, the renovations solved operational problems and provided additional amenities for the residents and the local community. The reclaimed community space includes a shaded space, a play area for younger children, and a dog run. Kowsky Plaza provides an armature for spontaneous activity. The space was redesigned to allow public access directly from the axis of Liberty to the lower esplanade with a cantilevered shade structure that reflects the lack of &ldquo;solid ground.&rdquo; The redesign of Kowsky Plaza was a technically challenging project because the paving surface and roof had greatly deteriorated from settling. Kowsky Plaza was opened to the public in spring 2005. 

Monsignor John Kowsky Plaza

 Claire Weisz on the design of Kowsky Plaza. 

This shady park at the tip of the city was renovated in 2005 with lovely seating, a fountain, and ornamental gardens. A good place to enjoy a cool sea breeze. Once a two-acre area of asphalt, the Bosque now fulfills historic Battery Park's potential as a destination. Full of natural abundance, with spaces to sit, eat, and play, it is a lushly planted porch to the vast acreage of New York's Inner Harbor.The key to this transformation was the synergy between the concept of a garden on the waterfront and the design of new park elements that could complete this atmosphere. The curvilinear park geometry was designed to support Dutch designer Piet Oudolf's perennial plant vocabulary. This radical idea of a public park as a garden that is able to support thousands of flowering plants was bolstered by an emphasis on occupying the new park with hundreds of linear feet of seating and new activities including a water feature and dining. To work with the unique curves of The Bosque, WXY's River Bench system was designed to be comfortable and use less material than conventional systems.The planning of the Park took into account the punishing load of an annual count of four million tourists boarding boats to the Statue of Liberty as well as the influx of new residents and downtown workers. Supporting evening and weekend activity is the integration of lighting into the design of the park's features. Under the trees are bollard lights by Tilllett Lighting that have lenses that allow rainwater to collect and be part of the lighting effect. Food kiosks are designed to be lantern-like at night, using cold cathode fixtures. Although an ellipse shape seems only possible with custom design, this system was created to be modular so that it can be replicated easily and all pieces can be easily replaced.

The park at the tip of the city was re-equipped with a series of public spaces and features such as a spiral walk-through water feature, benches, a kiosk, a fountain, and ornamental gardens, spread out across the park.

Battery Bosque, Carousel, Kiosk, and Benches

 Claire Weisz discuses the fountain at the Battery Bosque. 

 Claire Weisz discusses the design plan for the Battery Bosque. 

The Manhattan Districts 1/2/5 Garage, overlooking the Hudson River at the corner of Spring Street and West Street, will house three district garages for the NYC Department of Sanitation. The buildings have become iconic and a source of neighborhood pride. Although municipal infrastructure projects are often targeted as undesirable uses, the community has embraced the project and applauded the use of design to successfully integrate critical services into the neighborhood. This pair of public buildings serves close to 300,000 residents. The new multi-story building will accommodate over 150 sanitation vehicles including trucks, front-end loaders, salt spreaders, heavy-equipment wreckers, and personnel vehicles; separate vehicle wash and personnel facilities for each district; and centralized fueling and repair facilities. The double-skin fa&ccedil;ade wraps the curtain wall with custom, perforated, metal fins to vertically articulate the massing and mitigate sun exposure. The fins are operable for the occupied spaces. An extensive green roof softens views from neighboring buildings, protects the roof membrane and enhances storm water retention and thermal performance. A benchmark project for NYC`s Active Design program, the garage is designed to achieve a LEED Gold certification.

Softens views from neighboring buildings, and protects the roof membrane, and enhances stormwater retention and thermal performance. It also promotes the biodiversity of native species. The green roof was placed as 13,250 pre-planted trays to allow for a quick installation, and also to bring already established plants to the site. Planted with 25 distinct drought-resistant species, the roof requires no permanent irrigation. THe bio-diverse varierty of plants that means that at any given time during the growing season, something will be in bloom, providing food for pollinators.&nbsp;

They reduce solar heat gain and glare, obscuring the mechanical louvers and shield the view of the headlights from neighbors.&amp;nbsp;  

Including trucks, front-end loaders, salt spreaders, heavy-equipment wreckers, and personnel vehicles; including trucks, front-end loaders, salt spreaders, heavy-equipment wreckers, and personnel vehicles; separate vehicle wash and personnel facilities for each district; and centralized fueling and repair facilities.       

Manhattan Districts 1/2/5 Garage

The Dept. of Sanitation's first fully enclosed building to store salt with 6 ft. thick walls.

Rising nearly 70 feet along the Hudson River at the intersection of Canal Street and West Street, this highly visible structure will house 5,000 tons of salt. The Salt Shed`s crystalline, faceted planes enliven the reinforced concrete enclosure. The structure tapers toward the bottom, creating more pedestrian space. The Salt Shed`s solid, crystalline form acts as a counterpoint to the diaphanous, scrim-like façade of the Manhattan 1/2/5 Garage directly across Spring Street to the north. Dattner Architects and WXY Architecture + Urban Design collaborated during schematic design of the salt shed.

Salt Shed

The Times Square project is a permanent pedestrian precinct with a goal of making it a destination for visitors, comfortable for daily workers, convenient for theater-goers and an asset to retails. The landscape will create a surface that marks the historic alignment of Broadway, blurs the traditional sidewalk/road boundaries and affords the maximum flexibility of uses.

 The Times Square project is a permanent pedestrian precinct with a goal of making it a destination for visitors, comfortable for daily workers, convenient for theater-goers and an asset to retails. The landscape will create a surface that marks the historic alignment of Broadway, blurs the traditional sidewalk/road boundaries and affords the maximum flexibility of uses. 

Times Square

Jean Parker Phifer, NYC architect and author of Public Art New York, reads a selection on Times Square, at the crossroads of Broadway, Seventh Avenue, and 42nd Street.

Hugh Hardy of H3 Hardy Collaboration Architecture discusses his work on the transformation of 42nd Street from a seedy area to a family friendly environment.

The Theater District was also known as the Tenderloin, for its long history of prostitution rings, pimps, and porno shops. 

 Claire Fellman, the landscape architect and Project Designer with Snohetta talks about the commission for the Times Square renovation and some of the design goals and challenges in the project. 

 From its inception, the work of WXY has explored what it takes to make something public. Evolving a design methodology through the challenges of innovating public space, they have developed a practice based on merging the categories of architecture and planning. Design and planning involves the discipline of physical planning and explorative design research resulting in a variety of innovative solutions that occur at the tangible scale of the built environment, but are designed to support the sustainability and socio-economic goals of cultures and their communities. WXY's projects, both self-generated and commissioned, have large and small scale design impacts that create memorable places that are environmentally responsive. Their work seeks to connect the lessons written in each site's history of use with the future of technology and emergent civic needs for renewed public works. 

WXY Studio

Sandra Bloodworth, director of Arts for Transit, discusses the work Times Square: 35 Times, by Toby Buonagurio, located in the Times Square Station, 42nd Street.

WXY Studio

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