NYC A.R.K. Competition

Aquarium + Research + Knowledge

New York ARK is the center for environmental education, research, and advocacy for the city and surrounding region. It is a vessel for dialogue with the public about the environmental priorities of twenty first century, coastal New York City.

Situated high above a reclaimed landscape of tidal barriers and dunes, it focuses New Yorkers' attention around the opportunities and limitations of their immediate environment in the face of a changing global climate.

NY ARK is the evolution of the outmoded aquarium of the twentieth century. The traditional aquarium model existed as an aquatic zoo of sorts; capturing fish, animals, and vegetation in a convenient entertainment facility for the delivery of amusement and, occasionally, to education the public about far-off creatures and environments that had did little to inform their own behavior in the environment. Today, the ethics of such a pursuit, reflected in Sea World’s recent decision to phase out Killer Whale captivity, and the limited resources of energy and money require a re-evaluation of the appropriateness of such a model.

NY ARK is to be a new center for the study of the aquatic world that will intrigue and engage without harming the very subject matter it is intended to save. It will do so by also holding up a mirror to local inhabitants of the city to enable them to question and improve their own environmental behavior while witnessing best practices in a sustainable, research oriented building that engages the landscape (and seascape) around it.

 

Competition 2016

Program

MoMA is New York's museum of great modern art, Carnegie Hall is the center for classical music, and the MET is the great collection of historic treasures. NY ARK will be the center for environmental knowledge and activism in the New York region. It consciously adopts a local mindset in its study, engagement, and presentation of environmental issues to encourage the people of New York to learn how to understand and react to their own environment as a way of thinking more globally.

The design of ARK is an outgrowth of this programming concept. It is a dense, urban building that presents the exhibitions in a unified spatial design that enables engagement of the content without losing site of the inter-connectedness of the issues confronting the planet. Within our delicate environment, each aspect influences the other and must be kept in balance. Exhibition and Research space is blended together. All exhibit content is actively benefiting the ecology of New York and its surrounding regions. The programming focuses on the following areas as reflected in the exhibition spaces (which are documented below in the planning).

Two entrances serve visitors via subway and car to the east and visitors on foot to the south. The exhibitions and entrances are a single path such that the experience works from either entrance.

Exhibition Spaces

The ARK exhibition spaces are conceived as a continuous flowing path. Exhibition Tanks and pools penetrate the floor plates to create a variety of vantage points and lessons that are reinforced as visitors move through the building. Frequent vistas out to the city and river reinforce the connection between the lessons contained within the exhibit content and New York as a living ecology - not only a machine of commerce and culture.

Beneath the deep cantilever of the ARK is an outdoor amphitheater open to the public. This space draws the river, tides, and all that is contained within to create a dynamic classroom for the study of waterways. Public lectures by River Keeper or similar organizations along with theatrical and music performances will weave into the life of the green waterfront in Long Island City.

Regional Sea and Plant Life

This exhibition space will farm-raise local and regional sea-life to show their development cycle, natural habitat before releasing them into the wild. Threatened or reduce populations due to over-fishing will be prioritized. The exhibition spaces will also foster the growth of local plants that can reduce erosion, contribute to cleaning the air and water, and serve as a food source. These will exist within the ARK as well as throughout the landscape.

Pollution

Situated in the center of an urban area along one of the more polluted waterways in the country is a unique opportunity to talk and visualize first-hand the impacts of our rapid development. Exhibitions displaying accumulated trash and assessing the ecological impact will be displayed within the ARK and filtration media in the amphitheater under the ARK will enable visitors to understand their rivers first-hand. Partnerships with River Keeper and The Nature Conservancy will give these organizations a central location for expanding their message. The inter-relation of Energy and Pollution will also be exhibited in New York’s first public wave tank where research and waves will take place in relation to developing new energy technologies and analysis of pollution from oil spills and other infiltration.

Energy

Hidden below the water of the East River are a small “farm” of water turbines for producing electricity. A model of the turbine will be the centerpiece of the amphitheater drawing a direct connection between the hidden infrastructure available in the region. Solar Panels “fuel” the wave tank below which directly contributes to a better understanding of wave behavior in relation to turbine technology development.

Sea Rise Level

During the winter, sea ice or icebergs will be brought to the ARK and displayed for study over the course of the winter. While potentially one of the more directly sculptural exhibits, it will demonstrate over time the impact of temperature change as it melts in place. Supplemental educational tools like water level markers in the amphitheater will serve to focus visitors mind on the physicality of the water’s edge. The impact of erosion will be studied and mitigated through the use of oyster shell tidal breaks along the East River. Oyster beds, for filtering river water, will also exist and be studied to understand the inter-relation of sea life in our ecological maintenance.