The Manhattan Earth Institute was completed for the Foundation IV, Pre-professional Architecture Studio at the University of Virginia. The project site is located in Manhattanville, New York City, USA. The site’s inevitable relationship with the waterfront unfolds a two-tier future for coastal Manhattan: the adaptive negotiation with water and the abandonment of the era as we know it. The project aims to be adaptable not only in the ways that it deals with climate exigencies but also the ways people inhabit spaces. The project explores and frames space with a flexible kit of parts: ground, scaffold, promenade, and facade, and creates a dialogue of solidity and openness. As inspired by El Lissitzky’s prouns, the project challenges the conformity to traditional building envelopes, clear boundary between indoor and outdoor spaces, and solid reading of the ground plane, thus inviting inclusive readings of the space and creating more resilient identities. As a project meant to be perceived in fragments, moments, and scenes, the Manhattan Earth Institute is a manifesto towards the uncertainty of our time.

Longitudinal Perspective Section

This image not only shows that the project lacks a conventional idea of a “built-form” as the project is a fluidly evolving “Lego Set”, but also explains the different kit of parts and their potential to house flexible programing.

Early Sketch Model

This image is a photo of an early conceptual model exploring ways to use bold gestures to frame largely empty territories.

Year 2050

Year 2150