New York City’s $20 billion, 28-acre Hudson Yards project will feature some of the most advanced infrastructure technology to be found in any building complex in the country.
Among its innovations will be The Shed, a 170,000- to 200,000-sf, $425 million steel-and-glass retractable canopy, mounted on rails that allow the structure to expand and become an independent, multifaceted performance and arts space.
The Real Deal has called The Shed “The Batmobile of Buildings.” Designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro with Rockwell Group, the six-story structure—once known as Culture Shed—is scheduled to open in 2019 (two years later than expected), just in time to host New York’s Fashion Week.
“It will be the world’s most flexible cultural institution,” says Dan Doctoroff, the former New York Deputy Mayor who is CEO of Sidewalk Labs, a Google-funded technology company that is moving into Hudson Yards and is focused on developing ways to improve city life. Doctoroff is also chairman of the Shed. He told Women’s Wear Daily earlier this year that the idea for The Shed “started when Diane von Furstenberg came to Mayor Bloomberg, me and Patti Harris [another deputy mayor] when we were in office in 2004, saying there is no home for fashion in New York.”
The Real Deal reports that technology will allow The Shed’s retractable canopy to open and close within 15 minutes, and transform from an open-air public space into an indoor venue. It is designed with 25,000 sf of museum-quality space, a 500-seat theater, event and rehearsal space, and an artist lab.
The New York Times reported last month that the nonprofit Shed has started programming some of its upcoming events, including the first of its commissions with conceptual artist Lawrence Weiner, who will produce a new work to be unveiled at the Shed’s opening.
Shed Fly Through Animation from The Shed on Vimeo.
Related Stories
| Aug 11, 2010
Portland Cement Association offers blast resistant design guide for reinforced concrete structures
Developed for designers and engineers, "Blast Resistant Design Guide for Reinforced Concrete Structures" provides a practical treatment of the design of cast-in-place reinforced concrete structures to resist the effects of blast loads. It explains the principles of blast-resistant design, and how to determine the kind and degree of resistance a structure needs as well as how to specify the required materials and details.
| Aug 11, 2010
Jacobs, CH2M Hill, AECOM top BD+C's ranking of the 75 largest federal government design firms
A ranking of the Top 75 Federal Government Design Firms based on Building Design+Construction's 2009 Giants 300 survey. For more Giants 300 rankings, visit http://www.BDCnetwork.com/Giants
| Aug 11, 2010
Manhattan's Pier 57 to be transformed into cultural center, small business incubator, and public park as part of $210 million redevelopment plan
LOT-EK, Beyer Blinder Belle, and West 8 have been selected as the design team for Hudson River Park’s Pier 57 at 15th Street and the Hudson River as part of the development group led by New York-based real estate developer YoungWoo & Associates. The 375,000 square foot vacant, former passenger ship terminal will be transformed into a cultural center, small business incubator, and public park, including a rooftop venue for the Tribeca Film Festival.
| Aug 11, 2010
Gensler, HOK, HDR among the nation's leading reconstruction design firms, according to BD+C's Giants 300 report
A ranking of the Top 100 Reconstruction Design Firms based on Building Design+Construction's 2009 Giants 300 survey. For more Giants 300 rankings, visit http://www.BDCnetwork.com/Giants
| Aug 11, 2010
Bowdoin College Museum of Art
Brunswick, Maine
Since its founding in 1794, when what is now the state of Maine was still part of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Bowdoin College has played a pivotal role in the educational and cultural life of Maine. Contributing to that role for more than a century has been the Walker Art Building, an 1894 McKim, Mead & White-designed structure and home to the college’s Museum of Art.
| Aug 11, 2010
Gensler among eight teams named finalists in 'classroom of the future' design competition
Eight teams were recognized today as finalists of the 2009 Open Architecture Challenge: Classroom. Finalists submitted designs ranging from an outdoor classroom for children in inner-city Chicago, learning spaces for the children of salt pan workers in India, safe spaces for youth in Bogota, Colombia and a bamboo classroom in the Himalayan mountains.
| Aug 11, 2010
ASHRAE introduces building energy label prototype
Most of us know the fuel efficiency of our cars, but what about our buildings? ASHRAE is working to change that, moving one step closer today to introducing its building energy labeling program with release of a prototype label at its 2009 Annual Conference in Louisville, Ky.
| Aug 11, 2010
Thom Mayne unveils 'floating cube' design for the Perot Museum of Nature and Science in Dallas
Calling it a “living educational tool featuring architecture inspired by nature and science,” Pritzker Prize Laureate Thom Mayne and leaders from the Museum of Nature & Science unveiled the schematic designs and building model for the Perot Museum of Nature & Science at Victory Park. Groundbreaking on the approximately $185 million project will be held later this fall, and the Museum is expected to open by early 2013.
| Aug 11, 2010
Theater Renovation—A First-Class Production
In 1985, the city of San Diego ordered the historic Balboa Theatre, its beleaguered performing arts center, to be shuttered due to seismic safety concerns. It would take another two decades to restore the landmark building.
