Pier 55: The Latest Architecture and News

Designed by Heatherwick Studio, together with landscape architecture firm MNLA, the long-awaited Little Island project is New York’s newest major public space, showcasing a richly-planted piece of topography above the Hudson River. The design featuring a public park and performance venues reinvents the pier typology into an undulating artificial landscape. After surpassing many hurdles, the eight years in the making project is now open to the public, and the bold design is set to become an icon in New York.

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Construction has resumed on the Thomas Heatherwick-designed Pier 55 on the Hudson River in New York. Almost eight months since the scheme was officially abandoned by primary backer Barry Diller due to soaring costs, work has resumed on the site following negotiations between New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, Diller and the civic organization City Club in October 2017. The Architect’s Newspaper has reported that the scheme’s walkways are currently under construction, with concrete piles being laid into the river.

Just one month after the Thomas Heatherwick-designed Pier 55 project in New York City was declared dead in the water, opposing parties seem to have come to an agreement that will allow the project to continue, thanks to the intervention of New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo.

Six months after preparatory site work was halted by legal action, plans for the Heatherwick Studio-designed Pier 55 park along the Hudson River in New York City have been abandoned.

Primary backer Barry Diller, chairman of IAC/InterActive Corporation, announced the decision yesterday, citing ballooning costs and gear-halting legal worries. Initially estimated in 2011 to cost $35 million, the project had reached a $250 million price tag due to the complexity of the design and unforeseen environmental and legal concerns.

Construction on Heatherwick Studio’s undulating Pier 55 in New York has come to a screeching halt, following a ruling by a United States District Court judge last week that will require the project to undergo an intense wildlife impact review.

Last April, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers gave the project, located on the Hudson River in West Chelsea, the go-ahead, allowing initial construction to begin. But the district judge found that the Army Corps of Engineers had failed to properly consider the wide effects of the projects on the river wildlife.

Pier 55, the floating park designed by Heatherwick Studio and landscape architecture firm, Signe Nielsen, received a green-light from the New York Supreme Court this past Friday, April 8, according to a report by the Architect’s Newspaper. Floating above the Hudson River on the Lower West Side of Manhattan, the park is anchored by an aggregation of enormous petal-like stilts that are submerged in the water below. The park is being funded by the philanthropy of Diane von Furstenberg and her husband Barry Diller.

Pier 55’s legal troubles began last spring when the non-profit, City Club of New York filed a lawsuit against Pier55 Inc. and Hudson River Park Trust (HRPT) to stop the project.