A sea of concrete tulips in New York City

Figure: Timothy Schenck

Northwest view of the artificial island park. The amphitheater opening onto the river is easy to recognize

Figure: Timothy Schenck

The highest point of the artificial island is situated at its western tip

Figure: Timothy Schenck

Figure: Heatherwick Studio

Exploded view of a precast concrete tulip [dimensionless]

Figure: Heatherwick Studio

Figure: Timothy Schenck

The southeast accessway passes underneath the concrete tulips

Figure: Timothy Schenck

Figure: Max Giuliani

The 132 precast concrete tulips consist of piles driven into the riverbed, a node and four pentagonal petals cast onto them

Figure: Max Giuliani

Figure: Timothy Schenck

Aerial image of the island in upstream direction taken by a drone, with Manhattan appearing on the right-hand side

Figure: Timothy Schenck

Figure: Heatherwick Studio

Driving the 267 prestressed concrete piles into the riverbed

Figure: Heatherwick Studio

Placement of one of the 132 tulip-shaped precast concrete planters on the prestressed concrete piles driven into the ground

Figure: Heatherwick Studio

Replacing the derelict Pier 54, a 2.4 hectare artificial island was constructed on Hudson River in New York City. Its structure comprises 132 tulip-shaped precast concrete planters that rest on 267 prestressed concrete piles. The complete article (in German) can be read in the „BetonBauteile Jahrbuch 2022“ yearbook, which is available at the Profil bookstore of Bauverlag.

History tells us that the RMS Carpathia, the steamship that had rescued the Titanic survivors, arrived at Pier 54 in April 1912. The Titanic itself was originally supposed to dock at Pier 59, only a few hundred meters away, but, as we all know, this arrival never materialized because the ship was struck by an iceberg. In fact, the countless piers built for tall ships on the west side of Manhattan had once been busy and highly frequented places before aviation made travelling by ship from Europe to the United States obsolete.

The all-timber pier buildings projecting into the Hudson River thus...