The Bridge
2012-2016
Social Sculpture
Mixed Media
Various dimensions
The Bridge was public advocacy in the form of a proposal for a floating sculpture. The proposal—and its public research and development—is an act of reclamation of New York City's waterways as public space. Once a shared space of soft edges, occupied by seaweed, fish and oysters, swimmers, fishermen, ferries, freight and bathers, the New York Waterways are now defined by concrete walls, and private ownership, where even wading in the water is illegal.
This pursuit of temporary infrastructures for human occupation of the waterways is the pursuit of policy change through building deep relationships with the personal, cultural, economic, and political forces that regulate them. The repeated creation and demonstration of designs for this maritime social sculpture is also a performance (and embodiment) of political engagement with the bureaucratic and economic powers of the waterways.
Over its course, the project engaged over 150 New Yorkers from every walk of life—from recreational rower to student to architect, boat designer, and bridge engineer. Collaboration with engineering firms Thornton Tomasetti in NYC (also responsible for engineering Christo's Valley Curtain) and Glosten in Seattle over 18 months resulted in the Superblock, a modular design for the floating walkway made from hardware store materials, that achieved sea-worthy rating. The Superblock, 2015, (above and right) was the 8th design iteration.
If bodies of water are public spaces, what infrastructures might encourage the public to inhabit them? What opportunities does standing afloat on the water’s surface—instead of gazing at it from afar—present in negotiating sea level rise and building advocacy for natural and non-human worlds?
What would the water tell us if we could stand on it—afloat—and listen, or stroll across its surface? Is it possible to build a relationship with the water? Is it possible to recognize ourselves in the water, as part of the bodies of water that surround?
Lead Advisors
Jessica Healy: Trustee, Van Alen Institute; Project Director, US Pavilion Expo Milano 2015; Associate Director, BMW Guggenheim Lab
Josh Rosenbloom: Real Estate Developer; Historian; Director of Off-Site Projects, National 9/11 Memorial; Director of City Operations, Lower Manhattan Construction Command Center and Lower Manhattan Development Corporation
Jonathan Marvel: Principal and Founder, Jonathan Marvel Architects PLLC
Design: Braden Caldwell
Public Relations: Monica Schaffer
Grant Funding: Beth Galinsky
Engineering: Thornton Tomasetti Inc. (structural); Glosten (marine)
Legal: DLA Piper LLP (US); Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP