Integration of public access : the adaptive re-use of Alcoa's waterworks

Abstract

This thesis is about the re-use of Alcoa's Waterworks. The exciting spatial attributes of the buildings which compose the plant, along with the views they offer to Manhattan, inspired the design of a journey through the complex. To create the journey, a system of access was combined with the physical form of the existing buildings. As the diversity of the plant context lends itself to different user groups, it is the collective spaces that help organize a framework to make the journey continuous. This project provides an opportunity to examine how some ideas about movement patterns and space perception can be incorporated through architectural interventions to take advantage of the site's unique characteristics and heighten the experience of the observer yet offer him an understanding through perceptual control.