The reinvention of the Far West Side could continue if builders put into place something like the design of the Midtown Viaduct. Manhattan-based architecture and design firm DXA studio was recently awarded the grand prize in the commercial category at the 2020 NYCxDESIGN Awards by Interior Design and International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF) for its design of the proposed project. The prize was awarded virtually.
“Our vision was to design a project that would give back to New Yorkers, and I think this award shows we were able to create something that inspires awe and purposefulness. Not only would this project push the boundaries of structural engineering and steel fabrication, it would offer an aspirational and dynamic public space in an area of midtown that is in desperate need of new connections,” said DXA studio Partner Wayne Norbeck. “Further, the passageway is designed to pay homage to the architectural icons it connects, the historic repurposed Moynihan Train Hall and the original New York Central Railway that has been converted into the High Line.”
The design proposes a pedestrian conduit that spans Ninth Avenue and connects the new Moynihan Train Hall at West 31st Street to the High Line and Hudson Yards at 30th Street. DXA’s design references the historic interlaced steel plate work of the High Line and the intricate steel structure of the original inner concourse of the 1910 Penn Station. The structural steel fabrication also harkens back to the 19th century with the structural framing concept of the Statue of Liberty. The curved structural framing can be executed with a combination of innovative techniques, such as water jet-cut steel and pre-fabrication assembly, to create a beautifully bending pedestrian path over the heavily trafficked avenue.
“Given this project is right in our backyard, we saw firsthand these three emerging areas in Midtown Manhattan without a viable connection to one another, and it demanded a thoughtful solution,” said DXA studio Partner Jordan Rogove. “We carefully designed this pathway to not only make it safer for all New Yorkers to access The High Line, Hudson Yards and the new Moynihan Station but to provide much needed civic outdoor and recreation space to a particularly neglected multi-block stretch.”
