Little Island 小岛是哈德逊河上新建的公园，它承载了该河上三个全新的表演场所。小岛被设计为人与野生生物的世外桃源，并通过雕塑般的种植槽将这方绿洲托举在水上。经由步道，只需片刻步程便能到达曼哈顿下西区。
Little Island is a new public park that shelters three new performance venues on the Hudson River. Designed as a haven for people and wildlife, it is a green oasis, held above the water by sculptural planters, and located just a short walk across a gangplank from Manhattan’s Lower West Side.
▼从11号大道鸟瞰哈德逊河上的小岛公园
Little Island View from 11th Ave © Timothy Schenck
▼鸟瞰
aerial view © Timothy Schenck
▼支撑悬浮在哈德逊河上小岛公园
Little Island held above the water © Timothy Schenck
▼小岛公园入口
Little Island Park entrance © Angela Weiss
▼小岛公园夕阳下的步道
Little Island Gangplank at sunset © Angela Weiss
起初，Heatherwick Studio应慈善家Barry Diller与哈德逊河公园信托公司之邀，为曼哈顿西南边的新码头设计一座公共场馆。不过设计团队并未囿于一座单纯的装饰性建筑，而是从中察觉到重新思考和定义码头的契机。设计的出发点并非结构，而是游客的体验：凌于水上的兴奋感，以及沉浸于绿意、，远离尘嚣的惬意——这一想法是受到中央公园的启发而产生的，在那里人们会忘却自己正身处美国人口最稠密的城市当中。
Heatherwick Studio was initially invited by philanthropist Barry Diller and the Hudson River Park Trust to create a pavilion for a new pier off the south-west of Manhattan. Instead of designing a decorative object to sit in the Hudson River Park, the design team saw an opportunity to rethink what a pier could be. The starting point was not the structure, but the experience for visitors: the excitement of being over the water, the feeling of leaving the city behind and being immersed in greenery – inspired by Central Park, where it’s possible to forget that you are in the midst of the most densely populated city in the United States.
▼公园平面图
GENERAL PARK PLAN © Heatherwick Studio and MNLA
▼小岛公园俯视
Little Island site plan © Timothy Schenck
▼小岛公园中心，可容纳大型活动的灵活场地
The centre of Little Island is a flexible venue with capacity for larger scale events © Timothy Schenck
▼休闲草坪
the recreation area © Timothy Schenck
为了驳船停靠，码头通常是平的。但它们是否必须如此呢？不同相较于曼哈顿平坦的街道，设计团队希望为城市设计一个抬升的新地形，抬升突破当前的地平线从而创造多样的空间。最初的方案是一片浮于水面的卷曲树叶，其叶脉像骨骼一般在边缘处抬升，形成避风港。将公园抬升于基柱座的想法来源于水中既有的木桩，它们是过去从曼哈顿海岸线延伸出来的众多码头的遗留物。在裸露出来的尖顶之下，这些基柱已成为海洋生物的重要栖息地，亦是鱼类的保护和繁殖地。
Piers were traditionally flat to allow boats to dock, but did they have to be? In contrast to the flat streets of Manhattan, the design team wanted to create a new topography for the city, which could rise up to shape a variety of spaces. The first iteration was a curled leaf form floating on the water, its veins rising like ribs at the edges to shelter the space from the wind. The idea of raising the park on its foundations came from the existing wooden piles in the water, remnants of the many piers that used to extend from the shoreline of Manhattan. Beneath the visible tips of the wood, the piles have become an important habitat for marine life and are a protected breeding ground for fish.
▼地形剖面图
geological section © Heatherwick Studio and MNLA
▼起伏的轮廓
the contours of the park © Timothy Schenck
▼水中既有的木桩提供了设计灵感
the existing wooden piles in the water inspired designers © Timothy Schenck
纽约充满活力的表演空间
A DYNAMIC PERFORMANCE SPACE FOR NEW YORK
Heatherwick Studio将码头构想为一场完整的体验：一个富有凝聚力的单体构筑物，而非无关元素的堆砌。新的基柱总是必要的无论什么形式的码头都需要新的基柱，但它们不再只是支撑甲板的柱子，而是成为甲板本身——延展成种植槽，并相互融为一体，共同构成了公园的表面。高低错落的基柱桩构成了公园的轮廓：码头的一角被抬升，使阳光能照射到下方的海洋栖息地；边缘部分垂下，塑造出山丘、观景台，以及可举办演出的天然露天剧场。如此，码头与它的支撑结构浑然一体。
Heatherwick Studio envisaged the pier as a complete experience; a single, cohesive object, rather than unrelated elements stuck together. New piles would be necessary to support any type of pier. Instead of sticks holding up a deck, the piles become the deck – they extend into planters that join together to create the park’s surface. The height of the piles varies to create the park’s contours: the corner of the pier is lifted to allow sunlight to reach the marine habitat, and the edge falls to define hills, viewpoints and to carve out a natural amphitheatre for performances. In this way, the pier and its supporting structure are one.
▼基柱与花槽融为一体，共同构成了公园的表面
The piles extend into planters that join together to create the park’s surface © Timothy Schenck
▼被抬升的码头的一角，使阳光能照射到下方的海洋栖息地
the corner of the pier is lifted to allow sunlight to reach the marine habitat © Timothy Schenck
▼岛上最高点
highest point © Timothy Schenck
▼入口模块隆起为东南部观景点
The modules at the entrance raised up as the southeast viewing spot © Timothy Schenck
剧院需要后台空间，但设计团队不想因任何一个建筑打断公园的连绵感。解决方案是通过结构来实现的:最高的桩基柱将荷载转移到较低的基柱桩上，从而在甲板下创造一个空间。在这个地下空间中，基柱显露，并在水面上创建了一个观景台，提供了观赏码头与河流的独特视角，同时将设施隐秘地的藏匿在甲板后。不论是绿植的呈现方式，还是剧场座位作为的视野，体验的方方面面都被充分考虑。凭借其独特的剧场与绿地组合，小岛成为曼哈顿生活节奏中的一个停顿;在这里，纽约人和游客可以来到河中央，躺在树下，观看表演，欣赏日落，并感受到与水和自然的连结。
The theatre needed back-of-house spaces, but the design team didn’t want to interrupt the park with a building. The solution came through the structure: the tallest piles transfer the load to lower piles, allowing a void to be created beneath the deck. In this undercroft, the foundations are revealed and a viewing platform is created above the water, allowing a unique perspective of the pier and river, while concealing the facilities on a discreet deck. Every aspect of the experience has been considered, from the way the greenery unfolds on the approach to the view from each theatre seat. With its unique mix of venues and parkland, Little Island is a pause in the pace of Manhattan; a place where New Yorkers and visitors can cross the river to lie under a tree, watch a performance, catch the sunset and feel connected to the water and natural world.
▼可容纳近700人的露天剧场
the amphitheatre © Timothy Schenck
▼剖面图
section © Heatherwick Studio and MNLA
那些种植槽，或者说“花盆”，盛满了一百多种本地树木和植物，能够在纽约的气候中茁壮生长，同时提高生物多样性——小岛的每个角落都代表着一种不同的微气候。
The planters, or ‘pots’ are filled with more than a hundred different species of indigenous trees and plants, which encourage biodiversity and are able to thrive in New York’s climate – each corner of the island represents a different microclimate.
▼休闲草坪
the recreation area © Timothy Schenck
