Christine Koch
ARCH-4980.1 | Chris Perry, Assistant Professor
CULTURE AS NEW INDUSTRY
Revitalization of the Poughkeepsie Waterfront
CHRISTINE THERESE KOCH
Post-industrial Poughkeepsie, located in the heart of the Hudson River Valley, has been going through a period of urban renewal since the late 1960s. Though many plans for waterfront redevelopment were proposed in the beginning stages of this renewal, most developments have yet to come to fruition. As the population has continued to grow, drawing New York City-dwellers, artists, and students to the area, it is time to reclaim brownfield sites along the waterfront for public use, to stimulate economic growth and revitalize a run-down piece of the historic Hudson Riverfront.
This proposal is for a redevelopment of the Poughkeepsie waterfront, by way of gradually populating the area with ‘land pods’ which can connect to one another in a number of different arrangements, and over time create a series of pathways, park spaces, and public programs on the ground level. Tapping into the growing Hudson River Valley and Poughkeepsie art scenes, student and artist housing hovers over these public spaces. The housing provides live-work spaces for these transient populations, as culture becomes the new industry to occupy the waterfront. While during the school year the homes provide housing for students attending nearby colleges with art programs, during the summer the units are able to accommodate artists participating in a residency program for digital, media, and small scale studio art artists, as well as writers.
The flexibility of the units to accommodate these different user groups draws inspiration from post-war architects such as Charles and Ray Eames, Alison and Peter Smithson, and Cedric Price, all of whom explored the idea of modularity and plasticity in their work. This idea of flexibility is carried throughout the project, being incorporated not only into the interior arrangement of the units, but into the façade system, public spaces and their configurations, and connection of various ‘land pods’ to one another as they gradually accrue over time.