Five Principles for Greenwich South

The Alliance for Downtown New York asked us to envision a future for Greenwich South, a 41-acre neighborhood at the southern tip of Manhattan. Bounded by the West Side highway, Broadway, the World Trade Center 9/11 Memorial, and Battery Park, Greenwich South had been overlooked for years but had seen a recent rise in residents and tourists.

images
masterplan diagram for the Greenwich South study

Rather than a singular master plan, ARO proposed a flexible strategic framework to guide development over time. We then led a group of designers in envisioning how this framework could accommodate varied solutions. This framework, and the diverse visions and outcomes included within it, is a tool for the Alliance to communicate and advocate for the future of the neighborhood.

images
Greenwich South project framework diagram
images
  • existing Greenwich South ground floor use diagram
  • Greenwich South circulation diagram
  • Greenwich South site plan

Goals outlined in the Five Principles for Greenwich South include promoting connectivity throughout the area while embracing a local sense of place; engaging short-, medium-, and long-term interventions to attract visitors and respond to residents; and, conceiving of the area as a linchpin within a larger, developing live-work-play district.

Our own visioning proposal for a new Market Park would create an urban amenity above the multi-lane Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel.

images
  • pedestrians outside of the proposed Market Park urban amenity above Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel
    Architecture Research Office
  • cars emerge from beneath large proposed greenhouse
    LTL Architects and Transsolar
  • cars and people pass under proposed Edgar Street Towers, paired with a spiraling layered tower
    (L-R) IwamotoScott Architecture, WORKac
  • proposed large exit sign at entrance to vehicular tunnel
    Open
  • proposed new tower at edge of park
    Morphosis
  • proposed projection
    Raphael Lozano-Hemmer
  • section cut diagram of proposed Greenwich South street with light rail and pedestrians
    Coen + Partners
images

The study culminated in a report, publication, and outdoor exhibit.

images
  • woman interacts with outdoor exhibition that reads What IF
    We shared our research and ideas with the public through an outdoor exhibition.
  • Five Principles for Greenwich South reports laid out on table
images
Five Principles for Greenwich South project team work together around a model in conference room
Awards

2010 Architect Magazine, P/A Award for Urban Design and Planning

2020 AIA National, Honor Award for Regional and Urban Design

2010 AIA New York City, Merit Award for Urban Design

2010 Chicago Athenaeum, American Architecture Award

2010 The Rockefeller Founder, New York Cultural Innovation Award

2010 International Downtown Association, Award Distinction