The Octopus's Garden

THE OCTOPUS'S GARDEN As a huge octopus, the project embraces the whole site with its long tentacles. They become the way to reactivate the existing connections between the West-Harlem neighborhood and the decommissioned station and to create new ones to increase the waterfront access. The streets are overpassed and the vehicular movements are improved as an energy resource thanks to a specific wind turbines system along the paths. The octopus’s head is a multi-modal transit hub in which different levels of networks converge. This new terminal building replaces the old one: it has an internal outdoor public space (in winter it may turn in an ice rink) and a large concrete esplanade for leisure or walking. The hub provides many other usefull spaces: docking piers for water taxes, shopping malls, cafè. Nourishing NYC area (restaurants, eco-friendly markets, culinary libraries, teaching kitchens, volunteer centres, storage and packing areas) are situated at S-O, retraining the spaces under the existing street. They are closely related with community gardens, creating a lively and thriving site able to increase job oportunities, economic development (also improving local exchange activities with food ship, called “Nouriship”) and nutritional awerness.