Friday, October 31, 2008

Roosevelt Island Skywheel - Live in A Ferris Wheel At Southpoint Park

Image from Frame Magazine

Would you rather live in Santiago Calatrava's downtown Townhouse In The Sky of stacked cubes or Roosevelt Island's Southpoint Park Ferris Wheel?

Following in the great tradition of conceptual plans for Roosevelt Island's Southpoint Park such as the Trilogy project (Curbed named it the Roosevelt Island Tower of Death) and the Roosevelt Island Mermaid, we now bring you the Roosevelt Island Skywheel designed by MUT Architecture, a South Bronx collective. According to Frame Magazine:
... The building is meant to be placed on the southern tip of Roosevelt Island in New York City. Inhabitants arrive with car which can be stored in the residential tower. From there on they can live their lives in this 'city within the city', whether they choose to live, work or relax.

Léo Morand (architect at Mut Architecture) explains the inner workings: 'Paddle wheels are sunk within the powerful changing currents of the East River. They are rotated to force a system of worm-gears into action. On each side of the wheel, the worm gears sync and rotate shafts, which span over 400 feet (almost 122 meters, ed.), extending to the hub of the wheel. A second series of gears translates the force, whichever direction the tidal strait below is flowing, to slowly, precisely rotate the massive structure. This structure attaches all moving components, such as the arms, the gardens, the elevator shafts and the base.'

Image of Roosevelt Island Skywheel from Frame Magazine

Weeee. The Southpoint Park Skywheel certainly looks like more fun than the Kahn/FDR Memorial mausoleum boondoggle!

UPDATE - 11/3- The designers of The Southpoint Park Skywheel add the following:
My name is John Mascaro - Leo Morand and I designed this project. NO, inhabitants do not "arrive with car" - we did not make this statement ANYWHERE to ANYONE, and have no idea where this quote comes from. The transportation options are, hopefully, to be limited to light rail, bicycles, and foot power. Please correct,

...and this project is a collaboration so if you don't mind adding John Mascaro as architect for the credit it would be cool!

3 comments :

Cap'n Transit said...

"Inhabitants arrive with car..." Lovely, so they're going to drive it three quarters of the length of the island to get to this "city within a city"?

Architects.

john said...

My name is John Mascaro - Leo Morand and I designed this project. NO, inhabitants do not "arrive with car" - we did not make this statement ANYWHERE to ANYONE, and have no idea where this quote comes from. The transportation options are, hopefully, to be limited to light rail, bicycles, and foot power. Please correct, Admin.

mut-leo&john said...

...and this project is a collaboration so if you don't mind adding John Mascaro as architect for the credit it would be cool!
thanks admin.
Leo