PLY-Shroud
PLY-Shroud is a mixed used theater, art gallery, and Gastronomy center located on the High
line in New York City. The concept behind the design for this project was to create an idea of folded
spaces that are partially hidden from the immediate perception. This idea is approached in many
different methods, both spatially and visually. space is literally and metaphorically folded amongst
itself, to weave the programs and blur the lines between public and private spaces. Two different materials, slate blue brick veneer and folded glass, are woven together to create banding along the inner facade which articulates the program within each of those spaces while not truly revealing its functions. Public access and circulation is also folded, both horizontally in plan and vertically through section. When approaching the building from the highline, the entrance is shrouded and is only revealed when one bends around the corner of the building. This process is continued inside, making the visitors meander up and around the various levels of public and private spaces. On the exterior of the building, covering a majority of the public spaces, is a large draped skin surface that provides conditioning for the large volumes, but also shrouds the building, both from the exterior looking inward, and from the interior looking outward, giving the perceptive illusion of being outside.
*RPI Graduate Research Symposium Project
SITE: Highline, 22nd St. Manhattan, NY
PROFESSOR: Ted Ngai
YEAR: Fall 2016
COURSE: Graduate Design Studio 3 (IDS)
*Selected for Accreditation