Watermark

Swimming / Walking Pool

Advanced Studio 4 . Spring 99
Critic Karla Rothstein
The body shifts its point of reference from the gravitational pull of the
earth to the currents of the Hudson River.

To the interior of the sloping structures protected from the currents, an outdoor swimming pool holds filtered river water. An indoor pool is divided from the river water by a transparent wall. An outdoor swimmer observes the water level of the indoor pool above his eye level. The indoor
swimmer underwater is at eye level with the outdoor swimmer.

Buoyant structures afloat on the Hudson River rise and fall with the tides. Grounded walls filter river water and break the current. Along the inclined surfaces the river ebbs in and out. One navigates by choosing to walk, swim, or both. the water occurs at varying levels relative to the visitor: from a reflective pool of ankle-deep water to a passage way that descends below water level.

Research

Material study of the respiratory system: the differential in the resistance of materials causes surfaces in tension. notation drawing of model is reorganized according to the control points where tension is applied.

Material Qualities of the Lung: rigid airways and collapsible air sacs, or alveoli, respond differently to pressure.

Breathing Apparatus: The human respiratory system deforms when a change in external pressure creates an imbalance within the system. Higher external pressure must be internally compensated by an increase in volume or density of air.

Pressure from various directions transfers to the membranes as tension and compression.

Site

The view of the river and the palisades on the other sides is breath-taking. Contrary to the impression that the river is lethally toxic ducks are seen
paddling across.

Inwood Hill Park: the last remaining indigenous trees on the island of Manhattan. The dilapidated park is bisected by Henry Hudson Parkway. access to the river from the neighborhood, ‘Little Dominican Republic,’ is through an obscure gate to the south. The northern half of the park is deserted.

Proposal