HISTORY, ITS HOW WE LEARN, SO WHY ARE WE SO KEEN ON VISUALLY ERASING IT? IN ARCHITECTURE THERE ARE TWO STANDARD APPROACHES AFTER A DESIGN IS COMPLETE, RENOVATE OR RESTORE. THE ESTUARIUM PROGRAM ALLOWED FOR AN EXCITING OPPORTUNITY TO DEVIATE FROM THESE TWO APPROACHES, USING LAYERS OF AGING TO ACT AS AN IDENTITY AND LEARNING TOOL FOR THE ESTUARIUM. THROUGH TEMPORAL EXPLOITATION, PIER 26 ESTUARIUM ENCOURAGES VISITOR CONTRIBUTION, MAXIMIZES EDUCATIONAL MOMENTS, AND BUILDS AN ONGOING RAPPORT WITH THE NEW YORK CITY COMMUNITY.
FORMALLY, THE DESIGN NEEDED TO MAXIMIZE SURFACE AREA TO CREATE OPPORTUNITIES FOR GROWTH. FOR THE EXTERIOR, NOOKS WERE EXAGGERATED TO ENCOURAGE NATURAL HABITATION. ADDITIONALLY, CABLES DRAWN FROM THE GROUND TO ROOF OVERHANGS WERE PLACED STRATEGICALLY TO CREATE PROTECTIVE LAYERS OF INDIGENOUS GROWTH. THE STANDARD SHEETROCK WALL WAS ELIMINATED IN THIS DESIGN; EACH WALL CONSIST OF VARIED SHELVING, THE WALLS OF CURIOSITY. THESE WALLS ARE MADE TO CONTAIN; CONTAIN RESEARCH, EXPERIMENTS, SPECIMEN, AND EVEN VISITOR CONTRIBUTIONS. PORTIONS OF THE INTERIOR SHELVING SYSTEM PROTRUDE INTO THE EXTERIOR CREATING MORE OPPORTUNITIES FOR GROWTH AND HABITATION. ULTIMATELY, THE WALL OF CURIOSITY IS AN EVER GROWING TOOL FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING, BLURRING THE IDENTITIES BETWEEN INSIDE AND OUT, STUDENT AND TEACHER, ANDNATIVE AND TOURIST.