2024 - Core Studio
with Soraya Ammann
David Moon, Critic
The Hackensack riverside is a site that has been massively reshaped by extensive histories of damming, dredging, and construction hidden just underneath the river’s banks, with the viaduct work accompanying Secaucus Junction cutting off the water entirely. This project aims to leverage these forgotten underpinnings and reuse this overlooked periphery, connecting Secaucus's fragmented populations through park and greenway programs interspersed with multi-generational housing, education centers, and cultural spaces in a way that fosters community within a burgeoning population of immigrant families.
Throughout the mile-long site, we use the language of play as both mediator and connector, providing access and inviting people of all ages to traverse the landscape. The site is organized by a series of winding walkways, with sites of play acting as the point of connection as they overlap and intersect. Below, a network of recreational wetlands and swales weave between the existing piles, allowing the site to function as a resilient buffer for the neighborhood as a whole.