SHoP - NYC

it was 100 degrees and sunny. I glanced right to see if there were any cops as i blew through the red light. as i returned my gaze straight ahead, i saw my bike helplessly hurtling towards a 1 foot wide 9 inch deep pothole. steer my bike to try to avoid the hole and i would go flying like a pole vaulter... i braced myself for the worst, kept my wheel straight and miraculously didn't fall. the front tire slammed into the hole and bounced up, hyper extending my wrists in the recoil. later down atlantic ave, with no painted bike lanes, a passing car came within 2 inches of my pedal. at this point i started walking my bike on the sidewalk. i thought i could've died either by heatstroke, pole vault, or car crash that afternoon but i didn't. 

i was biking instead of driving because i didn't want to give up my street parking spot. with covid, all the restaurants in nyc are setting up seating in the middle of the streets like italian plazas (minus the cobblestones, bernini sculptures, and fountains). as a result parking has become scarce forcing unemployed architects to bike rather than drive.

a wrong bike turn on my way back from the computer repair store led me to the SHoP's barclay's center. 11 months prior, i had interviewed in their offices and was offered a position to oversee construction on a project. in hindsight, had i chosen to work for them, i would still have a job toiling away and i would have been too busy to engage in my current stock shenanigans.

the nets' basketball arena had a surprising green roof i never saw before during winter trips to basketball games. like a magnet, the corten steel panels fabricated to the sweeping curved geometry drew me closer till i stood in the oculus. martin luther king's quote, "the time is always right to do what is right" inscription was framed with the blue sky. 

SHoP's entry lobby

SHoP's model airplanes on display

as i crossed the manhattan bridge on the way back, i saw SHoP's Pier 35 project below. Once a vacant storage space that had previously housed snow plows, the pier has been transformed into a park that hovers over the East River. a faceted metal screen which will eventually be overgrown with vines rises up to reveal a back drop of oversized corten steel cladding shingles. between the screen and the cladding, 4 giant galvanized steel swings allow people to enjoy views of the manhattan bridge.