This
enormous building looks like a marine invertebrate has devoured the
intersection of two major train lines in Queens. It's part of a
futuristic proposal to convert this transit hub into high density
housing and live-work spaces. The thing is so crazy it just might work.
Over at The Atlantic Cities, Jenny Xie describes the project, dreamt up by designers Chad Kellogg and Matt Bowles:
To develop their concept, the pair picked the intersection of the Long Island Railroad and MTA 7 Train in the New York City borough of Queens as their test site. According to the project description, this intervention is an opportunity to "draw the energy of Manhattan out into the four other boroughs without disrupting existing land use."
The proposed structure would offer convenient access to Manhattan as well as amenities for work, play, and rest — all within a pedestrian zone. Sound tubes, as employed in Rem Koolhaas's IIT McCormick Tribune Campus Center, would negate noise from the trains. And instead of concrete, the typical material found in the city's mid-rise residential buildings, Urban Alloy Towers would use glass and steel. This choice maximizes cantilever possibilities and enables facade panels to be mass-customized for day lighting and shading.
