This was a student project by Micah Stidham, Kevin Stewart, and Aaron Scott for Andrew Cruse and Bart Overly's cousre ARCH 7410 in Autumn 2017. Pixel City Pier is an active aging resort which addresses the growing elderly population. Located in Brooklyn’s Navy Yard, the resort fills in the ground between two piers that were once used for ship building. On this new ground arises a city street grid, at the pedestrian scale, that creates an urban network of housing for the residence of the resort. Because the resort typology accommodates a wide range of stay lengths, there are four housing types spread across the project. To formally differentiate the housing types, pixel resolution is used within the plans, facades, and forms of the units, making their program difference evident across the project. As one moves from the front of the project to the back, near the East river, the resolution of housing become higher and higher, creating a dense micro city with a verity of spaces. Weaving within the confines of the grid blocks, an amenities bar houses a variety of activities for the resort residents. The material and scale of the building, which is lifted off the ground, provides a contrast to the housing of the project. Sunken below the ground, referencing the surrounding dry-dock typology, is a public park which connects the people of Brooklyn to the water front. Although the amenities building and the public park dry-dock stretch over multiple city blocks, the street grid of the project is continuous as it bridges over the park and under the amenities building. When visitors come to Pixel City Pier, they enter into a micro city which offers a variations of urban experiences while creating a great sense of community.
