Rahul Sharma (Editor)

The Shed (Hudson Yards)

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Website
  
theshed.org

Director
  
Alex Poots

The Shed (Hudson Yards) httpsstatic01nytcomimages20141125artsJP

Location
  
15 Hudson Yards, 30th Street between 10th Avenue and 11th Avenue, New York, NY 10001

Public transit access
  
New York City Subway:   trains at 34th Street New York City Bus: M11 NB at Tenth Avenue M12 (SB at Eleventh Avenue, NB at 12th Avenue) M34 SBS at 34th Street

The Shed (formerly known as Culture Shed and Hudson Yards Cultural Shed) is the name of an independent non-profit cultural organization, as well as its eponymous six-story building under development on the far west side of Manhattan, being built within the Hudson Yards Redevelopment Project, adjacent to the northern leg of the High Line and in the Chelsea gallery district. Scheduled to open in 2019, the Shed will host activities in a wide range of cultural areas. Construction began in mid-2015. The CEO/Artistic Director for the Shed is Alex Poots.

Contents

The Shed (Hudson Yards) The Shed Hudson Yards The Shed Building

Rezoning

The Shed (Hudson Yards) A Look At The Hudson Yards Culture Shed Coming In 2017 Curbed NY

In January 2005, the New York City Council approved the rezoning of about 60 blocks from 28th to 43rd Streets; in 2009, after the stadium failed to win state approval, the West Side Yard was similarly rezoned. As rezoned, the Hudson Yards area will have 25,800,000 square feet (2,400,000 m2) of Class A office space, 20,000 housing units, two million square feet of hotel space, 750-seat public school, one million square feet of retail and more than 20 acres of public open space, which includes building a subway extension of the 7 train to help encourage development of the Hudson Yards area.

The Shed (Hudson Yards) City Allots 50 Million to Favored Arts Project The New York Times

In May 2010, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) leased the air rights over the rail yard for 99 years, at a price of US$1 billion to a joint venture of Related Companies and Oxford Properties Group, which will build a platform above both the eastern and western portions of the yard on which to construct the buildings, including what was then known as the Culture Shed.

The Shed (Hudson Yards) Hudson Yards Culture Shed Stonebridge

In April 2013, the Related/Oxford joint venture obtained a $475 million construction loan from parties including Barry Sternlicht's Starwood Property Group and luxury retailer Coach. The financing deal was unique in several aspects, including the fact that it included a construction mezzanine loan, that Coach was a lender on both the debt and equity sides, and that the MTA helped create the "severable lease" structure that allowed for the loans.

Funding and land ownership

The Shed (Hudson Yards) A Look At The Hudson Yards Culture Shed Coming In 2017 Curbed NY

As part of the Hudson Yards rezoning plan, the Culture Shed, a relatively small six-story building compared to the Hudson Yards skyscrapers, will sit at the south side of the Hudson Yards development site, four blocks away from the newly constructed 34th Street subway station. The City retains ownership of the land on which the Culture Shed will be built and has provided Capital Grant funding for the project. Funding for the Culture Shed was secured from the City in July 2013.

Construction

The Shed (Hudson Yards) NEW YORK Hudson Yards Culture Shed Pro SkyscraperCity

The Culture Shed broke ground in 2015 and is scheduled to open in 2019, though construction will be complete in 2018. The name of the space was changed to simply "the Shed" in 2016.

The design of the Shed's building is a collaboration between two New York City architectural firms: Diller Scofidio + Renfro and Rockwell Group. The Shed Organization, a nonprofit organization, was formed in 2012 to oversee construction of the Shed, and eventually will run the building when it opens in 2019.

Construction of the Shed, which will be over the West Side Yards, began after caissons were sunk to support a platform over the tracks. The platform supporting the towers, comprising 16 bridges, was completed in late 2014. The construction of the building itself began in mid-2015.

Although previous reports stated that the building would open in 2017 or 2018, it will not open until 2019 as of an April 2015 update.

Design

The Hudson Rail Yards area is about 26 acres (110,000 m2). The Shed, at the base of Hudson Yards Tower D, is a 170,000-square-foot (16,000 m2) visual arts and performing arts center is to be located at the area's southern edge, and there is also to be an exhibition space in the Shed. The structure will include 40,000-square-foot (3,700 m2) of column-free exhibition space, 25,000 square feet (2,300 m2) of "museum-quality" space, a theater with seating for up to 500 people, and an expandable, 16,000-square-foot (1,500 m2) shed that uses industrial crane technology, allowing the space to expand and contract to accommodate many events and audiences. Viewers of indoor shows and exhibitions will be charged admission.

The Shed's main entrance will be on 30th Street under the High Line; secondary entrances will be located on 31st Street, atop the platform. There will be two galleries indoors on the first and second levels. On the third level will be a flexible space that can be used for performances or exhibits. The building's roof features a retractable shed, which can close and open within 15 minutes; when the shed is retracted, the open-air plaza will be a publicly accessible outdoor space. The Shed will be directly adjacent to 15 Hudson Yards and the High Line.

Events

The Shed is planned to host many cultural events including for art, performance, film, design, food, fashion, and new combinations of cultural content. At least one event, New York Fashion Week, is considering moving to the Shed for all of its exhibitions.

In 2014, Alex Poots was named the CEO/Artistic Director of the Shed.

Criticism

Board members on Manhattan Community Board 4 stated that the Shed "could lack class", that the word "culture" is too vague for the name of such an exhibition space, and that problems could arise when a 20,000 square feet (1,900 m2) space is closed off twice a year for two weeks (adding up to a month annually) for New York Fashion Week. Community board members also state that when the retractable roof is closed, 20,000 square feet (1,900 m2) of open public space would be lost. Additionally, some expressed concerns that the large value of the Capital Grant allocation—US$50 million—was too much money to award to a building that did not yet exist. However, overall, the shed has drawn mixed public reviews, as well as high praise from numerous art institutions.

The Shed (Hudson Yards)

References

The Shed (Hudson Yards) Wikipedia