"Triple Island" sculpture

Triple Island had a very specific aesthetic intention, and it was to imagine only building with leftover materials, how you would build, and what structures could look like. Partnering with a coalition of advocacy organizations, such as the Hester Street Collaborative and Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, the project was less an experiment in individualistic self-sufficiency than it was in the communal sharing of local resources.

Triple Island was located on Pier 42 in Lower Manhattan. It acted as a temporary habitat and public artwork, Triple Island was an approach to living in a future New York replete with an acceleration of environmental challenges. Participants addressed the importance of creating a regenerative living system that provided public food, water, energy, shelter, and water for its inhabitants. 

Triple Island was part of Paths to Pier 42. Paths to Pier 42 was made possible by The Surdna Foundation and the New York Community Trust and by generous donations from Build it Green NYC, New York Restoration Project and Solar One. In addition, this project was funded by an agreement awarded by the Environmental Protection Agency to the New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Commission in partnership with the New York-New Jersey Harbor & Estuary Program.

Partner Organizations:

• CAAAV: Organizing Asian Communities

• Good Old Lower East Side

• Hester Street Collaborative

• Lower East Side Ecology Center

• Lower Manhattan Cultural Council

• Two Bridges Neighborhood Council