DEFINED BY CONTOUR choreographs movement and program through continuous ramping generating a composition of fluid spaces and outdoor environments. As there are no central cores or staircases, the merging of gradual slopes provide circulation throughout the pier and ferry terminals. DEFINED BY CONTOUR allows for visitors to engage these unique visual moments and catch glimpses of contrasting activities.
Three primary ramps provide circulation throughout the pier and ferry terminals dictating what becomes enclosed public and private space. As the ramps flow in and out of each other, ultimately creating one continuous ramp, the pace at which elevation changes determines the array of activity. The offset of the floor slab curvatures allows for enclosures to reside in the public realm, whereas the outskirts of the floor slabs create unique individualized enclosures to inhabit highly specific private program.
Traffic circulation resides along the side of DEFINED BY CONTOUR, with the ability of cars to board ferries and for people to merge into the public realm when the two conditions collide.
DEFINED BY CONTOUR produces a unique public realm by abstracting programmatic boundaries and user groups, and by blurring their individual identities into new relationships on the outskirts of each program. This is different from traditional ferry terminals because it engulfs the viewer in a distinct series of public and programmatic spaces, due to the frequency at which the floor slabs ramp onto one another.
The upper two floor slabs ultimately become one viewing area over the bottom floor slab, whereas the bottom floor slab resides towards the east end of the pier. DEFINED BY CONTOUR allows the ability to watch over and view other activities from afar, and encourages new individualized relationships of generic everyday activities to be viewed in new abstracted ways.