The Shed: A building on wheels in New York City | Hacker News Reader

The Shed: A building on wheels in New York City

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21 pointsmelenaboija17 comments

As this video shows, it's just an outer shell that's on wheels, not a building.

https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=4117407177bffc2f&q=nyc...

The architects' page contains that video and also another one of the completed thing actually working: https://dsrny.com/project/the-shed

I initially imagined that the shell could be used to actually expand the space of a venue inside the fixed building, but it looks like it doesn't work that way (or only in a very limited way). But still, all in all it's an interesting idea, and using rail technology is a nice nod to what's going on below the new buildings (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Side_Yard). Also, thanks to the low friction of steel wheels on a steel rail, it takes surprisingly little power to move this huge structure.

It’s interesting how context can change the perception of a system. Technologically, the Shed isn’t anything special - it’s more or less the same as a typical retractable roof at a sports stadium - but it feels novel because it’s on the ground right in front of you and not tucked away hundreds of feet above.

I was indeed something more in the line of this, where a building was excavated, put on rails, and moved 60m in order to make way for an extension of a train station:

https://youtu.be/dEZ-AantPaY?si=9n6SdBYowo1HoXuD

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Oerlikon_-_%27Gleis_9%2...

My opinion: the Shed’s outer shell was very expensive to build, and it’s really gimmicky. It’s one of these things that architects do to try and stand out, but in terms of design, it’s just completely stupid.

According to wikipedia it cost half a billion USD [1]. I agree that it's cool, but yeah, that's a lot to be able to convert less than half an acre into a patio.

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shed_(arts_center)

I can't find relevant info, but I'm cynically assuming there's some zoning shenanigans going on here to setback the actual building to create a "public space" in exchange for selling air rights to the (or some) adjacent tower and then build this rolling shed to reclaim said public space for for-profit events to double dip. Which looks like is happening at least 1/12 a year for New York Fashion week on top of other ticketed events.

>Accept Personalization cookies to view the content.

What fresh hell is this on the images?

The article starts:

> It’s not certain when or where the first wheel was made.

Nope, fuck that, I'm out. What an awful start.

Yeah, the intro is a bit of a stretch, and the article would be better off without it. They should have included a video instead. The rest of the text is surprisingly informative, though.

I saw the same opening line and groaned.

There is a video at the top though.

There is a video at the top though.

Not on my screen, there isn't. There's a placeholder where a video might be, but all I see is "Accept Personalization cookies to view the content."

Yeah, piss off with that, needy web page.

If you turn off your ice maker, the fridge won't make ice.

This is closer to "If you don't open your door, your fridge won't make ice"

I'm quite amused. I went to a listening event at the Sonic Sphere there. I assumed the wheels on the outside of the building were just for decoration :D

What did you think of the sound?

The sound was pretty great imo

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