Date of Award
Spring 5-31-2025
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master in Interior Architecture [Adaptive Reuse]
Department
Interior Architecture
First Advisor
Jeffrey Katz
Second Advisor
Eduardo Benamore Duarte
Third Advisor
Can Altay
Abstract
Climate change is rapidly altering seasonal patterns, particularly in the Northeastern U.S., where winter temperatures have risen by approximately 3°F over the past century. As a result, infrastructure designed to support communities during winter conditions, such as road salt storage facilities, faces obsolescence. New York State, the largest consumer of road salt in North America, has 40 salt storage facilities in New York City alone, all of which are sited along interconnected waterways. Though often overlooked, this network of structures forms a critical part of the city’s response to winter weather. As these structures face a paradigm shift, their future is uncertain—what will become of them?
This design proposal focuses specifically on the quonset hut typology, the most prevalent form of salt storage facility in New York City, and investigates its potential for adaptive reuse. Approached through a didactic lens, the project brings visibility to the environmental and human health consequences of road salt dispersion, a practice that has quietly persisted for nearly five decades. It asks: how do these invisible systems shape our landscapes and our bodies?
Looking ahead, the proposal takes an anticipatory stance, exploring how these structures might evolve in response to changing climate conditions. Rather than allowing obsolescence to dictate their fate, it seeks to reverse it—reprogramming these utilitarian shells for public use.
This redesign envisions a network of reimagined salt storage facilities, each repurposed for a distinct public function—an exhibition space, a dining space, and a performance space. All sited along the east river and accessible by ferry, these sites form an interconnected sequence of experiences, encouraging visitors to engage with climate awareness, culture, and community through a single-day journey across New York City’s waterways.
Central to the design is a commitment to working with the components that already exist: the waterproof canvas, steel supports, and concrete foundations that define the quonset huts will be retained and reinterpreted. By limiting the introduction of new materials, the project not only minimizes environmental impact but also honors the material and structural logic of the original salt sheds.
In transforming these overlooked industrial remnants into spaces for gathering, learning, and artistic expression, this thesis challenges conventional cycles of extraction, use, and abandonment. Instead, it proposes a model of adaptive reuse that is both environmentally conscious and socially engaged—a quiet but powerful call to notice what’s been there all along.
Recommended Citation
Beckner, Mallorie, "Post Salt: Adaptive Architecture for an Uncertain Climate" (2025). Masters Theses. 1413.
https://digitalcommons.risd.edu/masterstheses/1413
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