ISOLATION, both the name of the project and the feeling that the project invokes, is the truest expression of the history of the island.
By definition, ISOLATION stresses detachment from others and the themes and experiences that those who have been sent to the island have endured, New York's unwanted and undesirables were dumped on Roosevelt Island and it was here that they experienced isolation in different spaces such as the asylum, the prison, and the quarantine hospital. The museum expresses this theme through rough-hewn materials such as concrete and corten steel, limited daylight through deliberate gaps in the façade, and controlled views of Manhattan, the Island, and the memorial.
By definition, ISOLATION stresses detachment from others and the themes and experiences that those who have been sent to the island have endured, New York's unwanted and undesirables were dumped on Roosevelt Island and it was here that they experienced isolation in different spaces such as the asylum, the prison, and the quarantine hospital. The museum expresses this theme through rough-hewn materials such as concrete and corten steel, limited daylight through deliberate gaps in the façade, and controlled views of Manhattan, the Island, and the memorial.
ISOLATION has two masses that extrude out into the water. The furthermost mass is the truest expression of detachment and is the location of the main exhibition space. The exhibition features distinct, alternating expressions of isolation: the expression of isolation as an interior aspect, being separated and ignored by everything else, and the expression of isolation as an exterior aspect, being the focus of attention. This is important in comparison to the experience of the residents of the island who had been sent there to the prisons, hospitals, or insane asylums. These spaces are aligned to the smallpox hospital to create a strong connection to the island and the past experiences that the island holds. ISOLATION also creates a secondary detached space between itself and the smallpox hospital, in which there is a memorial located in the water to all those who have endured the pain associated with the island.
The exterior memorial is shown as a series of rusted obelisks dedicated to all the unwanted and undesirables that came to Blackwell Island. Despite being a criminal, mentally ill or infected with smallpox, an individual never left the island the same because of the horrible conditions that they faced. Either they succumbed to their illnesses and died, or they lived a life full of misery and unhappiness. The water and the beating waves represent the harsh conditions that the residents faced that always pulled them down. The corten steel walls of varying heights represent the undesirables who came onto the island, each different in their own reason for being there, but all being worn down in the end. The deteriorating heights show that even if an individual came with a sound mind, they never left the same.