HERRESHOFF PIER

The Herreshoff Marine Museum lies on the coast in Bristol, RI. With an expansive site, the museum was looking to make the pier an extension of the marine experience. The museum’s primary focus is displaying the manufacturing of boats in the greater Rhode Island area. Continuing their spirit of boat exhibition, the design arose from abstracting the chock of a boat. This structural reinforcement helps guide mooring lines to and from the shore, making it the perfect source of inspiration for a pier installment. Abstracting the chock provided a triangular form that represented a sail, which reiterates the museums focus. To tie the design together, an undulating extruded path was applied to represent a sail flowing in the breeze. The final design uses wood hewn as it was for boats produced in the museum. Hardy and durable, the wood further symbolizes the museum’s efforts to preserve the history of how Rhode Islanders took advantage of having four hundred miles of coastline.