"Ah, Venice!"

The island Barry and Diane built: $170 million futuristic park on the Hudson set to be bankrolled by billionaire Barry Diller and his wife Diane von Furstenberg

• Pier 55 will be a 2.7-acre park built on an undulating platform jutting about 180-feet into the Hudson at West 14th St
• Look more like an island than a pier and will sit atop 341 mushroom-shaped concrete columns that will range in height from 70 feet above the water to 15 feet above - roughly the minimum required post-Hurricane Sandy
• The park's three venues will host free and low-cost arts events and performances under the direction of Oscar-winning producer Scott Rudin
• It will replace the narrow and crumbling Pier 54, which is where the steamship Carpathia brought survivors of the sunken Titanic 102 years ago
• The majority of the funding, some $140 million will be provided by billionaire Barry Diller and his fashion designer wife Diane von Furstenberg

By David Mccormack for MailOnline

New York’s latest spectacular riverfront attraction looks set to be a $170 million island park and open-air performance space on the Hudson River.

The grand scheme, called Pier 55, was announced on Monday and the majority of the funding for the project will be provided by billionaire Barry Diller and his fashion designer wife Diane von Furstenberg.

The 2.7-acre park will be built on an undulating platform jutting about 180-feet into the Hudson at West 14th Street, not far from the lower end of the highly popular High Line urban park.

   

An artist's rendering shows the proposed park and performance space to be known as Pier 55, in the Hudson River on the lower west side of New York. The park will be built on an undulating platform jutting about 180-feet into the river

 

Pier 55 will look more like an island than a pier and will sit atop 341 concrete columns that will range in height from 70 feet above the water to 15 feet above - roughly the minimum required post-Hurricane Sandy

The undulating form is also an attempt to address environmental issues. It will allow more sunlight to come through for fish in an area that has been designated a marine sanctuary.

Two pedestrian walkways from a widened West Street esplanade will take visitors to the free-to-all park which has been designed by British firm Heatherwick Studio and landscape architect Mathews Nielsen.

"New York has always reminded me of Venice," says  von Furstenberg in a press release. "so I am happy the time has come to properly honor its waterways."

Damien's note: Title for post is from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, for you non-nerds out there.