Thirty grand luminescent fish “swimming” in a monumental nautilus shell glow from the SeaGlass Carousel, the new permanent cultural attraction at The Battery, a 25-acre public park at the southern tip of Manhattan in New York City.

After more than 10 years in development, SeaGlass brings art, architecture and music to the park and has attracted over 100,000 riders since it opened to the public on August 20.

Transported Through History
Conceived by the award-winning WXY Architecture + Urban Design, the spiraling pavilion of glass and steel inspired by the chambered nautilus recalls The Battery’s history as the original home of the New York Aquarium.

Instead of “riding” the fish as one would on a typical carousel, visitors “become” the fish. Unique among carousels worldwide, SeaGlass has no center post and as all mechanicals lie under the floor, riders sit within the figures rather than on top of them, enabling full visibility across and around the shell to the Woodland Gardens which surround the carousel.

SeaGlass is an ecologically themed collaboration of art and design combining digital projection with audio. Riders hear amplified “ennvironmental noise” made by the moving parts of the structure alongwith original musical scores recorded live by New York City musicians.

A Multi-Media Aquatic Experience
The spiraling structure is constructed with stainless steel and glass, forming a shell whose interior provides a white screen for the Carousel’s underwater projections. Designed by the George Tsypin Opera Factory,  the glass fish figures–as large as 9 ½ feet wide and 13 ½ feet tall–are made with electrified glass technology, or “Smart Glass.” The glass changes from clear to opaque as the ride begins, then dims to capture the experience of diving under water.

As the carousel spins, the interior digital projections cast moving images on the building’s shell, animating the voyage to glide riders through the sights and sounds of a 360° aquatic experience.

Visiting the SeaGlass Carousel
The Conservancy has extended operating hours for the SeaGlass Carousel:
From Monday, December 21, through Saturday, January 2, SeaGlass will be open 10 a.m. – 10 p.m. In January and February, SeaGlass will be open on Saturdays and Sundays, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m., weather permitting. SeaGlass will also be open on Monday, January 18 (Martin Luther King, Jr. Day), and Presidents’ Week, February 15-19.

About The Battery and Battery Conservancy
The Battery is one of the oldest public open spaces in continuous use in New York City. Created in 1994 as a not-for-profit educational corporation to rebuild and revitalize The Battery and its major landmark, Castle Clinton National Monument, The Battery Conservancy honors and preserves its heritage by rebuilding the park with sustainable design and ecological practices while respecting and interpreting its rich history. The Battery’s landscape design protects the natural environment while meeting the needs of a growing residential population, crowds of commuters, and millions of visitors who come to visit the Statue of Liberty and experience New York Harbor.

The Battery Conservancy spearheads this project in partnership with City, State and Federal governments and with individuals, corporations and foundations in the private sector.