The ss United States is among the most egregious examples of endangered cultural heritage in its namesake nation today. Built in 1952 to ferry passengers and cargo between New York and Europe, she remains the fastest ocean liner ever constructed and the largest built in the United States. The arrival of commercial jet aircraft shortly after her completion ended the evolutionary trajectory for ships of this kind, and the United States was withdrawn from service in 1969. Though listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999, today the ship lies dormant at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. One of the most significant ocean liners ever constructed, today she is also one of the very last to have escaped the scrap heap.

This thesis puts forth a strategy to preserve this historic ship. Despite her forlorn state, the ss United States embodies a huge potential. She presents an opportunity to make good use of a currently underutilized waterfront property, to improve public access to the shoreline, and to celebrate New York’s rich heritage of maritime commerce. The object of this thesis is to identify precedents that have accomplished similar goals, and to establish a best case scenario for the location, programming and design treatment of the ship that will capitalize on the unrealized potential of this important historic and cultural resource.

● A Strategy to Preserve the ss United States (9.9mb, low resolution PDF).

● Bound, printed volumes of the thesis can be ordered at this link. (NOTE: These volumes are available for purchase "at cost." Payment is made directly to the printer and the author receives no profit for any sales.)

● Thesis Abstract at Columbia University GSAPP.

● Columbia University GSAPP / Historic Preservation Theses Homepage.

© T.E. Rinaldi, 2010