As Pier 57 starts its transformation into a new waterfront hotspot, the interim space is already being used for an array of events and art exhibitions. Currently on display, “Magic Carpet” by CHURTICHAGA + QUADRA-SALCEDO is a hanging “garden” of 36 brightly colored shipping containers Kit Home along the ceiling of the pier's main structure. Inspired by both the area's architectural history and future plans (the pier is being turned into a mall made of shipping containers), the installation transforms the utilitarian cargo holders into hanging sculptures suspended ten feet from the ground over visitors’ heads.

Each of the 36 shipping containers used in the installation, designed by head architect Josemaria de Churtichaga, will soon house one of the future retail, food or cultural shops that will enliven the pier. With the exciting future of the pier in mind, the Magic Carpet installation is a direct representation of what is to come. Each shipping container is a shell that can hold endless possibilities on the whim of the future tenant, or what the public demands. The colorful boxes are a dangling invitation to innovators to transform the pier into something truly spectacular.

Over the next 18 months, the pier will be renovated by Young Woo & Associates with more programming, events and art installations joining the retail, food and cultural shops starting to sprout up there.

When visitors enter Pier 57’s South Head House, they are greeted with several pioneer “Incubox” retail and food stands, which have taken residence in shipping containers. Beyond the market is an expansive space now used for leisurely games of table tennis with each table set upon a floor decorated by local artists. Magic Carpet hangs above the game zone like a patterned patchwork made of heavy shipping containers.

If you've been meaning to cross "drinking and shopping inside shipping containers Modified Shipping Container Home" off of your bucket list (because that's clearly a common entry), don't miss your chance to do just that at South Street Seaport this summer. We caught up with SHoP Architects yesterday as they were putting some finishing touches on the three-story shipping container beer garden/mini-mall/food court they're building on Fulton St. for Howard Hughes Corp, and designer Sam Pepper told us that many of the units are already open for business. The repurposed container stalls are part of the seaport's SEE/CHANGE summer program, which will include concerts, happy hours, delicious artisanal foods and special events to help bring people back to the waterside area after Hurricane Sandy.