Greenwich South District-Wide Sustainability Vision

New York, NY
Design 2009

Progressive Architecture Award, Urban Development, Architect

This project for a pragmatic yet utopian vision of district-wide sustainability was commissioned by Architecture Research Office as part of the Downtown Alliance’s larger planning initiative for the Greenwich South neighborhood of Lower Manhattan. Based on an analysis of the flows of energy, water, air, food, excrement, and vegetation in the area, the project took two interrelated forms. The first was a narrative that identified the current state, near future, and ideal future of the district, establishing specific metrics and strategies for improving the environmental quality of Greenwich South, such as increased water conservation, building energy retrofits, reduction of automobile traffic, increased pedestrian and bicycle activity, and wetland induction. The second form was a series of design projects that articulated the potential sustainable future. Among these projects were the re-purposing of a parking garage into an ecological center, complete with anaerobic processing of organic waste and a rooftop wetland; a bicycle epicenter that connects to the existing West Side bike path; and the Green Sponge, conceived as an atmospheric filter above the mouth of the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel.

Type

Urban Visions
Sustainable Design

Credits

Client:  Downtown Alliance
Commissioned by:  Architecture Research Office
Project team:  Paul Lewis, Marc Tsurumaki, David J. Lewis; Ryan Welch, Sunhwa Soh
Collaborator:  David White

Publications

"Putting Greenwich Street Back Together." The New York Times