engleski

Flood Courts, Gowanus, New York

CONTEXT While Gowanus canal needs urban re- design in order to be a purified and vivid urban landscape, the end of the canal is characterized by its inaccessibility. Instead of a public deck along the water there is a combined sewer overflow and a public block-void without connection to the canal. Surrounding area is in overall change into a mixed-use neighborhood but too slowly to have a greater impact on environment, ecosystem and landscape of Gowanus, thus this area is still pedestrian unfriendly. How to act in these kind of conditions to improve the neighborhood and public spaces within one city block? CONCEPT SCENARIOS: proposed program was interpreted and arranged to accommodate a multitude of community activities ; every space has a variety of possible uses. WATER WORKS: water is used as an element to articulate or even stimulate scenarios and to define a new urban typology. How to design a community center and retention facility as a whole? IDEAS Water is the mediator between the purification facility and community, sport or other activities. A reduction of canal`s water pollution is the first step in transforming the block area into an active participant of water management solution. It is followed by water purification and finally usage. We suggest an infrastructural building typology combining: 1 - mechanical purification of contained water in the retention facility underneath the pool and court spaces, 2 - rainwater accumulation on water usage deck which changes through time by will and needs, 3 - multifunctional community space and mixed use edge. Pool / waterscape with a retention facility as an infrastructural and structural base is the proposed example of how water can be used by the community to make the canal an urban landscape for the future image of Gowanus. How can the space change? RESULT The pool becomes a dominant theme and all outdoor courts can be filled with water. They are situated above the ground in order to become a world of its own unlike the ground floor which is an extension of street life reflecting the city grid system. The upper deck can be used as one huge pool or , using sliding partitions, separated in different combinations.It can also be entirely empty creating a space for various activities, depending on the season (sundeck, ice rink, square, outdoor cinema, skate-park...) CONCLUSION Hoping that Gowanus canal can one day become a story of lost and regained wetland area - the pool-waterscape can become a strong part of the city grid in the future. Proposed typology is not just a building, but rather an urban topography of activities. Like a machine, it generates new public space, animating the community to gravitate to it and fulfill it with meanings.

New York ; Brooklyn ; Gowanus ; Water_Works ; waterfront ; Community Programming

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