lieu
Bushwick Inlet, Williamsburg, Brooklyn

mission
International competition (schematic design)

category
Mixed Use

The project is located in a once abandoned, formerly industrial harbor site. It proposes a multi-layered, mixed-use setting. The idea was to exploit in full the inherent advantages of the local environment and to take into account the needs of the multi-ethnic, diverse population.

In order to create a dynamic and animated public space, pedestrians and their comfort were given priority. All parking takes place underneath the buildings. This turns the site, for the most part, into a low traffic area with an open and informal atmosphere crossed by a network of paths for pedestrians and cyclists. The promenade or boardwalk (roof of the building), the gently sloping topography of which is elevated from the street level, offers visitors dramatic harbor views and a panoramic backdrop of the Manhattan skyline.

This design, the uninterrupted U-shaped landform, also reconnects the urban core to the revitalized waterfront, while an open-air amphitheater (artificial hill) provides a space for play, outdoor activities and performances. This arrangement attempts to embrace Brooklyn’s energy and create a mix of sports, arts, landscape, architecture and infrastructure.

The main proposal was a building for the kayak center. Rather than create an isolated aingle-use object, the goal was to develop a full-fledged and complete city quarter with a mix of functions, transforming Bushwick Inlet into both a destination and a landmark.

The project brings together the kayak center, art studios and the general public with all of their various/disparate desires. The angled, reinforced two-floor section building is an open, inviting public facility that interacts positively with the surrounding urban space.

All areas and services inside and outside the kayak center were designed with this motif of interaction and inclusion in mind. Thus, the boat construction area and the boat launch in the kayak center merge with the sports tracks, art studios, restaurant, park and play area to form a single continuum of facilities.

The entire ‘interior program’ is placed underneath the ramp, so the roof doubles as walkable, playable, usable space on the exterior – an active civic space.

The promenade suite is 925 m long and 9,5 m wide, and functions as a public pedestrian and bicycle route at the waterfront.