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RESEARCH: PROBES
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argument: Connecting the cracks of Brooklyn will be achieved by programatic mixes, transportational links, and new layers above, below, or between the layers which are currently cracking Brooklyn.
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site construction: I have recognized five distinct fragmented pieces of Brooklyn: Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn Civic Center, Metrotech, Fulton Street Mall, and Fort Greene Park plus Manhattan. Movement through or between these has been restricted by gaps, fractures or cracks caused by tensions in socioeconomic status, private enclaves, or infrastructure superimposed on the landscape. Movement between some of these sites exists, but there is no place where the movement of people on all the sites overlap to maximize social interaction of Brooklyn residents. There are other uninhabited sites on Brooklyn. These are the forgotten left over spaces caused by the cracks of infrastructure.
strategy: I will use the waterfront as a laboratory. I propose to bridge the cracks in two ways. The cracks caused by socioeconomic status and private enclaves will be bridged by a diverse program for the individual needs of the segregated areas and transportational linkages of cars, buses, tour buses, subways, ferries, joggers, and walkers. The different modes of transportation will bring diverse groups to the site. From these linking points to the destination points and between the overlapping armatures of destination points, social interaction will occur. Meanwhile, the cracks caused by infrastructure will be bridged by the addition and subtraction of layers to the complex city.
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program: The rethought waterfront will include at least two locations for each of the following, so that together they can act as armatures which then overlap:
hike/bike trail: from the Brooklyn Bridge, along the site, connecting to the civic center on each end
recreational activity: both soft and hard terrain
marinas: one for private, recreational use, the other will be mixed with light industry
ferry: one existing for private rental, one public to connect with Wall Street
cultural center: indoor/outdoor theater and rental space in an art park for public, private, and political demonstrations, performances, and exhibitions
commercial space: both with retail, restaurants, and office space, one relating to Montague Street, the other relating to Fulton Street Mall
parking: north of the Manhattan Bridge, at Atlantic Avenue, and dispersed along the site in between.
existing industry: on each end of the site.
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project boundaries: Manhattan to the North, the horizon to the West, Fort Greene Park area to the East, and Atlantic Avenue to the South.
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probe 1
Located above, between, and below the crossing of the Brooklyn Bridge and the levels of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. This probe explores a way of moving through both the vertical and horizontal dimension by using layers as a means to ease the transition over and under infrastructural cracks and other layers within the complexity of the city. Bridges are suspended with the tree canopies above, while columns and tree trunks are blurred into parks below.
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probe 2 Located at the meeting of Montague Street with the piers. This probe looks at a typical condition along the waterfront. It shows infrastructural layering, transportational linkages, and two programmed piers. On one pier an existing warehouse is transformed and converted to meet its dynamic needs, in this case an indoor/outdoor theater space. On the other pier a new structure is erected which defines commercial retail shops. The existing building is radically changed to meet its new needs while maintaining roughly its original form and in most cases recycling original materials. The new building respects the size, scale, and adaptability of its neighbors.
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effects: The effect of this urban design strategy is to provide a place that is uniquely Brooklyn by emphasizing and enhancing the existing to encourage positive interaction of the now segregated Brooklynites and visiting Manhattanites.
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