New Way Design Group - The Living Gowanus Gowanus by Design: Water_Works January 2012 Michael Cavanagh Emily Lubahn Sean Walsh Julie Welch Michael Yoken
The Living Gowanus This New Way proposal employs ecological design solutions, draws heavily upon the work of John Todd, and recognizes prior work of the many designers, students, engineers and experts who have grappled over the past few years with the complex challenges that the Gowanus site poses. We propose an ecological infrastructure for the site and surrounding area that actively supports the community and increases health and vitality in the land, water and community over time.
Canal
Public Art in the form of timeline murals and diagrams of the geological and human settlement layers underground and aboveground on the site can provide historical context and engage the community in dialogue around responsible public works, water conservation, and the healthy ecological evolution of the canal and surrounding area.
The new community center will be a hub providing vital services, including multi-generational educational and stewardship opportunities specific to the neighborhood and canal context. The center’s programs will build upon the strength and work already undertaken by the organizations and individuals in the area. The center will contain all elements required by the design guidelines. Additional well-suited programs could include: *rooftop farms and farmer’s market; *nutrition and food education center; *job/career training in sustainable industries; *youth leadership programs; *internships/educational programs; *programs, research, and tours regarding context, history, and sustainability using site-features like living machine, green infrastructure, and historic timelines etched and painted onto various spaces. Full community participation in the design process for the center and park are essential. Soliciting potential users’ contributions maximizes utility, economy, and empowerment. Local groups such as neighborhood and block councils, associations, and organizations will be included; multiple methods will be used to ensure maximum participation, such as recurring public charrettes.
Skateboard Area
There are existing municipal Living Machine examples in the U.S. that can be referenced. The Burlington VT. Welcome Center is a relevant example for the Thomas Green Park Site. The system cleans 80,000 gallons of sewage per day, which is an amount typically generated by 1600 residential users. Compared to conventional waste water treatment systems, the Living Machine costs less financially and ecologically. The on-site Living Machine can be integrated into the lobby of the community center and easily connected to the various grey and black water systems on site and will provide immense educational opportunities for the community and the city.
Play Area 1 becomes Ice Rink in Winter Christopher Alexander, writer and practitioner of community-focused design said, “A pre-laid out Master Plan makes people [feel] they are merely cogs in someone else’s machine...[when the users do the planning], the result is a genuine improvement in design...because the designers will be the future users of the facility...”
Pool
We propose sidewalk etchings for the timeline diagrams, and murals on the loading dock and handball courts designed by local artists and youth in the neighborhood.
S. Walsh Fisherville Mill Canal Restoration EcoMachine 2012
THE NEW COMMUNITY CENTER
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Phytoremediation Islands
Site design and construction will be completed from a whole-systems approach at every step. All will comply with the guidelines regarding, and will become certified in the highest industryrespected standards for ecological and social sustainability. Standards that will be met or exceeded include: - Sustainable Sites Initiative (Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center + University of Austin) - High Performance Landscape Guidelines (NYC DPR + Design Trust for Public Space) - LEED Platinum certification or Living Building Challenge certified (LBC).
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A look at early maps shows the original form of the tidal wetland that has been highly developed to become the Gowanus Canal and neighborhood. Understanding the historical layers upon which we all reside can help the community shape the future of the neighborhood as it evolves into a healthier ecological existence.
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www.gowanusbydesign.org/competitions, 2013
Addressing current social, ecological, and economic necessities of this site through the lens of anticipatory, whole systems design provides an opportunity to synergistically connect seemingly disparate public works systems with one another in order to reverse the toxic legacies created by our industrial past.
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PROTEAN LAYERS:
A LIVING MACHINE wastewater treatment system is recommended for the Community Center and swimming pool facility grey and black water systems. The Living Machine system is a series of translucent tanks filled with live plants, grasses, algae, shrimp, snails and a wide range of microorganisms and bacteria. Each tank contains a different miniecosystem designed to eat or break down waste and produce clean water. Treated water is also suitable for reuse on site for landscape irrigation.
Wading Pool
Basketball Half-Courts
Rain Garden - Queen Anne, Seattle, WA
Vegetated Swales Community Center Existing Playground
www.gowanusbydesign.org/competitions, 2013
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Underground CSO Retention Tanks
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Pool Amenities & Storage Buildings
We propose the use of phytoremediation islands in the canal, using plants to mitigate contamination. The Gowanus Canal Conservancy has successfully implemented several types of phytoremediation islands using recycled materials for the structure and salt marsh grass as the vegetation. A John Todd Ecological Design canal restoration program in Grafton, MA is using a system of remediation islands connected with an on-land living machine containing remediation tanks and mycoremediation bins to filter the and clean the canal water that we can replicate with their permission and advice. These islands could be constructed at the park and installed at the canal. Phytoremediation is a key element within the ‘Living Machine’ system.
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Jamaica Bay, Queens, NY Google Image 2013 Handball Courts
E. Lubahn 2011
Example of Vertical Hydroponic Growing System
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PHYTOREMEDIATION ISLANDS
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Indoor Offices areas above Pool Storage
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www.gowanuscanalconservancy.org
Vegetated Swales Rain Gardens around buildings
RETENTION FACILITY The new CSO retention center provides a relief valve diverting stormwater from the pumping station and the canal. it renews the opportunity for stormwater as a resource to be stored, cleaned and regenerated into the hydrological cycle. Combined sewer overflow retention facility: - 4 mg Retention capacity storage tanks below grade - 2 Story structure, first story set half in grade to minimize building height - Capacity for large storm events over 1-inch/ hour to retain first 20% cso overflow from rh-034 sewershed - Reduces cso overflow by 70% when combined with other planned sewer-system infrastructure upgrades - Facility provides public research and education
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We recommend National Grid treat the soil removed from site by phytoremediation or mycoremediation, mitigating contaminants with fungi, or other forms of bioremediation.
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Pervious Walkways throughout Park Access pathways through the park site mimic the dendrititc pattern of the former creek and historic canal footprint as a reminder of what lies deep beneath the layers of modern infrastructure.
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J. Welch 2012
URBAN AGRICULTURE GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE
www.gowanusbydesign.org/competitions, 2013
NYCDEP’s Green Infrastructure Plan is to implement green infrastructure such as bioswales, green streets, extended tree-pits, permeable paving, greenroofs, raingardens, cisterns and convert 10% impervious areas in the RH-034 sewershed & watershed over the next 20 years. This will allow the capture of most storm events’ first 1-inch of precipitation across watershed, reducing the impact on the existing and aging grey infrastructure system in the area. Green infrastructure on the park site: ~70,000’ sq of sheetflow from impervious area on ground and roofs in park will be infiltrated onsite by ~7,000’ sq of green infrastructural elements, reducing impervious sheetflow significantly. Education programs at the community center and with local schools can help measure the reduction rates over time. The added benefits of urban vegetation: Green and grey infrastructure have a similar construction cost per gallon of cso remediation, but green infrastructure not only reduces cso but provides a multiplicity of benefits such as: redirection of stormwater from the ground and rooftops to the cultivation of new plants and entire ecosystems but also generates more recreational green space, mitigates urban heat-island effect; creates energy efficiency in cooling/heating buildings on site; enhances healthy wildlife habitat; supports economic stimulus/job creation and training in the form of design, construction, education, maintenance; food production; ecological literacy and awareness. The site-plan therefore not only calls for green infrastructure elements on the park site and surrounding sidewalks, but also seeks to use green infrastructure as a platform to support self-described community needs such as jobs, education, and conservation programs that work in tandem with efforts by governmental agencies such as NYCDEP and NYCDPR, and enhances social efforts by local organizations doing both conservation-minded work like the Gowanus Canal Conservancy, and green-job training work like Sustainable South Bronx, and NYCDPR’s MillionTrees Training Program.
EXISTING CONDITIONS
We propose a rooftop farm on the roofs of the community center and the retention facility and a weekly farmer’s market in Playground 1 that can spill out onto the sidewalks around the park as it grows in size. A vertical hydroponics growing system can be employed and make use of the rainwater captured and filtered on site.
Thomas Greene Park and the Gowanus Canal site represent an intersection of diverse past and present uses and conditions. The current urban grid and industrial nature of the area presents opportunities for a new typology of infrastructure to evolve. The low flat roofs lend themselves to rooftop farming, green roofs and solar power technology; the large, open, former industrial yards offer large spaces for large and medium scale rainwater catchment programs and municipal composting sites.
Many studies* have shown that urban agricultural activities provide employment opportunities and build community cohesiveness. Urban farms provide education programs, paid internships, youth leadership training opportunities, nutrition and cooking classes, and environmental conservation workshops.
The contaminated canal and soils lend themselves to safe to fail pilot programs that allow us test and measure the benefits of using phytoremediation, green infrastructure and other leading edge techniques such as Living Machines, composting toilets to regenerate our toxic lands without further negative impact and to create new job categories in the process. The Super Fund status of the canal has garnered national attention and generated greater awareness of the impact of our industrial legacy in Gowanus and urban settings around the world.
*Urban Ag Studies we researched were cited in the book Five Borough Farm Seeding the Future of Urban Agriculture in New York City.
New York City’s recent work on the underground combined sewer and stormwater systems in the area and the Pumping Station on the canal have set the stage for the next iteration of the Gowanus Canal neighborhood and an opportunity to infuse the once thriving community with a vital, living infrastructure that will leave a positive legacy for generations to come. www.gowanusbydesign.org/competitions, 2013
Common Ground Garden Chicago, IL Google Image 2012