Bushwick Inlet Park Masterplan Bisher Tabbaa + Allison Shahidi + Ryan Hansen + Nayef Alsabhan 1
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Contents:
Chapter 1: Initial Research
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Chapter 2: Park and Building Program
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Chapter 3: Mobility
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Chapter 4: Water Systems
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Chapter 5: Energy Systems
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Chapter 6: Food Networks
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Chapter 7: Site Framework
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Chapter 8: Building Concept
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Chapter 9: Summary and Next Steps
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Bushwick Inlet Park Masterplan
Chapter 1
Columbia University GSAPP
Tech IV
2021
Following the initial visits to the site, it became evident that the relationship between the neighborhood and the river was often severed, and fences often mediated the relationship of residents to the water. The experience of walking through the site, the scale of the buildings, the size of the sidewalks, and the zoning and distribution of program were all results of the neighborhood’s past industrial scale, which did not consider needs at the human scale.
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Chapter 1
Columbia University GSAPP
Tech IV
2021
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Chapter 1
This disconnection between the neighborhood and the water led to initial research into the historic ecotones and wetlands that once occupied the site, and at future water conditions that will eventual require a response at the urban scale
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Bushwick Inlet Park Masterplan
Chapter 2
Columbia University GSAPP
Tech IV
2021
The master plan reimagines this neighborhood as one in which water, and more specifically the neighborhood’s connection to water via Bushwick Inlet Park, is emphasized by the overall site strategy as well as the applied water, energy, and mobility strategies. With a number of adaptive reuse residential buildings being added between existing areas of light manufacturing, the program for the site also includes a research center to the south of the park and a mixed use structure, a residential building with a farmers market on the ground floor and urban farm on the roof, to the north. Additionally, a grocery store is introduced to the site to address the current lack food availability in the neighborhood.
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Bushwick Inlet Park Masterplan
Chapter 2
Columbia University GSAPP
Tech IV
2021
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Bushwick Inlet Park Masterplan
Chapter 2
Columbia University GSAPP
The park is designed to be a recreational space that floods during high intensity water events and is easy to access from both Williamsburg and Greenpoint. Bushwick Inlet Park is intended to compliment the adjacent highly programmed McCarren Park by providing unprogrammed spaces of leisure, and the two are connected by a pair of green pedestrian streets.
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Bushwick Inlet Park Masterplan
Chapter 3
Columbia University GSAPP
Tech IV
2021
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Bushwick Inlet Park Masterplan
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Chapter 3
Columbia University GSAPP
Tech IV
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Bushwick Inlet Park Masterplan
Chapter 3
Columbia University GSAPP
Tech IV
The masterplan redesigns the transportation strategy of the neighbourhood by creating three green axes that prioritize shared mobility and cycling. These axes create a new cycling and bus route that connects Brooklyn vertically by connecting Greenpoint to Williamsburg as well as making the waterfront to more inland neighborhoods of Brooklyn.
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Chapter 3
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Tech IV
2021
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Bushwick Inlet Park Masterplan
Chapter 3
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Kent avenue is redesigned with storefronts facing the river to create a more inviting and walkable environment and increases the average user to 60,000. Using New York City’s urban design response to Covid, the pavements are widened to include more pedestrian movement, as well as being wide enough to accommodate outdoor activities such as dining.
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Bushwick Inlet Park Masterplan
Chapter 3
Columbia University GSAPP
Tech IV
2021
The transportation strategies work harmoniously with our water strategies by creating a soft edge and multiple layers of bioswales to ensure flooding resilience. and a boardwalk on the west side along with a dedicated cycle path for more recreational cyclists.
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Chapter 3
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Tech IV
2021
The paths throughout the park are designed to give visitors flexibility and choose their desired path that are direct, or more meandering ones for recreational visitors. These paths that work with the design of the park create detention basins to ensure flood resiliency.
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Chapter 4
Columbia University GSAPP
Tech IV
2021
Bushwick Inlet Park is designed to mitigate the flooding of the site by flooding itself during major water events. The park’s soft edge also prevents water from becoming trapped on the site. Bioswales along each of the streets throughout the site filter runoff and are optimized to ensure that they have a maximum surface area while still allowing for the completion of desire lines across the site. 22
Bushwick Inlet Park Masterplan
Chapter 4
Columbia University GSAPP
Tech IV
2021
Rainwater capture from the roofs of several of the buildings across the site and biofiltered water from bioswales provide water to the site. This supply is complemented by the use of greywater.
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Chapter 4
Columbia University GSAPP
Tech IV
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Chapter 4
Columbia University GSAPP
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Bushwick Inlet Park Masterplan
Chapter 4
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Tech IV
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Chapter 4
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The main open space on the site is Bushwick Inlet Park which is dedicated to leisurely recreation and serves to flooding during high intensity water events. Throughout the streets of the project, bioswales serve to filter runoff before it enters the site’s drainage systems. The plantings in the bioswales vary to ensure that they do not block desired view corridors and the bioswales are integrated with the mobility system to ensure that they do not prevent the completion of desire lines. The bioswales have the additional benefit of providing air filtration. The open space of the roofs of the site serve both the water and energy systems:
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on the adaptive reuse residential projects and the research center they are used for both rainwater capture and solar collection while the roof of the mixed use structure is used for rainwater capture.
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Chapter 5
Columbia University GSAPP
Tech IV
2021
Solar energy panels were initially incorporated onto all rooftops, and strategically eliminated in some parts to make room for green roofs. A geothermal piping system was placed at the edge of the East River to provide thermal mediation for the research laboratory complex; its placement under proposed barrier rip-rap allows it to benefit from the cooling effects of the river while avoiding ecological warming effects.
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Chapter 5
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Tech IV
2021
The energy goals of the project were influenced by the ecology and program makeup of the site. An EUI analysis of the surrounding buildings was conducted as a benchmark for improvement, and subsequent goals were identified by targeting ambitious EUIs for the various programs of the site.
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Chapter 5
Columbia University GSAPP
Tech IV
2021
Bushwick Inlet Park Masterplan
Chapter 5
Columbia University GSAPP
Tech IV
2021
At buildings where energy cannot be produced locally, energy is shared across building microgrids. This allows the system to act somewhat independently while allowing for diverse uses of rooftops for important program spaces, like urban farming.
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Chapter 6
Columbia University GSAPP
Tech IV
Before energy production was considered, energy saving strategies for the designs of the buildings were incorporated into the designs. In all of the interventions, south facing glazing and integral shading was used. At the mixed-use stepped building adjacent to the inlet, urban farming green roofs contribute to cooling effects for the lower apartments, and the carved shape of the building helped obtain more winter solar radiation within its shallow floor plates.
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Chapter 6
Columbia University GSAPP
Tech IV
2021
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Bushwick Inlet Park Masterplan
Chapter 6
One important aspect to this site’s integration with the larger neighborhood and city is its food network. Early analysis showed a lack of fresh food access, both in terms of grocery stores and fresh food markets. Three pieces of food programming link to each other to strengthen the area’s food system, and connect to nearby food programs. First, urban farming rooftops at the mixeduse stepped building by the inlet provide space for growing and learning about sustainable agriculture. At the ground floor of the same building, a large farmers market space accommodates city-wide food
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enterprises, while serving as a link back to Greenpoint to the north, and as an entrance to the Inlet Park. One block over, an urban farming processing center connects with an existing tomato canning plant, sharing industrial and knowledge resources. The proposed expanded accessibility of both Kent Avenue and N. 15th Street allow these food programs to connect to the park corridor along the East River as well as McCarren Park and its existing farmers market. Through integration with growing infrastructure, intentional food programming, and more healthy streets, this food network may strengthen the health and social
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sustainability of the surrounding neighborhood and the whole of Brooklyn.
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Chapter 7
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Bushwick Inlet Park Masterplan
Chapter 7
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Chapter 7
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Bushwick Inlet Park Masterplan
Chapter 8
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The roof strategies played a key role in the design of the buildings, while some are used for water collection, others are used for energy production. These decisions were based on what was more efficient for each building. The main mixed use building has a key role in the food production of the neighborhood, both in production, and distribution.
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Bushwick Inlet Park Masterplan
Chapter 8
Columbia University GSAPP
Tech IV
2021
The terraced form of the building allows the rooftop of each unit to be used for growing produce, then either be sold in the farmer’s market on lower floors of the building, or distributed around Brooklyn. The building’s roof not only functions as a rooftop farming garden, but also collects rainwater and recycles it throughout the building to create a net zero water building.
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Chapter 8
Columbia University GSAPP
Tech IV
2021
Bushwick Inlet Park Masterplan
Chapter 8
Columbia University GSAPP
Tech IV
2021
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Bushwick Inlet Park Masterplan
Chapter 8
Columbia University GSAPP
The overall form of the building creates a shield for the inlet from the cold northwest wind, but allows the southeast wind in the summer to actively cool the building through cross ventilation that is done with the shallow floor plates. Furthermore, the terracing allows the sunlight to reach all of the units. Due to the building’s proximity to the waterfront, it was lifted on columns as a flood resilience measure.
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Tech IV
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Bushwick Inlet Park Masterplan
Chapter 9
Columbia University GSAPP
Tech IV
2021
The introduction of low flow fixtures to the site also helps to reduce the site’s overall water use intensity. The use of rainwater and biofiltered water as well as greywater ensures that limited water is needed from the city systems, and any water that cannot be reused on site is biofiltered before it exits the site.
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Bushwick Inlet Park Masterplan
Chapter 9
This project displays a gentle approach to urban design and systems integration. By targeting infill lots for residential units, the area may be thoughtfully densified. By shaping the inlet park to be usable and beautiful in future flood events, the area may act as a natural buffer for the neighborhood. By making streets more pedestrian friendly and roofs more usable for residents, access to the area is expanded for the neighborhood community, and opportunities for growing social sustainability are expanded.
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Overall, this urban strategy seeks to be harmonious with ecological, social, and economic realities, as it leverages public space to expand access to urban amenities across scales. In the future, this strategy may be considered as a way to be responsive to local desires while providing more amenities and zones of access throughout program types and needs.
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