New York’s Industrial Past: The Foundation for a Smarter City
Around every corner, under every bridge, and in your community, New York City’s industrial history can still be seen and felt. Many New Yorkers asked architects to develop more innovative, adaptive, functional strategies for reusing these old industrial spaces so they can match the social, ecological and economic climate of today.
The students at CUNY’s Spitzer School of Architecture couldn’t be more spot on when they said they wanted to see “the degraded industrial infrastructure around the city reclaimed, remediated and re-utilized for a civic purpose, activating a new social, spatial, and ecological awareness.” Their proposed site is Gowanus Canal and its areas in proximity. Another entry submitted by Brendan calls attention to the Aqueduct Walk in the neighborhoods of University and Morris Heights. He thinks the aqueduct path should be “renovated to create a beautiful new linear park.” Michelle in the Upper West Side thinks, “The 69th Street Transfer Bridge along the West Side Highway could become a part of the park that residents can access” in an effort to create “a dialogue between cutting-edge, new forms and what has come before.” Lastly, Regina wants to see the armories all across the city used for “arts and cultural activities, like the one on Park Avenue.”
The adaptive reuse of these and other industrial sites will allow us to celebrate and understand the value and importance industrialization played in the rise of New York City while at the same time creating a more aware, more innovative city from those lingering spaces.
Have a great design solution for one of the ideas listed above? Click here to register for the By the City / For the City design competition today! Entries are due by midnight (EST) on Sunday, July 31st, 2011. We can’t wait to see what you come up with!
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