Flexible City: Socio-hydrology

Urban design Studio – Sunset Park, Brooklyn, NY
Aug.2009 – Nov. 2009

+ Prof. Modjeh Baratloo
+ Prof. Angela C. Soong
+ Prof. Ward Verbakel

/ Planning, Master plan drawing
/ Landscape design + Côme Ménage
/ Landscape drawing
/ Diagrams and Rendering
+ Brad Kingsley, Nidhi Bhatnagar, Côme Ménage, Monica Pinjani

Post industrial city is a city that succeeded to transform its heritage into new potentialities. Ten years ago in Brooklyn, Williamsburg started to become an extension of Manhattan by converting industrial sites. Following subway lines and other access ways, the developers now look at the mostly under utilized manufacturing building around the Gowanus canal as the next step of the process. The direction of this growth towards south set the scene of a confrontation between these developments and the will of the city to maintain the light industry in some of the same areas (North Sunset Park, Red Hook). If these disputed lots represent the potential of NYC for flexibility, a tabula rasa operation converting them into luxury condominiums represents its one way dry up.