Architecture

White Arkitekter wins competition to redevelop storm-ravaged Queens

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"Growing" sandbars is part of the first layer of intervention, followed by a large area of shallow "ecological zone" (Image copyright MIR)
The scheme by White Arkitekter includes a raised boardwalk and housing set back to allow for a shallow "ecological zone" (Image copyright MIR)
The housing development will reflect the Scandinavian style economic efficiency and social housing (Image copyright MIR)
The new boardwalk will be elevated in places and "kinked" to better weather future storms (Image copyright MIR)
The scheme is organized around "social nodes" meant to encourage community interaction (Image copyright MIR)
"Growing" sandbars is part of the first layer of intervention, followed by a large area of shallow "ecological zone" (Image copyright MIR)
Diagram showing the "social nodes" of the project. c White Aritekter
Diagram showing the measures for "hurricane resiliency". c White Aritekter
The scheme's "Ecological Landscape." c White Aritekter
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One year after Hurricane Sandy swept the New York coastal area of Queens, Swedish firm White Arkitekter was named as the winner of a two-phase international competition dubbed FAR ROC ("For a Resilient Rockaway") with a scheme that addresses severe weather, sustainability and social integration.

The competition was launched in April 2013 by the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development and attracted 117 entries from around the world. The White proposal, developed with engineers Arup and global architecture firm Gensler, is titled _Small Means and Great Ends_ and aims to transform an 80-acre shoreline site in the Rockaways, and the neighborhood known as Arverne East, into "a resilient and affordable urban development for the community."

Rather than one over-arching solution to storm events, they propose a strategy of interconnected, small-scale interventions. This, they feel, is the strength of the scheme which creates an environment that "interacts, rather than counteracts" with the sea and natural forces. As project architect Sander Schuur explains, "if you rely on one main strategy and it goes wrong, then everything fails. Here we have several steps, and if one doesn’t work as well as we’d like, then there are others." A Series of InterventionsStarting with the off-shore environment, the architects devised a new, but organically developing "sandbar landscape" as an initial breakwater. This derives from a Dutch system and uses a "geo-tube," a large fabric tube filled with sand, which will be laid out on the sea floor and, it is hoped, will attract a further buildup producing a natural barrier. At landfall, they propose setting the inhabited development back from the shoreline and creating an ecological zone of calm, shallow water that will be open to leisure activities but in times of storm will help to dissipate force as it approaches land. The idea, says Schuur, "is to take the energy away from the waves," first by the sandbank, then by the beach landscape so that by the time it hits the built area you are dealing mainly with water rise.

A new boardwalk will add another layer of intervention while also providing pedestrian access that is more resilient to high waters as it is elevated where possible and "kinked" in sections to help disperse wind and waves. Though these measures are meant to survive extreme conditions, the plan still embraces the day-to-day seaside lifestyle. Work and leisure are expected to continue at the shore; the new town center located where the boardwalk meets the new pier will accommodate a hotel, theater and sporting activities.

Spreading from the boardwalk inland, two large, landscaped parks, which the architects describe as "boulevards," will cut through the residential and commercial neighborhood. These will be designed to function both as storm-water detainment and retention and as public recreation areas. They will also become a kind of social highway, interrupting the built-up grid and connecting to the boardwalk.

The housing and commercial buildings too are designed to interact rather than counteract with designs that put important services at a higher level and leave the lower levels "openable" so that when necessary, water can move in and out again more easily. This strategy, it is hoped, will mean that the recovery time is faster as the damaged caused by water forcing through barriers and trapped inside buildings will be reduced. Housing and Social IntegrationThe housing program, as Sander Schuur explains, follows the Scandinavian model of "focusing on the people and trying to engage the community." To this end, the architects envision a set of "social nodes," – a school, town square, pier, community center – which will be aligned along a route that travels through the residential and commercial elements.

Housing will be a mixture of mostly low-rise complexes, four-story buildings, and one-bedroom to four-bedroom units. These will be set around communal courtyards, as is more commonly seen in Europe, to encourage social interaction. There will also be single-family housing. Two 12-story towers near the seafront will help to establish the identity of the seaside community and attract visitors; one will be a hotel, the other housing aimed at younger professionals. A substantial percentage of the 1,050 new units will be allocated to affordable housing. SustainabilityWhile the architects hope to produce the apartments and houses to something like Passive House standards, Schuur says the final guidelines are still being worked out. However, the use of the sandbar system and the decision to pull development back away from the shoreline are significant environmentally. Compared to strategies such as dredging to build artificial islands or constructing elaborate jetty systems, this plan is both more nuanced and less intrusive. As New York awaits a new mayoral administration, it remains to be seen how much of the plan’s ideology and social conscience will remain intact.

Source: White Arkitekter

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3 comments
zekegri
Every time you place something in one area of the ocean-the next door areas are affected. You would change the natural balance-stop building along the shore.
Joseph Mertens
Do you think the people who owned that land before the storm are going to get any real compensation for it or a place in the new buildings that they can afford? I don't think so. Just more money thrown away on foreigners for what we could do ourselves. Like the Shovel Ready jobs to fix the economy rebuilding America's infrastructure Who gets them? China using Chinese laborers Inside America.
galaxydrifter
Well another fine decision. I mean no disrespect to the Swedish Company.
However why was this even proposed to international Companies while the economy of the USA is in the toilet?
We have world class design and construction firms right here at home. We have skilled American craftsman and laborers begging for steady work to take care of their families.
We do not need outside companies or outside labor to work jobs we should have.
And dont give me that tired BS about Americans not wanting the jobs because the migrant laborers will work for less than we will. Send them packing back where they came from.
Pay our own people a fair wage and figure it into the cost of the project. Lets rebuild America and stop this sick slide into a third world status.
The liberal morons are still going to be crying "must be politically correct" right to the end even as their mansions are knocked down to erect shanty towns to house our wonderful cheap labor force.
Wake up people, its certainly not politically correct or smart to destroy your own Country just to line the pockets of a select few 1% ers.