Against the flood. A new landscape for Brooklyn Waterfront

Overheating of the planet has triggered a process of change in ecosystems; In our case these phenomena materialize with rising sea levels. In the case of New York, the current conditions of hydrogeological risk are linked, both to the geological, morphological and hydrographic characteristics of the territory, and to the strong increase, starting from the 1811 plan, of the urbanized areas. These transformations have exposed the urban fabric to exceptional effects (hurricanes and storm surges) that already occur today and will increase in a future scenario. The Waterfront of Sunset Park, where our project is concentrated, to date, looks like a vast mineral surface for the most part abandoned. Over time the surface is disintegrating. Little by little, nature is recovering these spaces, making them its own again as in the beginning of the coast of Sunset Park. In the planning phase, we plan to further accelerate this disintegration process by intervening directly on the mineral surface. The grid will again be used as a trace to generate the cretto that will be dug in the waterfront, the water will creep into the cracks in the ground. The wave motion over time will redefine the edges creating a natural bale character profile.