Welcome(?)

New York is a city where a blank slate is impossible, yet new stories are consistently written. When you travel along Broadway, you witness these stories and become a part of them. But while you can technically walk into almost any space along the street -restaurants, shops, theaters- they work hard to draw some in and keep others out.

What’s an open door to her might be a window for you, and a wall for me. Sometimes all it takes is a glance to know whether a space is made for you. Passing by a grand gate or peeking into a window might tell everything you need to know. This container for context represents such a glimpse at the city’s urban fabric. It moves and changes, and it leaves you to interpret the intention of its spaces. Details and memories shape your own conclusions, imaginations, and speculations.

The word “welcome” is both a declaration and a question.

Text + Textiles

Facilitating the communal reorganization of Malcolm Shabazz Harlem Market and its surrounding block, this project protects the local textile economy while providing spaces for vendor care and collaboration. The market’s current activities are reconfigured into new social and commercial core units that allow for shared storage, tailoring and sewing, and collective studio space. The model creates opportunities for material exchange between vendors and with community members who visit. Infrastructural facilities, such as a kitchen and a central prayer space, are also integrated in the market.

Two vacant storefronts and two empty lots are then occupied for vendor care. Street vendors can access facilities for storing and repairing vending equipment. The vacant storefronts are reimagined as care spaces for vendors. This model can be applied to other blocks; the Market’s urban network will incrementally increase in the future, absorbing any additional foreclosed retail spaces before they are purchased by private developers.

Zone In

This coworking tower imagines a new type of office space. It samples various precedents and layouts to design workspaces that cater to a diverse array of clients and the public at large.

The tower has six distinct zones that are easily identifiable by both the exterior skin and the interior office layouts. All six sections ultimately become one cohesive composition that is unified by structure and circulation.

At the lowest level, piloti open up the ground space and are also circulation cores that span up the building. Above is a daycare where children have large open interior and exterior spaces to play. There is office space higher, allowing parents to work while keeping an eye on their children. The next zone contains a grocery store and open office space that encourages group work and collaboration. It is followed by more workspace, a cafe, and a gym.

Bridging Bridgeport

Unlike land, water isn’t defined by its municipality or zipcode. It is instead designated especially for the use and benefit of the public; it can be utilized as a means of expansive connection. In this project, which explores opportunities to improve the life and well-being of the underserved Bridgeport community, Bridgeport Harbor is used to access resources beyond Bridgeport’s boundaries and engage with the larger Connecticut area.

To accomplish this, referencing barges and pontoon boats, a series of modular structures are placed within Bridgeport Harbor. They connect resources, knowledge, and leisure across Bridgeport and surrounding communities while surviving coastal threats of flooding and rising waters. In heights of economic and environmental uncertainty, this flexible system allows for adaptive aggregation or separation depending on community needs.

Float

Our float design aims to enhance both the Salt Marsh Ecosystem and the Mussel Reef Ecosystem to foster biodiversity and improve water quality.

By supporting Spartina grass above water and mussels below, we provide food and habitat for a variety of species while filtering pollutants like heavy metals.  The materials — bamboo and waxed eco-ropes — are sustainable and durable, forming a platform that offers diverse habitats for marine life.

This design not only supports marine ecosystems but also helps mitigate storm surges, contributing to the RETI Center’s mission of innovative waterfront resilience through the Blue City Project.