MOD{all} Studio recently sent us their green redesign of the Conover Cottages in Red Hook, Brooklyn. Called Eco-ttage, the sustainable facelift was the winning entry in a competition to give the iconic (but not very attractive) homes a much-needed overhaul, and is nearing completion of construction. Featuring several sustainable initiatives, Eco-ttage utilizes an existing cottage to implement a sustainable response.
MOD{all}’s website is also currently undergoing a facelift so please bear with them until they’re up-and-running again.
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Turn all your unwanted clothes, gadgets and knick-knacks into cool new treasures with the Swap-O-Matic, a vending machine that allows users to swap and trade, rather than buy. Designed by New York City-based Lina Fenequito, the Swap-o-Matic was created as a fun way to get people to shift from unconscious over-consumers into more sustainably aware citizens who reuse and barter – all for free!
Columbia University’s 17-acre Manhattanville campus in West Harlem just announced that it has achieved LEED Platinum certification under the U.S. Green Building Council’s standards for neighborhood development. Located just north of Columbia’s Morningside Heights campus in what used to be an industrial neighborhood, the area bordered by 129th and 133rd Streets, Broadway and 12th Avenue, in addition to three properties east of Broadway between 131st and 134th, will feature pedestrian-friendly streets and open spaces while connecting West Harlem to the new Hudson River waterfront park. The Manhattanville campus is the first project in New York City to score the LEED platinum rating for an entire neighborhood plan.
The benefits of white and green roofs are nothing new to us, but a recent study by two top NYC universities has shed light on just how effective these non-traditional roofs can be at lowering building temperatures. Non-reflective dark roofs are known to exacerbate the urban heat island effect and do absolutely nothing to reduce storm water runoff, which is why New York City sewers overflow almost every time it rains. But a recent study released by Columbia University and City University of New York has found that greening NYC rooftops or adding a few coats of white paint can reduce temperatures by as much as 84%! Just think how much that could help you out on your electricity bill this summer.
The Spectra Pipeline, which will bring natural gas to new areas around New York and New Jersey, has been given the green light. Also called the NJ-NY Expansion Project, it was finally approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and received with a mixed response. The pipeline was approved as part of Mayor Bloomberg’s PlaNYC 2030 report to divert reliance upon coal energy, but the construction of the pipeline could be invasive for some residents.
Music and local food united this weekend in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park for the first ever Great GoogaMooga, a 2-day festival boasting about 75 food vendors, local brewers, winemakers and live music from the likes of The Roots and Hall & Oates. But foodies got a lot more than long lines and gourmet burgers. Just Food, a pioneer in sustainable food programming in New York, helped curate what they called the "The UrBarn Experience". The recycled wood UrBarn structure was intended to physically represent the farm meeting the city and created a community space for learning about sustainable eats at the festival.
The long awaited One World Trade Center set a record today, becoming the tallest building in New York. The in-progress tower surpassed New York City’s current highest building, the Empire State Building, which soars to 1,250 feet. The original Twin Towers held the title of NYC’s tallest buildings until they were destroyed in the September 11 attacks. Once complete, One World Trade Center will reach 1,776 feet with its antenna spire, a height chosen to commemorate the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
Last fall, the MTA started a somewhat counter-intuitive pilot program to help reduce trash in the subways – they removed the trash cans. The bins were taken out of two test subway stations, and surprisingly, it worked. The program was so successful that New York City Transit President Tom Prendergast plans to expand the program- and remove even more trash cans from other subway stops this summer.
When we first heard about the underground New York City park called the Low Line last year, it was not much more than a brilliant idea and some provocative CAD renderings. Now fast-forward eight months and this ambitious project has really gathered steam, and is well on its way to becoming more than a pipe dream. The subterranean park, if constructed, would occupy an abandoned train track below Delancey Street in New York City’s historic Lower East Side neighborhood, and would bring greenery into a crowded, dense neighborhood that is generally lacking in both public space and green space. The futuristic idea utilizes sunlight transportation technology, and repurposes nearly 2 acres of wasted space in an abandoned trolley terminal that has been unused for 60 years. Hot off an extremely successful Kickstarter campaign, and an exhibit showcasing their idea at the Mark Miller Gallery, James Ramsey and Dan Barasch recently sat down with Inhabitat’s Editor-in-Chief, Jill Fehrenbacher, to talk about the Low Line, their progress so far to making it a reality, and the incredible response they’ve received from all over the globe. Watch the video above or read below to learn more about what could become New York’s next design landmark!
©Colros
If you haven’t gotten around to getting that garage sale together to sell your old junk, it could end up as part of something even greater – MoMA’s next art exhibition! The museum has put out a plea for people’s old stuff, specifically “strange items” that of course don’t include weapons, liquids or hazardous materials. The collective junk will become part of a new performance piece by Martha Rosler, that will take place this fall at the modern art museum. Called Meta-Monumental Garage Sale, the installation will transform The Donald B. and Catherine C. Marron Atrium into an epic flea market full of the carefully collected junk from local New Yorkers. Rosler, who hails from Brooklyn, will then create the ultimate garage sale, pricing all of the donated items and selling them to visitors.
Designers across the city have been attracting furniture and art-lovers with their work during New York Design Week, but a series of sculptural installations by Takeshi Miyakawa caught some rather unwanted attention – the NYPD’s. The I LOVE NY shopping bag-shaped sculptures caused a real stir over the weekend when they were mistaken for bombs by the cops. The ironically very peaceful bags were adapted into glowing sculptures to light up the city’s streets but instead of garnering praise for his thoughtful installation, the Brooklyn-based designer was arrested late Saturday night for “planting false bombs.”
Mayor Bloomberg has been on a roll supporting green design lately and last week, he announced a new bill that would allow buildings to construct sun-control devices on their roofs with no zoning issues. The devices can add up to two and a half feet to a building’s height without worry of violating the current zoning for each property. The new legislation is in keeping with Zone Green, a program that has been improving green building in NYC by easing up zoning restrictions for sun-shading, green roofs and other sustainability-boosting projects.
Design Brigade is the team behind this beautiful ‘Low Table’ – a gorgeous piece of furniture handcrafted from reclaimed sections of the Coney Island Boardwalk. The creative duo – Lila Baghzouz and Patrick Delorey – constructed the item to highlight the weathered planks of ipe wood, and they employed an assortment of wood lengths to create a unique and dynamic form. Design Brigade is one of 12 contemporary designers who were chosen to create pieces made entirely from reclaimed NYC lumber for the 12×12 Competition. The designers were selected by a panel of judges — including Inhabitat founder Jill Fehrenbacher — to fashion a series of fab designs from the beautifully weathered material.
Imagine being a student at New York City’s Queens College, and being able to pick a ripe, organic apple right off the tree on your way to your morning biology class. Nice, right? This past Arbor Day (in New York State, it’s the last Friday in April), a dozen student volunteers planted a whole orchard of 70 heirloom-variety apples on their own campus, with the help and guidance of Long Island City resident Erik Baard (who recently was awarded the Greenest NYer prize by the state’s I Love NY program) and his Newtown Pippin Restoration-Gotham Orchards program. Queens College senior Grace Magee had the idea and suggested it to the college’s administration only last month, and four days later, they had trees!
