Terrarium Houses
Red Hook contends with a future of inundations from rising sea levels and wetter weather. Fewer trees and extensive paved surfaces make it several degrees hotter than leafier neighborhoods in NYC. The preexisting health conditions that affect many residents compound the stresses caused by the site’s changing climate.
Given Red Hook’s outlook, people need a place of experimentation in occupation and cultivation amidst instability. Here they can begin to answer questions like “what food grows here now versus in the future?” and “how can building and landscape blend to perform better during extreme weather events?”
The proposed intervention provides quality housing and permanent community spaces that shelter people from the temperature extremes that are unique to this site. The terrarium spaces that are articulated throughout the structure accommodate gathering, leisure, and cultivation.
The U shape, overhangs, and green roofs create cool conditions both inside and out during the summer. The overhangs are angled to allow winter sun to reach both residential and public spaces, allowing cultivation programs in the terrariums to unfold throughout the year.
At the ground level, a community-facing space offers fresh produce distribution in addition to a facility that flexes seasonally between a cooling and warming center. The laundromat, bank, cafe, and bodega provide services and resources that are otherwise difficult to come by in this part of Red Hook.
First floor
Third/typical floor
Residents access their homes via the terrariums, making these verdant, permeable spaces places of neighborly connection, leisure, and reconnection to nature within a post-industrial, climate-imperiled context.
