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Back to Building Community

Prepared by Ayman Helo New York Institute of Technology Coordinator Professor Dong-Sei Kim

1) Introduction.

- History of Long Island.

2) Ecological Problems facing Long Island.

- Land use and green cover.

- The Long Island Sound.

- Water Quality.

- Underground aquifer.

- Transportation and air pollution.

3) Project description.

- Site description.

- Hicksville.

- Timeline.

- Hicksville and Technology.

- Community data.

- Facts about Hicksville.

- Malls declining.

- Current economic trends.

5) Precedent projects analysis.

- Long Island Radically Rezoned.

- The Living Market Proposal.

- Reclaiming Community Proposal - Masdar City.

6) Issues of Concern and Inspirations.

- Inspirations - My conclusions 7) My proposal main ideas.

- Green open spaces.

- Walkability on and around the site.

- Stormwater management.

- Green gas emissions and Energy solution.

- Community social life.

- Work and living solution.

Pg. 4 Pg. 7

Pg. 22

Pg. 31

Pg. 40 Pg. 42

TABLE OF CONTENTS

8)

Site Special Properties

Pg. 43

9)

My conclusions

Pg. 45

10)

My Proposal

Pg. 46

11)

Principles for Sustainable Communities

Pg. 47

12) My Proposal Details 13)

Pg. 51

Plans and Description

Pg. 55

14) Residential Apartments Floor Plans

Pg. 57

15)

Project Design Prospective Sections

Pg. 60

16)

Project Design Renderings

Pg.63

17) Water Conservation

Pg. 65

18) Mix-Use Commercial and Residential Buildings

Pg 67

19) Renewable Green Energy On-Site Generation

Pg. 70

20) Greenhouses for Agricultural Use

Pg. 73

21) Special Building Envelope with High Thermal Performance

Pg.77

22)

Community Facilities

Pg. 79

23)

Site Prospective

Pg. 81

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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Special Words

When I decided to join the School of Architecture and Design in 2017, I wasn’t sure if I would be able to finish the professional 5-year degree. I got a lot of the support and encouragement that I needed from my family, my wife Reem and from the best kids I could ever ask for: Yousef, Jamili and Amro.

While in school, I received support and inspiration from my amazing professors and classmates. NYIT has been my home for the last 5 years, where I spent most of my days and many nights working on my projects and designs.

At NYIT, I always felt like I had a family ready to welcome and help me. I would like to thank the great people who made it possible to reach this my goal on the long road to my achievement with: Dean Perbellini, Assistant Dean Caradona, Chair Santamaria, Professor Cody, my great Professor Dong-Sei Kim, all my professors, especially at SoAD, the great library staff, the fabrication shop, and Ana Espinal.

I have a family that I love and respect at NYIT. I believe family stays connected forever and that is how I feel about my NYIT family.

I hope I set a good example for my kids and other young ones in my surrounding that hard work and never stopping before achieving your own goals, and making those dreams become true, is always possible.

I wish I could share my success with my brother Muntaser, but I pray for his soul to rest in peace in the heavens. I miss him so much. I know that he was waiting to celebrate this achievement and share with me these great feelings, but I hope he can witness and enjoy these moments in my life from where he is now. I want to share my sympathy and prayers for all those who lost a beloved person because of Covid-19, like my beloved brother, or any other reason.

May God Bless you all.

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Upstract-

Communities are like a pattern of colors. When we set a good background to present these colors, the result is a beautiful and meaningful picture where harmony and cooperation between all parts crystalize and attract the onlooker.

We have a long history of building and rebuilding urban and suburban living and working areas. Reviewing our experiences in building towns and villages in Long Island and learning from previous experiences has been very instrumental in shaping my vision for this design proposal.

It is my goal in this proposal is to set infrastructure, architecture and landscaping to work in harmony with human needs and environmental health in a sustainable eco-friendly way. I would like to design what could be practical and beneficial in the future, by combining sustainable energy, with smart use of natural resources and habitability, to create a sustainable way of living. Building a sustainable community is not only about conserving nature but it is also about helping human beings have a better life quality that can provide generations to come with optimal living conditions.

Designing the architecture of the future must take into consideration the eco-challenges we face. Our response to these environmental problems must be as serious and comprehensive to meet the scale of these dilemmas. Technology has provided us with plenty of solutions and we must be smart in applying these solutions in a responsible manner within all aspects of our lives including our architectural designs.

I feel great moral responsibility to get engaged in one of the most threatening problems of our day, which targets our sustainable existence on this planet. The impacts of global warming are too massive and serious to be ignored any longer.

We as architects can and must be part of the response and the solution.

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Introduction-

It is very clear that we are witnessing many serious changes in different aspects in our world. Life on earth is facing many challenges and we are not helping ourselves so far to secure the sustainability of our existence on this earth. Earth is the only home for mankind that is available.

Since the beginning of the industrial revolution, human has caused too much damage to the environment and created many crucial threats for life as we know. Unfortunately, the international respond to the environmental crises was too slow and far from being effective so far. Many political, economic, and even cultural factors are still causing serious challenging to the efforts to stop damaging the environment of our planet.

Long Island is a special place to live and have joy. The 1,376.1 sq mi (3,564 km2) Island has been a special place to live even before the first settlers arrived in 1637. The Fire Island Light House was the first welcoming sign that immigrants noticed for centuries. Native Americans lived in harmony with nature on Long Island for centuries. They farmed the land, hunted wild animals, and they were successful in catching seafood from the surrounding water.

The new generations of immigrants imported with them technology and experience from Europe to the Island. They managed to build remarkable financial, agricultural, and industrial success stories using the natural resources on the Island.

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LONG ISLAND TIMELINE

Wisconsinin Glacier forms Long Island Dutch explorer Adrian Block explores Long Island Sound

First English Settlement in New York on Long Island by Lion Gardiner (Gardiners Island) Long Island liberated from British Occupation at the end of the Revolutionary War

20,000 B.C.

The Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) Company was established

1614

Long Island's first Airport (Mineola Flying Field) opens

1639

William Levitt builds prototype homes in Carle Place

1783

Warmest Winter on record for Long Island

1834 1909 1946

2012

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Brief History of Long Island

Long Island is a special place to live and have joy. The 1,376.1 sq mi (3,564 km2) Island has been a special place to live even before the first settlers arrived in 1637. The Fire Island Light House was the first welcoming sign that immigrants noticed for centuries.

Native Americans lived in harmony with nature on Long Island for centuries. They farmed the land, hunted wild animals, and they were successful in catching seafood from the surrounding water.

The new generations of immigrants imported with them technology and experience from Europe to the Island. They managed to build remarkable financial, agricultural, and industrial success stories using the natural resources on the Island.

Long Island has provided the US and even the world with many significant products and discoveries. It played a very important part in the development of the aviation industry. For many decades, Long Island was considered one of the major aviation centers of the United States

Long Island played an important part in the successful moon landing. The Apollo Lunar Module was designed and built by Grumman Aircraft Engineering in Bethpage on Long Island.

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Ecological Problems facing Long Island

In 1951, Long Island introduced the world to the first suburban housing project. Since then, more than 7,647,000 residents made Long Island their home. This rapid and massive change brought many challenges to the ecosystem and broke the eco balance here. The green cover has been shrinking, the farmland is becoming less and less, the aquifers have been exhausted and became the most contaminated in New York State. The Long Island Sound and many sites on the oceanside have poor water quality scores, high air pollution rates and many other ecology warping signs.

Environmental Challenges in Long Island

- Tidal marshes and other coastal habitats are threatened with drowning from rising seas if they cannot build upward or migrate inland because of natural or man-made barriers.

- Invasive/non-native species threaten ecosystem diversity and compete with native animals & plants.

- The balance among coastal habitats such as marshes, beaches, dunes, grasslands, and forests has been altered due to development, decreasing the resiliency of the Long Island Sound.

- Remaining open spaces along the coast are under development pressure.

- Development and use of the coastal zone conflicts with the needs of some wildlife species (e.g., roseate terns) for forage and nursery areas.

Too much nitrogen and phosphorous in the water causes algae to grow faster than ecosystems can handle

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Global warming is a real threat to the sustainability of life on Earth.

This danger is affecting every part of our planet. Long Island is suffering from the more severe storms and record-breaking high temperatures.

The Island has lost a large area of its natural green cover since it became a new hub for suburban development projects in the 1950’s. Trees and natural habitats were the biggest losers against the bulldozers.

Long Island is home or breeding area to over 1, 200 species of invertebrates, 150 species of fish and many rare, migratory birds. The Island is home to a large number of native trees, shrubs, grapevines and plants.

Preserving and increasing the natural green area on Long Island is a key element to secure better air quality and to recreate an eco balance that would be beneficial for generations to come. Nature is our supporter, she helps a great deal to secure life and our needs, free of charge.

New York state is 61% forested. Forests cover 18.6 million acres out of 30.2 million acres total. Sadly, Long Island retains less than 20% of its total forested land. This Island was once a giant forest and a paradise for wildlife. This percentage is very far from where it should be.

Agricultural lands and the number of farms on Long Island have been shrinking remarkably. These farms and agricultural fields are important for securing food resources and the economy of Long Island.

I believe there should be a serious effort to force restrictions on using agricultural land for residential and commercial development use.

The ecosystem of Long Island suffered a lot because there wasn’t a comprehensive planing and vision and now it needs our help.

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From the early 1900’s, land cover on Long Island has trended toward the conversion of open space and agricultural land into residential, industrial, and commercial development.

Almost 2/3 of Long Island is developed. The Population density on Long Island is not high Based on date from U.S. Department of the Interior

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The agricultural farmland on Long Island is shrinking remarkably

The forests have become a very small percentage of the land cover on Long Island.

Based on date from U.S. Department of the Interior

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Long Island has a small percentage of wetland cover.

The demand on natural resources from the residential and the manufacturing sectors on the Island created environmental problems.

The quality of life on Long Island is not as it was.

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The Long Island Sound

Long Island Sound Grades

Long Island Sound is home to hundreds of aquatic species ranging from fish, shellfish, crustaceans, seagrasses and marshes. They are part of an ecosystem that helps sustain shoreline habitats, including tidal marshes, dunes and coastal forests, that support countless other species, including resident and migratory waterfowl. The diversity and abundance of wildlife species are what helps the Sound thrive.

Nitrogen pollution in the Sound reduces dissolved oxygen to unhealthy levels for aquatic life and contributes to harmful algal blooms and loss of tidal wetlands and seagrasses. Low dissolved oxygen levels, or hypoxia, have historically occurred most severely in the western, more narrow and restricted portion of Long Island.

Between 2014 and 2018 the peak area of hypoxic waters (defined as holding less than three milligrams/liter of dissolved oxygen) in Long Island Sound averaged 89 square miles, less than half the pre-2000 average of 205 square miles. The maximum area of hypoxic waters in 2017 was 70 square miles; in 2018 this dropped to 52 square miles.

The severity of the hypoxia problem has also declined, with no area measurements of water below 1 mg/l dissolved oxygen in the past eight years. The hypoxic areas in 2015, 2018, and 2017 are the second, third and fourth smallest recorded in the past 32 years of monitoring. Sound.

Hypoxia not only harms aquatic life, impacting the health of this vital water body but also influences the region’s economy, which benefits from recreation, tourism, and fishing.

Resorce Long Island Sound Study

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Water Quality in Long Island

Water Quality at 29 locations on Long Island The Gobler Laboratory most recent Water quality report on 8.30.2018

For more details refer to my StoryMap presentation on this link https://uploads.knightlab.com/storymapjs/6f54715822ee41ed5283d6560e7bef6f/water-quality-on-long-island/draft.html

Humans migrate to the coastal area. With people come the construction of homes, motels, and marinas. Breakwaters and seawalls increase turbulence and erosion. High number of people live on Long Island shores and the lands that drain to it. With this concentration of people, sadly, comes pollution in many forms, from sewage to fertilizers to litter.

The Gobler Laboratory, part of the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences at Stony Brook University, measures water quality and issues a weekly report covering conditions at 29 sites on Long Island. The lab records the amount of dissolved oxygen (mg/L), fecal coliform bacteria (per 100 ml), chlorophyll A (in micrograms per liter), harmful algae and water clarity (in meters) and compares the values with state and federal guidelines to come up with an overall score for water quality, which is then categorized as “good,” “fair” or “poor.“

The Environmental Protection Agency has classified 1-4-dioxane as a likely carcinogen, meaning that it probably causes cancer with longterm usage. In the short-term, 1-4-dioxane exposure can cause irritation of the throat, eyes, and nose. Other symptoms include liver and kidney damage

The red tide algae Alexandrium produces a powerful neurotoxin that accumulates in filter feeding shellfish that can poison the people or wildlife that eat them. Toxic algae are increasingly occurring in Long Island’s bays and harbors.

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https://projects.newsday.com/databases/long-island/water-quality/

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Water Quality in Long Island

Searching for Biotoxins in Long Island Waters.

Alexandrium is a microscopic, photosynthetic dinoflagellate.

Alexandrium may pose a health threat for animals and humans.

Resource: Long Island biotoxin monitoring sites

Every year, beginning in the spring and continuing through the fall, the Shellfisheries Bureau conducts an extensive Marine Biotoxin Monitoring program across Long Island. We search for the presence of Alexandrium cells in the water column as well as the presence of saxitoxin in molluscan shellfish. Alexandrium is a microscopic, photosynthetic dinoflagellate. It is widely distributed along the coast and lives in the upper layer of the ocean. This dinoflagellate produces saxitoxin, the neuromuscular toxin that causes Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning (PSP). The toxin accumulates in the tissues of any animals that eat the dinoflagellate and may be present in high concentrations in shellfish. Eating shellfish that may have consumed Alexandrium may pose a health threat for animals and humans.

Toxic Marine Algal Blooms

• One species of phytoplankton has made a strong appearance in Long Island waters, Alexandrium spp.

Alexandrium spp. has been present in Long Island waters since the 1970s and made its first harmful bloom on Long Island in 2006, causing large shellfishing closures in Northport and Huntington Harbors in the Town of Huntington (Northwest Suffolk County).

Alexandrium spp Courtesy of NYS DEC Shellfish Lab

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Drinking water issue in Long Island

Where Does Our Drinking Water Come From?

• Long Island's Only Source of Drinking Water is Groundwater Aquifers

The Nature Conservancy

Based on a research puplished by Bessie Nestoras Knoblauch from NYIT, there are more than 250 known contaminated groundwater sites (Superfund sites) on Long Island—leaving its residents with a bad taste in their mouths. What kinds of chemicals are found in our drinking water? Some of the chemicals receiving great public attention include: 1,4 Dioxane, PFOA (perfluorooctanoic acid), PFOS (perfluorooctane sufonate), PFAS (per- and polyfluroralkyl substances), the family of similar chemicals including PFOA/PFOS.

Sadly, many official reports showed that Long Island has the worst drinking water quality in New York State. In many different location across the Island drinking water wasn’t safe to drink based on the state standars.

Long Island has the most contaminated drinking water in the state.

Full report (May 2019) available on this link https://www.nypirg.org/pubs/201905/Whats_in_my_water_2019.pdf

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Long Island Precipitation and Recharge

The first comprehensive precipitation study covering Long Island was done by; On Long Island, average monthly precipitation throughout the year is fairly constant (about 3 to 4.5 inches per month), but on an annual basis can vary by location (see figure below) from around 40 inches per year in southern Nassau County to about 50 inches per year in west-central Suffolk County. In the report, precipitation on Long Island averaged about 43 inches for the analysis period. (Peterson (1987), compares precipitation values given by (Miller and Frederick (1969) with more recent and extended long-term averages and calculated the average Long Island precipitation to be 45.2 inches per year.

Much of the precipitation on Long Island never reaches the groundwater system because it is lost through evapotranspiration and as direct runoff. The remainder known as recharge, is the amount that infiltrates through the land surface and percolates downward to the water table, entering the groundwater-flow-system.

Recharge investigations across Long Island estimate that the average annual recharge is approximately 50 percent of Long Island’s annual precipitation. USGS studies on Long Island have shown that the construction of catchment or “recharge” basins can enhance recharge to the aquifer system by intercepting street runoff. Conversely, large scale sewering can direct water that was formerly recharged to the aquifer from individual septic systems to a central water treatment facility, where it is directed to tidewater and thus removed from the aquifer system.

Resource: www.sgs.gov

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Transportation and Air Pollution on Long Island

LIE is The World’s Longest Parking Lot. • Long Island has an early history of roads and automobiles in America. Today, it can surely be said that Long Islanders are living up to this American legacy. There are 19 major highways on Long Island. The most travelled you can say are the major roads like the Long Island Expressway (LIE), Northern State Parkway, and Southern State Parkway. There’s so much ground to cover, totaling 1,377 square miles of land area.

LongIsland.com & Long Island Media, Inc

Life on Long Island has a strong connection and dependence on New York City. The Long Island Rail Road Company was established in 1834 to serve the residents, farms, factories and businesses on the Island by connecting them with New York City and the rest of USA regions.

Traveling by cars is the main transportation method for the Islanders. There are 19 major highways on Long Island. Roads cover, totaling 1,377 square miles of the Island land area. The most important rotes are the Long Island Expressway (LIE), Northern State Parkway, and Southern State Parkway.

Long Island Expressway or LIE, is Long Island’s main freeway. It runs for 71 miles across the Island. Traveling on Long Island especially during rush hours can be very furstating and time killing.

According to a study by the Long Island Association, more than a fifth of Long Island workers, 20.5%, commuted regularly into the city in 2017. In Nassau County, 30.9% of residents commuted into the city while 10.9% of those in Suffolk did.

Long Islanders spend more time in their daily commuting than average time according to 2017 U.S. Census data. The average commute time in the United States is 26.9 minutes, while the Long Island average is 35.4 minutes.

Daily wasting time and the stress are not the only problem that the Long Islanders suffer from because of there daily commuting, but the cars are responsible for a emitting a large amount of CO2. Air pollution is responsible for many health problem and environmental damage.

The average car ownership in Long Island is 2 cars per house 17

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Cars, SUVs, and light duty trucks that are fueled by gasoline, diesel, and E85 emit both greenhouse gases and smog-forming pollutants from their tailpipes. (GHGs) are emitted from the tailpipes of vehicles that combust fuel. Once GHGs are released, they can stay in the atmosphere for 100 years or more.

Passenger vehicles are a major pollution contributor. The health risks of air pollution are extremely serious. Poor air quality increases respiratory ailments like asthma and bronchitis, strokes, heightens the risk of lifethreatening conditions like cancer and heart problems.

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Bicycling and walking are the modes of transportation with the least production of carbon emissions from fossil fuels. Public transportation reduces (GHGs) and saves energy. The facts are clear public transportation is reducing energy consumption and harmful (GHGs)

According to the Inventory of US, the transportation sector is one of the largest contributors to anthropogenic U.S. greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. A typical passenger vehicle emits in average about 4.6 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year.

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Employees in Hicksville, NY have a longer commute time (32.7 minutes) than the normal US worker (25.3 minutes). 2,700 residents in Hicksville use public transportation daily. Air Quality Index (AQI) level in 2018 in Hicksville was 95.9. This is worse than average.

Our Transportation Directly Effect Air Pollution and our Lives Coronavirus lockdown results in 30% air pollution drop in northeastern US

These images released by NASA shows the average concentration of atmospheric nitrogen dioxide in March of 2015-19. (left), compared to March of 2020.

(NASA/NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio

NASA satellite data has shown a 30 percent reduction in atmospheric nitrogen dioxide pollution in the northeastern U.S. during the corona virus lockdown in March 2020. This fact is a prove that transportation sector carrys the largest responsibility for (GHSs) emission and air pollution.

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Humans are part of the ecosystem where they live. Every ecosystem on earth has human drivers, influence, and impacts on both structure and function of the system. We as a mankind need to support the ecosystem and the eco-balance in order to sustain our existence and our life quality.

MAJOR CHALLENGES FOR SUSTAINING LIFE ONON LONG ISLAND MAJOR CHALLENGES FOR SUSTAINING LIFE LONG ISLAND

Green Natural Cover

Water Quality

Natural Habitats

Green House Emissions

Global warming in an international danger but Long Island is facing local problems that cause damage to the local environment. Loosing the green cover, poor water quality, destroying natural habitats and air pollution are serious challenges to life in the future in every part of the Island. These issues need urgent repair and new standards to ensure a healthy sustainable our ecosystem and support the global environmental protection.

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Project Description

The Sears store located on 195 North Broadway, Hicksville, New York, closed in April 2018. Our Arch 501 thesis required us to propose a design that can be replacing the existing store and reuse the 26.4acre site. We need to investigate and analyses the site, surroundings, conditions, trends and data related to this architecture project design.

The town of Oyster Bay has proposed demolishing the former department store and auto center at 195 North Broadway to make way for 425 rental apartments, retail and office spaces, restaurants, a grocery store, movie theater, fitness center and food-service kiosks. A TD Bank and Chipotle restaurant would remain on the property under the proposal, and 5 acres of green space is planned.

The Oyster Bay Town Board conducted a public hearing on September 17, 2020. The project became controversial among the residents of Hicksville. I would like to share two opposing responses from locals and their opinions about this project;

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- Joseph Shaulys, 78, a retired lab worker from Hicksville, said the proposed project would be a “blight” on the neighborhood he’s lived in since 1968.

“I moved into a lovely suburban area,” Shaulys said, adding that the proposal “makes the town look like Brooklyn.”

- Richard Pfaender said he has lived two blocks from the site since 1976 and that the project would be an “economic boost” to the community.“I support the concept of a self-contained, self-sustaining village in the hamlet of Hicksville,” Pfaender said. “Let’s bring life back to this dormant site.”

Both sides, supporters and opponents raised concerns about traffic since the area has a traffic problem.

Seritage Growth Properties, the developer response to this concern came during the hearing from Patrick Lenihan, VHB’s director of transportation, said the mix of residential, office and retail spaces won’t produce traffic in the same way a single-use development would.

“The presence of this variety of uses on a single site has positive effects on a site’s operation related to traffic and parking due to an interaction that occurs between uses on a single site,” Lenihan said.

Office workers and residents would patronize restaurants and stores in the development, eliminating trips that would otherwise be made off site, he added: “Multiple uses on a site also work to smooth out traffic peaks and better balance directional flow of traffic so that it is more easily accommodated,” .

Rendering for the Heritage Village Proposal

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Town of Hicksville

Hicksville located in Nassau County, New York, within the Town of Oyster Bay. The town has total area of 6.8 square miles, and the population is 42,649.

The average household income in Hicksville is $127,234 .The median rental costs in recent years comes to $1,909 per month, and median house value is $432,500.

Hicksville has population density of 6,118.0 residents per square mile, in 2010.

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Solar Position Data

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Minimal Green Cover in Hicksville, NY Parks in Hicksville 3%

Hidden Park

Contagia Park

Levittown Hall Park

97%

Parks

Kevin T. Kolm Memorial Park

Developed

Hicksville is very poor when it comes to green cover and no wetland cover and no natural open spaces. Public parks are very small percentage of the total area.

Hicksville, NY 1834, Hicks Land Company in New York purchased 5,000 Acers of land with large trees.

1800

1837, Opening the train station in Hicksville to deliver cucumbers for a Heinz Company plant.

1900

1959, Hicksville became a bustling suburb, farms were sold for developers and Hicksville’s population jumped to 50,000.

1950

1971, developing the rail service, Establishing a new town zoning.

1970

2000s, Hicksville became major shopping and dining hob in Long Island.

2000

Hicksville was established as a farming community. Planting potatoes failed in Hicksville but cucumbers made the village a center for Heinz pickle company.

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The median age in Hicksville is 42.6 years. 31.8% of the residents were born outside the US. Hicksville has 13,296 households, family size is larger than US average and stronger social relationship than the surrounding towns.

The community of Hicksville can be called an aged one. Like many other communities in Long Island, youth age people are moving to where they can find better jobs and living conditions.

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Hicksville has a higher than average in the US. Of educated residence. It has also a higher percentage of skilled workforce. The employment market didn’t have any significant changes in the last 10 years.

Hicksville has a low unemployment rate compared to the average rate in the US. But expected to have lower growth in the job market in the near future.

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Hicksville has a unique diverse community. This rich puzzle with a mix of race, culture,religion and origin country makes Hicksville more attractive for people looking to move to Long Island or to enjoy a special experience like international food or shopping international goods.

In Hicksville, the summers are warm and humid; the winters are very cold, wet, and windy; and it is partly cloudy year round. Comfort Index for Hicksville is 7.3/10, which means it is one of the most pleasant places in NYS. 29

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Shopping malls has a long history in the US and became once an American icon and for many decades they were considered as a landmarks and a successful story for the post-WWII era. The early 1954s marked the opening of the first shopping mall In the US in Minnesota. Victor Gruen was the architect who created the design of shopping malls in the United States.

For many decades, shooing malls represented a modern community centers where people could come together for shopping, social interaction, and cultural activity. American families who were so proud of there cars, used to drive during the weekend to shopping malls outside the rowdy cities and spend the whole day at a shopping mall.

These malls served the American families beside with everything they were looking for ; food, entertainment, gathering species, coffee shops and many other services all at one weather controlled large building.

Sears Roebuck & Co. has opened a retail store in Hicksville in 1966. This store resented a part of history and memories for many Long Islanders.

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According to a 2017 report by Credit Suisse, one in four U.S. malls is expected to close by 2022.

Sears is not the only department store facing financial struggles.

Many other department stores have ether filed for bankruptcy or decided to close a large number of there store around the US.

Malls were already facing pressure from on-line shopping, but the pandemic has hit these malls hard and added more pressure on the stores and the owners of these malls. Smaller stores at these mall centers are facing a serious challenge that they can’t afford paying their rent. The owners of malls have already started to search for a solution for the problem of closing department stores.

The closing malls has the potential to reshape the suburbs, with many communities already debating whether abandoned malls can be turned into local markets or office space, even affordable housing.

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Precedent projects analysis.

- Long Island Radically Rezoned

Long Island Radically Rezoned – A Regenerative Vision for a Living Island” proposes applying closed-loop principles on a macro scale. 100% of food is locally-produced, and the overall condition results in a 50/50 balance between nature and man-made. The proposal envisions how true sustainability may be achievable on Long Island by sharing resources across boundary lines, applying closed-loop principles on a macro scale: water, energy, and waste-neutral and 100% local food production—a completely self-sufficient and waste-free island.

Long Island Radically Rezoned

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Downtown Hicksville – A Pilot Project

In the same proposal the designing team used Hicksville’s downtown as a conceptual testing ground. The majority of downtown blocks in Hicksville are given over to surface parking for rail commuters, resulting in a lack of civic and commercial activity.

The team goal was to increase density in the downtowns and to revitalize vacant areas by “Fix-A-Block” for vacant downtown lots; “Mall Chopper” for underutilized surface parking areas surrounding shopping malls; “Re-Center,” a new vibrant downtown piazza centered around the train station; and “Resi-Dense,” additional residential units inserted around existing single-family homes.

“Re-Center,” a new vibrant downtown piazza is centered around the train station, celebrating transit and creating an extension of the public space of the EcoBoulevard, thus connecting the train station to civic life.

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The Living Market Proposal,

By Emily Talen and Sungduck Lee

The Living Market proposes a mixed-use marketplace in downtown Hempstead, with shop/house cottage industries and food markets, parking lot markets, and community gardens. The Living Market merges housing with small-scale markets. The proposal views the marketplace as a place where people work and live, rather than a tourist destination.

I found this proposal very close to my vision for rebuilding the community of Hicksville. The Living Market” proposal is about retrofitting suburban downtowns to support social diversity. The proposal envisions downtowns shared by afflu- ent people and people on fixed incomes; people of varying racial, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds; teenagers and the elderly; married couples and singles; empty nesters and large families.

The Living Market concept could be applied to vacant parcels and parking lots in downtown areas across Long Island, beyond downtown Hempstead. The proposal would spawn innovation, opportunity, and economic growth, and result in a richer human experience for Long Islanders.

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Reclaiming Community Proposal

By Courtney Embrey and Michael Narciso

To reclaim is to save or recover something that has been affected by wrong doing or error and return it to its rightful course. The title of this project, “Reclaiming Community,” refers to the goal of reclaiming two important communities within the Village of Hempstead: ecological and residential.

This proposal seeks to grow vertically instead of horizontally (promoting density over sprawl), maximize use of brown-field sites, establish educational programs, provide desirable affordable housing, and explore new ways of transit and mobility. In the process, it aims to restore the threatened Hempstead Plains habitat and provide a sustainable urban agricultural enterprise.

These urban design strategies and programmatic elements can Generate a diverse demographic profile, enriching and providing opportunities for multigenerational and multicultural social interaction

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Reference Book Review

I found ‘Design Suburban Future’ by Professor June Williamson, a great, useful and enjoyable to read. I discovered more facts about suburbs in this book. The book reveals that suburbs are not doomed to continue packed with shopping malls and huge parking lots. Suburbs need to be an inventive design that can support their future. The book introduces project proposals on award-winning design ideas for reviving Long Island. The author of the book offered many valuable models not only good for U.S. suburbs, but can also be good for global scale urbanization. The book is very well prepared and organized.

Williamson introduced the history, changes, and development of suburban design in the last half century. It was interesting to follow the developments that created a new style of urbanism in the post WWII era, and where most Americans live.

It is very easy to follow the relationship between suburban and the surrounding cities and understand the challenges to sustainability and urban resilience. The book includes many examples and types of sprawling suburban form and a very realistic description for the impacts of suburbs from many aspects. The book shows potential for urban resiliency and the potential global impact of successful suburban retrofit strategies.

The book talks about how to solve the problems and the impacts of the suburb’s urbanism design in an economic, environmental, social and ecological manner while recognizing the constant difficulties of regulations.

I found the proposals submitted for the ‘Build a Better Suburb competition’, which asked entrants to develop retrofitting scenarios for downtown Long Island, very helpful and inspiring. These proposals were prepared by professional teams and designers who were trying to find a sustainable systemic solution for the problems that Long Island suburbs are facing. These proposals were very helpful for me to understand how to propose solutions for the main eco-social problem that Hicksville is facing and to think for sustainable design than can be practical for many years to come.

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Masdar City Project

Masdar City in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, is a project of a Carbon neutral city, which is designed to provide a healthy and a sustainable place for a community to live, designed by Foster + Partner.

Initiated in 2006, the city was designed to cover 6 square kilometers (2.3 sq mi) and estimated to cost US$18−22 billion. Masdar’s philosophy of urban development is based on the three pillars of economic, social and Environmental sustainability.

The temperature in the streets of Masdar City is generally 27 to 36 °F cooler than the surrounding desert. The temperature difference is due to Masdar's unique construction. A 45-meter high (148 ft) wind tower formed on a vernacular Arab designs, sucks air from above and pushes a cooling breeze through Masdar's streets. The site is raised above the surrounding land to create a slight cooling effect. Buildings are clustered close together to create streets and walkways shielded and protected from the hot sun.

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The wind tower at the center of the Masdar Institute campus uses a modern perfection of ancient technology to funnel cooler air from above the city into the plaza below it, creating a cooling breeze through the narrow streets nearby.

Initially, traveling in the city depends on underground public transit and personal rapid transit (PRT) systems Public transport within the city will rely on methods other than the PRTs. Masdar will instead use a mix of electric vehicles and other clean-energy vehicles for mass transit inside the city.

A mixed-use, low-rise, high-density development, Masdar City includes the headquarters for the International Renewable Energy Agency and the Masdar Institute. Strategically located for Abu Dhabi’s transport infrastructure, Masdar is linked to neighboring communities and the international airport by existing road and rail routes. The city itself will be the first modern community in the world to operate without fossil-fuelled vehicles at street level. With a maximum distance of 200 meters to the nearest rapid transport links and amenities, the city is designed to encourage walking, while its shaded streets and courtyards offer an attractive pedestrian environment, sheltered from climatic extremes. The land surrounding the city will contain wind and photovoltaic farms, research fields and plantations, allowing the community to be entirely energy self-sufficient.

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I would like to refer to the example of Masdar City since it is a real and successful precedent project that has been already built for the most part. I admired this project and chose it add to my precedent list. This project can be a great study case for those who are interested in sustainable urban planning. We do not have that many precedent projects on this scale that managed to take in consideration all these aspects of sustainable social, environmental, economic and architectural design elements.

The project as I see it is a great reminder for architects and all other professionals who are involved in urban planning, about the possibilities we already have within reach of our hands. Using renewable clean energy is not a myth. Creating an eco-balance between humans and their environment is not impossible.

The Masdar City project can be inspiring for those searching for solutions to the ecosystem problems on Long Island.

It is true that the conditions in Abu-Dhabi are different from what we have in Hicksville, but if they managed to do this much in the harsh desert environment that means we should be able to do more where we have more natural resources and easier conditions. Ecologic and social issues are generalizable to most of the world. Pollution, global warming, rising sea levels, population growth, fresh water supply and health concerns are common problems facing the international community. The whole world collectively faces the same dangers and it is good to study successful solutions to these issues anywhere in the world.

Life on this planet is facing more challenges and pressure which may cause a catastrophic end to life as we know it. It is more urgent than anytime before to listen to science and to start working as seriously as we can to stop the damage we inflicted on our environment. Repairing the environment is still possible thus far but not for much longer and these facts put more pressure on humanity to start immediate reparations before it too late.

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Issues of Concern and Inspirations

I know I was not the first one to think about new manor for designing and I am not the only one to agree that we did not design the suburbs smart enough. It is easy to realize the fact that we have created many environmental crises. Thinking about what do to overturn the damage we caused to our environment and create a sustainable solution to these challenges.

Long Island has a unique and diverse ecosystem. This rich and special ecosystem is a very delicate at the same time. The Island which was once covered by trees and a heaven habitat for thousands of species, nowadays has only a very small percentage of that treasure. We can not afford losing more natural habitats and green cover on Long Island and we need to increase and support these areas.

Improving water quality is not only essential for repairing marine life, but it is very important for many fishermen and seafood industry on the Island. Recharging the underground aquifer is another challenge because almost 65% of Long Island is developed. Life anywhere is impossible without water and Long Island has the most contaminated drinking water in whole New York State. This fact is shocking and everyone live on this Island must start acting immediately to stop the polluting water and reduce surface runoff.

Greenhouse gases emissions is one of the most serious problems on global and local scales. For many years this problem was ignored and for many complicated reasons this problem grew bigger and became number one threat to sustain life on Earth.

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Greenhouse gases pose a threat to public health, environment health, economy, food resources and almost all the pillars of life and basic resources. Greenhouse gases are the main reason to blame for the cause of global warming and this fact is scientifically proven. The high level of carbon dioxide gas came from combustion of fossil fuel in many sectors, but the transportation sector has been the largest generator of CO2. The most recent data for global Earth's atmosphere average concentration of CO2 as 412 ppm by volume (normal concentration is 280 ppm).

Hicksville as all Long Island is facing the impacts of the catastrophe we created to the ecosystem of Long Island. This town was established as a farming community that exported vegetables, has no farms nowadays. The area of Hicksville was once covered by large trees has less than 3% of its area covered with green parks and no natural forest land. Hicksville without any natural site is totally developed area.

Hicksville needs to reorganize a new eco-balance zoning system and a new vision to bring nature back to increase the immunity of the ecosystem. I want to design a local farming area on the site that can be served by the residents who can also benefit from the yield of this little farm. Large open green spaces and aggressive roof gardens can help reducing the surface runoff and increase the aquifer.

More trees and green areas no mater how big they are can help reducing CO2 concentration in the atmosphere and reduce the impacts of greenhouse gases emissions. Trees are necessary for bringing back some wildlife habitats to support many species like birds, squirrels, chipmunks…

My vision to propose to design a car-fee site, living and working option with shops and small businesses on site can reduce the dependence on driving and owning cars. This example of mix-use design can help saving commuting time, traveling expenses and reduce the GH emissions.

Working from home or personal small businesses have been increasing in the US and globally. I believe we will see more demand on working from home opportunities because the pandemic shutdown during 2020 has reshaped the employment policy for many sectors and opened more chances for remote learning and working from home. To build a sustainable economy we must support small businesses and local economy. Small businesses are important for creating jobs and support their communities financially.

I believe building a cooperative community with strong social relationship and to establish sustainable life and environment conditions and structures, can support our life quality and our ecosystem health. This vision is part of my belief in responsibility to create peaceful healthy life and not harm the chances of the future generation in enjoying great life conditions. Great life conditions.

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Can We Keep Long Island Beautiful?

What Can We Do as Designers to Help Long Island Ecosystem?

Energy has been a central point in architecture designing. Efficient building and smart design methods to reduce our energy consumption has reduce cost of energy and GHGs emissions significantly. In the last decade we have seen a revolution in renewable clean energy solutions. Renewable energy became more efficient and more affordable. New York State has updated its energy policy and goals to reach 100% carbon-free electricity generation by 2040. As commitment to Net-Zero building idea, I want to start designing building that can support our environment.

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Site Special Properties

Acceptable Walking Distances of Existing Facilities 12 minutes

20 minutes

5 minutes

19 minutes

Climate and other conditions make Hicksville a nice town to settle down in.

Residents of Hicksville have most of their essential facilities in a walking distance.

Hicksville Needs Walkable and Bikeable Friendly Design

The site can be an example for a safe walkable, bikeable and car-free experience

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Site Special Properties

Hicksville has a Moderate Climate for Living

https://www.bestplaces.net/climate/city/new_york/hicksville

Hicksville has the potentials for outdoor activities, biking and walking.

The Community of Hicksville

This design target is to provide a wide spectrum of the community in Hicksville, NY with living and work solutions

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My conclusions My proposal must meet with the sustainable standards for building a community: - Ecological standards:

Green open spaces, community farming garden, stormwater management, roof gardens, clean renewable energy, walkability, car-free site.

- Social standards:

Equality standards in design, options for all groups, community gathering spaces, walkable friendly circulation, local service assistance.

- Economical standards:

Small businesses, shops, farming gardens for the community, smart tech. availability, healthy and quality spaces.

After reviewing some precedent projects and proposals, I gathered many important ideas and solutions to the problems which the suburban communities in Long Island are facing. Most of the communities in Long Island shares very similar issues because they share the same social, economic, and environmental challenges. Long Island has a geographic unity and shares the same ecosystem.

I like that most of these proposals have diagnosed almost the same problem that makes Long Island suburbs less resilient and without many sustainable development visions or solutions.

These proposals confirmed the fact that we need to design new type of urbanism that takes in consideration the future of the Long Island and learning the lesson from our past failures.

Solutions for some of Long Island problems in these proposals can be summarized as: increase the population density, new zoning to allow mix-use buildings, renewable clean energy, zero-net buildings, social relationship between residents, new smart public transportation, green area, stormwater treatment, reusing abandoned and empty spaces, redesigning downtowns to make them walkable and eco-friendly…

Architects can play an essential part in future planning. Architects can do a lot to think globally while acting locally. I respect this responsibility and I take this challenge seriously to come out with a useful and exciting proposal which meets with these responsibilities.

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My Proposal

Back to Building Communities

Based on the principles for sustainable communities, I classified my design plan and goals to meet 1- Enhanced livability principle

2- Create opportunities for economic prosperity

3- Foster environmental responsibility

4- Embrace design excellence

5- Demonstrate visionary leadership and strong governance

Enhanced livability principle

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Opportunit ies for economic prosperity

Foster environme ntal responsibili ty

Embrace design excellence

visionary leadership and strong governance

Principles for Sustainable Communities

1- Enhanced livability principle;

In my proposal, there are different types and sizes of dwellings, commercial spaces, public facilities and services to fit the needs of a large spectrum of residents.

I took in consideration that my proposal must reflect the diversity of the community and to their inclusive environments for all ages, abilities, cultures and socio-economic backgrounds. Equal chances for all residents, a healthy and safe environment is an essential principle in my design.

Productive

Sustainable

Livable

2- Create opportunities for economic prosperity;

This site has been recognized as a commercial hub for many Islanders. I like to use the reputation and the location of this site to give the community more opportunities to invest and establish small businesses on site. I propose 35 greenhouses on site where the local residents can find more opportunities to work in agriculture and the fresh food industry. I proposed a community service building on site that will promote education ,learning, and learning. This community center can create more jobs and help adding skills and knowledge for the community. It is important to take care of the children of the residents, so I included a daycare in my design to support the locals and create more jobs and essential services on-site.

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Work From Home Commercial

3- Foster environmental responsibility;

One of my top priorities in this proposal is to respect the environmental systems, protect and restore the natural environment, and to reduce the ecological footprint of the buildings and the community in general.

To be more productive in my design, I concentrated on efficient building envelope systems, environmentally efficient systems for water, storm water collecting and waste management and reuse, onsite solar sustainable green energy generation and distribution, and waste by recycling bio-waste and compost for agricultural use and biogas generation.

Energy Efficiency Water Efficiency Renewable Energy 48

• Thermal improved Building envelope • Efficient thermal systems • Storm water collecting • Waste management and reuse • Onsite solar energy generation • Biogas generation

4- Embrace design excellence;

I considered density, mixed use buildings, connectivity and the protection of valuable land uses especially for agriculture and natural habitat. My aim behind this proposal is to reinforce a sense of place, support the community identity and to include local character within design. Reinforce a sense of connection with nature which was missing in most of our architectural designs and encourage high quality, integrated and safe public regional spaces that meet the needs of the local community.

5- Demonstrate visionary leadership and strong governance

To achieve a sustainable community we need a leadership and strong governance frameworks that are transparent, accountable and adaptable. Healthy sustainable community must build partnerships to build capacity and achieve a shared vision and deliver economic, social, cultural, and educational benefits for all.

I expect such a community to adapt to sustainable cultures and behaviors; raise awareness among each other and provide education and learning opportunities that enable more sustainable practices. I believe this type of a sustainable community can be a role model and a successful example to follow in other sites and similar locations to achieve results in all sectors.

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INTEGRATIVE DESIGN

Equal Opportunities

SOCIALLY FRIENDLY

WATER CONSERVATION

SMALL BUSINESS

RENEWABLE ENERGY

HEALTHY LIVING CONDITIONS

AGRICULTURE AND GREEN COVER

These goals I have set for my proposal are achievable. ‘Back to Building Community’ is not a dream but it is a practical design that can help solve some of the problems that we suffered from because of our mistakes in urban planning in the past.

Back to Building Community

Communities are like a pattern of colors. When we set a good background to present these colors, the result is a beautiful and meaningful picture where harmony and cooperation between all parts crystalize and attract the onlooker.

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My Proposal Details

My Proposal

Customer’s Parking Mix-Use Buildings

Community Center Residential Units

Playgrounds Greenhouse Field

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My Proposal Program • • • • • • • • • •

36 Extended family apartments 47 Duplex family apartments 48 Small apartments 110,000 ft² Commercial spaces 50,000 ft² Public center 7,650 ft² Daycare 35 Greenhouses for farming size 4,500 SF each 108,000 ft² Sports and playground area 120,000 ft² Solar rooftop 265 underground car parking spots, 115 overground car parking spots for customers.

• 45 different size underground storage units

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Before and After

Before and After

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Plans and Description

Underground Level Floor Plan

• 265 underground car parking spots • 115 overground car parking spots for customers.

• 45 different size underground storage units

Ground Level Floor Plan

• 110,000 ft² Commercial spaces • 50,000 ft² Public center • 7,650 ft² Daycare • 35 Greenhouses for farming size 4,500 SF each • 108,000 ft² Sports and playground area

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Residential Second Level Floor Plan

• 47 Duplex family apartments • 72,000 ft² aggressive roof garden

Site Floor Plan

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Residential Apartments Floor Plans

Extended Family Apartments Floor Plans Proposal

Duplex Family Apartments Floor Plans Proposal

Duplex First Level

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Duplex Second Level

Small Apartments Floor Plans Proposal

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I took in consideration the building codes and harmony with the site surrounding.

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Project Design Prospective Sections

Project Sections

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Project Design Sections

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Project Design Renderings

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Water Conservation

Storm Water can be refined and collected in a pool at the center of the community public area. Extra water over the storage capacity can be discharge to an underground water storage to be reused later for irrigation purposes.

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The Site can Support Aquifer Storage and Recovery Site area: 26.4 acres.

• Annual rainfall on site: 221,036 Gallons •

Based on L.I. averages, only 110,518 gallons of rainfall on site may end recharging the underground aquifer

•

Annual snow on site: 24,076 cubic yards

Recharging the aquifer storage is a necessity for life on Long Island.

Gray-water can be refined and reused as well.

Water Conservation on Site

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Mix-Use Commercial and Residential Buildings

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Program Diagram

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The commercial spaces benefit both the residents and the farmers to have more opportunities to work on-site.

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Renewable Green Energy On-Site Generation

Hicksville has Great Potential for Renewable Energy

Plenty of Sunny days and wind can help reducing cost of heating and cooling the spaces on the site

The site location is rich with natural resources that can be used to generate clean sustainable energy.

Renewable Solar Energy on Site

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Site Solar Position Diagram Summer

Winter

9 Hours of daytime

15 Hours of daytime

There is enough solar energy potential at the site (daily avg. 4.8 kWh per 1kW Standard PV array)

Shading at 9 am Winter and Summer Summer

Winter

Smart use of natural sun light can help reducing the energy demand on site.

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Onsite Renewable Solar Energy Generation Study • 120,000 ft² (11,150 m²) of solar rooftop (16.22 W/ft²) • Annual Avg. 4.6 kWh/m², Total energy generation avg.

12,310kWh/day • Ave. house electricity consumption 30- 40 kWh/day • Generation on site can power avg. 307- 410 houses • Energy consumption on site estimate avg 11,000 kWh/day • Meet 100% energy demand onsite, 26%- 32% extra energy

Based on the available technology to generate clean and green renewable energy, this site can be a role model for futuristic energy independent goal. New York State and USA energy policy trends are shifting towards 100% depending on clean and renewable energy in the in the next 2- 3 decades. So we need to start working to reach this goal before we will be forced by codes to do so.

Solar energy is the optimal choice to generate green sustainable energy on this site.

This proposal can be a net-zero project, as the site can generate roughly 30% more energy that it consumes.

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35 Greenhouses for Agricultural Use

Benefits of Greenhouse on Site

Eco-friendly

Compost Recycling

Food Safety

Organic Gardening

Green Economy

Solar Energy

Producing fruits and vegetables locally has many advantages.

Greenhouse Proposal with Solar Energy Generation

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Architecture & Agriculture: Pillars of Civilization

Jericho in Palestine was founded 14,000-year ago as an agricultural city.

Çatalhöyük in Tukey existed from 7100 BC to 5700 BC and flourished as an early agricultural civilization.

Ancient Egypt was indebted to the Nile River and its dependable seasonal flooding and build an empire on the basis of great agricultural wealth.

Urban Agriculture can be beneficial for the environment.

Agriculture has been related to civilization and architecture.

HISTORY OF URBAN ARCHITECTURE

Machu Picchu, Peru is an example of how architecture can include farming and agriculture to create a sustainable community.

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Precedent Architecture-Agriculture Projects

Biosphere 2

Oracle, AZ

The goal was to study the interactions between humans, farming, and technology within this “natural” environment.

I am not the first to have this vision in architecture, but I believe it can work for this site.

Semaphore in Strasbourg, France

The design is an ecological prototype of the green city of the future, working to achieve a symbiosis between humans and nature.

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Urbanana by SOA architects, Paris, France

This facility would grow bananas, and other edible plants unsuited to Paris’s climate, obviating the waste of transporting these products thousands of miles.

The 35 Greenhouses have benefits beyond this community.

Having these greenhouses can provide the community with food safety, more jobs, energy and biogas

Benefits of Recycling Biowaste on Site

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Special Building Envelope with High Thermal Performance

Efficient Thermal Envelope Systems

HDD @ 65 °F= 4777, CDD @65 °F= 1142 (Avg. cost to HDD, CDD $0.30- 0.50, efficient systems $0.15)

Efficient Building envelope with high thermal performance is a main element in my design.

Exterior Walls with Improved Thermal Performance

• • • • • • • •

¾ in. Wood Siding 1.5 in. Air Cavity ½ in ZIP system wall Sheeting ½” OSB sheathing 5.5” Extruded Polystyrene Foam (XPS) ½” OSB sheathing 1” Cavity ½” Gypsum finishing board

Exterior Wall System R-value = 40

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Total R=Value for this Wall System • If we have Wall-to-Window Ratio of 1/3 that means total R-value for the exterior SIP structure wall system = 3.27 +2 (40.94) / 3 = 28.38 °F⋅ft2⋅h/BTU. • With high Insulation traditional framing wall and with WWR of 1/3, total R-value for the wall exterior wall system= 3.27+ 2(27.26) / 3= 19.26 °F⋅ft2⋅h/BTU. • The thermal performance of traditional stud framing exterior walls is hard to matched the (IRC) requirement in climate zone 5, to be at least R-20 as a total R-value of exterior wall system.

It has a significant impact on energy consumption and indoor living quality.

Technology and building science can make a difference in our life.

Building Envelope with Better Thermal Performance If we increase the R-value of the exterior wall system in (residential buildings to R-40) and compare it to average present R-13 standard, - We may can reduce heating and cooling cost by 2/3 and HVAC systems would become only 13% of average residential building's energy consumption.

- We can reduce residential energy consumption by 26.7% per house.

- If become a national code, then total GHG in USA would drop by 4.8% of total GHG emissions in USA.

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Community Facilities

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Site Prospective from N.W Corner

Site Prospective from N.E Corner

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Site Prospective from S.E Corner

Site Prospective from S.W Corner

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Technology and building science can make a difference in our life.

My design will introduce a sustainable community with social bonds in harmony with its environment and more opportunities to work on site, which will reduce our dependence on cars and traveling.

This proposal was specially designed for the town Hicksville, but it could be an ideal solution for similar sites in other locations.

When we design new buildings today, we should understand that these building are going to be the buildings of the future. The impact of any design goes beyond the site of these projects.

I believe that my proposal was built on simple and practical principles. The need for creating a new architectural design that supports the human, their needs and their environment in a sustainable manner is very essential in facing the environmental crises we suffer from around the world. These goals are not a dream, but they are common sense in our life. We witness a global change to concentrate on building better and safer sustainable policies, codes and even a new style of life to help our generations to come and give them satisfying life conditions in the future. Future starts today.

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Back to Building Community

Thank You Ayman Helo ‫اﯾﻣن ﺣﻠو‬

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