REBECCA, RENEE, & NITASHA
Renee, Nitasha, & Rebecca
Professor Rickenbacker
The Anne and Bernard Spitzer School of Architecture City College
2019
The New Riverbank State Park;
A look at the housing conditions and community spaces around 135th Street, & a conversation about what green looks like in the city.
Consistent redevelopment of areas in the New York City area has become more prevalent as all the new commercial development along 125th St and new zoning developments along East Harlem.
Affordable housing programs have been provided over time to assist the issue of market rate housing being too pricey and not accessible by type general public. However housing costs have gone up and maintenance cannot be paid for due to difficulties.
The cost of the land in New York City is one of the prime reasons affordable housing apartments cannot self-sustain itself over time. The solution to these problems are to not demolish and rebuild housing, but to add onto currently built or recently refurbished housing as the land has already been paid for and the money can be used for maintaining these apartment complexes
Riverbank state park has a unique condition that it sits out on the Hudson River. It is owned by both New York City and New York State, it is city owned and leased out to the state
A Heat Island is an urban area or metropolitan area that is significantly warmer than its surrounding rural areas due to human activities. These decrease air quality by increasing the production of pollutants such as ozone, and decreases water quality as warmer waters flow into area streams and put stress on their ecosystems. The current layout of the Riverbank park has a high Heat Island effect due to the large amount of man-made surfaces.
In our proposal, we consense the program and “hide” it under the topography. The form of our design helps reduce the heat-island effect by using the shape of the slopes to drive the wind in specific directions. There is a huge increase in green space as well.
PARK ADMINISTRATION COMMERCIAL FACILITIES SPORTS FACILITIES COMMUNIT Y FACILITIES PARK
1. TRACK AND FOOTBALL FIELD
2. BASEBALL DIAMOND
3. SWIMMING HALL
4. TENNIS COURTS
5. BASKETBALL COURTS
6. HANDBALL COURTS
7. SKATING RINK 8. ATHLETICS
AMPHITHEATER
LOCKER
16. RESTAURANTS/CAFES 17. RETAIL 18. PARK SERVICE 19. PARK SUPPORT 1 2 3 4 5 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 15 16 17 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 18 19 5 10 10 18 19 14 6 16 16 20. HOUSING HOUSING 20
9. WATER PLAY AREA 10. PLAYGROUNDS 11. CULTURAL CENTER 12. PICNIC AREA 13. COMMUNIT Y GARDENS 14.
15.
ROOMS
Housing Hill + Commercial
This stacked housing hill has commercial and community areas tucked underneath. The housing is modular and can be configured as studio, one, two or three bedroom apartments. As the units are stacked, there is ample space for garden terraces. The traditianal double loaded corridors have been expanded to serve as community space for residents.
Pictured here is some of the community recreational space located underneath the housing units
Cast into the current site is a swimming pool. We’ve left it in place and formed a hill of bleachers over top. In addition to the pool being in this area, we also included a community center, as well as some other amenities.
To the left is an artistic rendering of the new pool area.
