URBAN DESIGN CLIMATE LAB : Net-Zero District for New York City

Student Interim Pin-Up – Early-April 2020

In this Graduate Urban Design Studio, students are researching the intersection of urban form, low-carbon cities, and climate to confront a rapidly urbanizing world threatened by climate change. Students are configuring a compact district in Brooklyn, NYC to adapt and thrive in changing climate conditions, meet carbon-reduction goals, and sustain urban population. In keeping with the studio’s Social Resilience theme in response to sudden external shocks to our city (storms, disease, heat wave, power failure), the Design Studio proposes a radical “closed-loop” Net-Zero hypothesis for the Gowanus district in Brooklyn. From Food to Energy, Waste, Water, Transportation and Embodied Energy, Students are incorporating a variety of modes of investigation to map and diagram the condition of the 2050 net-zero district. They are finding new knowledge that leads to the construction of a district, a hypothesis of its characteristics, and scenarios for its future. Ultimately, the Studio envisions the easing of “closed loop” restrictions, but keeping innovative strategies on the table as the district opens to the surrounding city.

Faculty: Jeffrey Raven and Michael Esposito