brooklyn superblock

6th semester - Spring 2019

“Integrated Housing Studio”
Prof. Mersiha Veledar, Prof. Hayley Eber, Prof. Inaqui Carnicero

The Cooper Union

The design is intended to enhance the socially disadvantaged neighborhood of East New York, which has suffered from the shortage of cultural, educational and public amenities.

To create a sequence of new urban spaces, the apartment block which was created as a volumetric extrusion of the Brooklyn Block (approximately 70 by 150 meters) is raised from street level by steel trusses and columns. The extension of the street level into the walkable truss level, the sunken piazza beneath and the public interior within the urban bridges offer premises for cultural and educational opportunities for children and adults.

The block can be accessed from two adjacent streets, with eight entrances to the truss level and four pair of stairs to the lower piazza. The private circulation for residents: external corridors and four vertical cores, is located along the inner block perimeter.

The typology of the living space is based on a matrix of private (sleeping and working) and shared areas (cooking, eating, living), together with a central wet area for sanitary facilities, which is layouted around the block perimeter. The 3-storey building contains 200 units based on 5 unit types, varying from 30 m2 to 70 m2, 1 to 4 bedrooms, that can be further joined or detached. The 6 m by 6 m column grid, as well as the prefabricated light- weight steel construction, allow for structural and programmatic flexibility, which responds to the changing residential structure of affordable housing in New York City.