Chapter Projects

Date started: 2006 Date completed: 2009 Background The High Bridge was an engineering marvel of its time when it opened in 1848. It was modeled after Roman aqueduct bridges and became an essential part of the Old Croton Aqueduct that brought fresh drinking water to Manhattan from the Croton River in Westchester. The bridge was open to pedestrian traffic and elegant strolls across it quickly became a popular weekend activity. But when the aqueduct closed in the 1950s, public access to the High Bridge was eventually discontinued. In an effort to reopen this historical city and national landmark, volunteers were needed to help raise funds and provide design schemes that would ultimately restore the city’s oldest crossing. Objectives Architecture for Humanity New York volunteered to work with Partnerships for Parks, the High Bridge Coalition, and the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation to help raise funds and draft a vision for the High Bridge and its adjacent parks. Key objectives of the redevelopment plan included: • Re-establish the High Bridge as a popular destination and a unique interborough crossing • Continue telling the story of the bridge's historic and cultural significance • Improve the Bronx and Manhattan parks that serve as neighborhood gateways to the bridge • Increase public waterfront access to the Harlem River Solutions A High Bridge Catalyst Project grant from Partnerships for Parks was awarded to Architecture for Humanity New York for the organization of a community design charrette. Participants interacted with the High Bridge community and were tasked with brainstorming ideas for the adaptive reuse of the aqueduct gatehouses. The charrette included entrants from Parsons Scholars, a college prep program offered by Parsons School of Design. Results $62 million was ultimately raised to have the historic bridge restored. By 2013, the reopened High Bridge will be an essential link in New York City’s expanding waterfront Greenway. It will allow Bronx residents to reach the Highbridge Pool and Recreation Center and Manhattan residents to reach the Harlem River waterfront. When the High Bridge is reopened, it will be the city’s only interborough bridge that is exclusively for pedestrians and bicyclists. Funding & Support New York City Department of Parks & Recreation City Parks Foundation Partnerships for Parks Mayor Bloomberg’s PlaNYC initiative ($50 million in funding) Congressman José E. Serrano (additional funding) Related links NYC Parks & Recreation: http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_about/parks_divisions/capital/parks/high_...

Date started: 2005 Date completed: 2008 Background Broadway Community Inc. (BCI) began as a soup kitchen in the basement of Broadway Presbyterian Church in Morningside Heights in 1981. BCI serves people in need from all backgrounds, regardless of age, ethnicity, gender identity, nationality, religion, or sexual orientation. Over the years, with the support of Care for the Homeless, a non-profit organization committed to providing direct services for homeless, BCI expanded to provide additional homeless outreach services. In 2007, Care for the Homeless received a grant from the U.S. Department of Heath and Human Services. A portion of the grant was allocated to help fund a much-needed renovation of BCI’s 500 square-foot medical clinic. However, the funding could not cover the entire cost of renovations. Objective Architecture for Humanity New York was asked to create a design and implement construction for the renovation that would help maximize its restricted budget. Solutions Architecture for Humanity New York 's design included a new exam room, triage space, two counseling rooms, two offices, a reception area, copy center, and storage. Efficient design solutions included the installation of sliding translucent doors to maximize the compact space, built-in desks topped with Corian for extended durability, a new lighting scheme to brighten the working areas, and a new floor to cover the once-open plumbing trough. Additionally, since the space is occupied each day as a shelter and soup kitchen, it was important to use No-VOC paint and formaldehyde-free insulation - made of recycled blue jeans - in the walls, so neither product would pollute the environment with toxic volatile organic compounds. Architecture for Humanity New York partnered with GO Construction Corporation, a local contractor, for completion of the project’s construction. Results Through creative thinking and the generous donation of time, services, and materials, the renovation came in on time and on budget. Debbian Fletcher-Blake, Care for the Homeless’ Director of Clinical Programs, stated: “[the agency] is so grateful for the generous donation of time, services and materials by so many on behalf of so many. The result is a clinic that is not only cost effective and aesthetically pleasing, but one that, most importantly, enhances the dignity and care accorded to our clients.” Funding & Support Architecture for Humanity New York acquired generous donations from local design services: 3-Form (Ecoresin Doors), Hafele (Door + Cabinet Hardware), Bettencourt Green (AFM Safecoat Paint + Bonded Logic Denim Insulation), among others.

Park(ing) Day is an international event that reclaims over 200 parking spots in 50 countries around the world and transforms them into engaging public spaces for one day a year (Friday, Sept. 19). These small, temporary public spaces provide a breath of relief from the auto-clogged streets of New York City, and aim to spark a dialogue about our valuable public space and how we choose to use it. Our Park(ing) Spot AFHny received a mini-grant of $200 to design, construct and manage a parking spot for the day long event. Our goal was to transform our space into an outdoor art studio/workshop, to let New Yorkers contemplate the people, architecture, energy and trash of the city around them. Our team of volunteers designed and constructed our parking space on Madison Avenue, between 73rd and 74th Streets (one block south of the Whitney), and then managed that space throughout the day of the event, encouraging passers-by to sit, observe the city, and join us in drawing, sketching, and conversation. We collected the sketches created during the morning and afternoon, and displayed them in the evening, turning the parking space into an impromptu art exhibition.

The project we are proposing is called ARTfarm and as the name suggests, it derives inspiration from the Bronx Museum and the local farmers market. The site selected was a Step Street on 180 E 165th Street between Grand Concourse and Sheridan Avenue in Bronx. There is a weeded, run down area surrounding these steps. The site has multiple levels that allows us to transform this space into an interactive urban space for the local community. A farmers market is held every few days close to the site which gave us the idea of creating a green community space. The site is also close to the Bronx Museum which gave us the reason to make this space not only communal and green but artistically inclined. Our proposal included planters of varied sizes, shapes, colors and materials with perennials that last the season and longer. We have been working with found objects like cabinet doors and elliptical tubing materials to create these planters. Other than that we have been trying to get the local community involved in the process of creating this communal space. With the help of the Bronx Museum, we participated in their family affair day where the children from the community painted planters. We plan on encouraging ownership of this space by asking neighboring households, bodegas, etc to adopt a planter in the site and look after its upkeep. The installation will sport a mix of community, culture and art.