Sustainable Design: The Future of Architecture in New York City

8/12/2019 Sustainable Design: The Future of Architecture in New York City

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Sustainable Design:The Future of Architecture in New York City

Written by Tom Seubert, Sifan Shen, Zara Hoffman,Michelle Sigalov, Rebecca Galpern, & Luke O’Dowd



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Sleek and shiny shapes. Stainless-steal and silvery structures. Chrome curvatures.Daring designs. This is what our future is becoming. They say, “gone with the oldand in with the new.” Well, this project has taken us on a journey to discover the“new,” futuristic ideas that bid the “old” adieu .

While a picture is worth a thousand words, we feel that the design and appeal ofa building has an indefinite value—architecture tells a story. An architect plans hisbuildings, watches them come into fruition and sets the ultimate goal of creatingsomething that sustains itself. We feel that architecture can be an excellent tool ineducating the public about the future of New York City. Architecture is somethingtangible. It is something we can photograph, visit and enter.

The importance of a sustainable New York City can be relayed effectively using amedium that is relatable to all. Architecture is this medium.

So, as indicated in our initial proposal and fortified by the work we havecompleted since, our final video project will explore various aspects of sustainablearchitecture with focuses on green roofs, LEED, Hearst Tower, and hopefully anarchitectural firm. The intended purpose of our video will be to educate ouraudience about these issues surrounding sustainable architecture and providesome insight to the future.

Since the submission of our initial proposal, we have made one major change inthe timeline/planning of the video. This change entailed switching the order ofinterviews and research. Initially, we planned to conduct interviews and then dothe bulk of our research. As time passed, this proved to be illogical. In order tohave excellent interviews we realized we needed to be as informed as possibleabout the topics we would discuss with professionals and the public.

This change has effected our project in a few, other ways. Our proposal promiseda script or, at the very least, an outline of our video. Since we have yet tocomplete professional interviews, we feel it would be imprudent to write a scriptfor the video.

Additionally, after the submission of our proposal, Luke was added to our group.This shifted some of our responsibilities. Luke was inserted as a researcher and as avideo editor. Obviously, this wasn’t mentioned in our initial proposal.

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The most important aspect of any educational video is to have an obvious,comprehensive theme. In the opening paragraphs of this report our video’s themeis obvious, but as one continues to read on and briefly look at a list of interviewsubjects and any research we have conducted, one might not be certain whatexactly our theme is or what we will focus on in our video. Upon first glance, itappears as if we only have a hodgepodge of sources and subtopics.

For a moment, analogize our ten-minute video to a road trip. The purpose of a tripis to get from a point of origin to an intended destination. For this project, our originis an audience uneducated about sustainable architecture, and our destination isan audience informed about these issues. Like any good road trip, there will bestops and detours along the way. We will cover all of our theme’s background, butbackground can be tedious. In order to maintain our audience’s interest, we willmake some stops and take some detours to talk about various philosophies

guiding architectural planning, the past, the future, LEED certifications, HearstTower and green roofs. Enjoy the ride!

In class we looked at some radical ideas involving a total reconstruction of NewYork City. For example, we examined the Architecture Research Office’s 2006 planto construct a futuristic Manhattan that assumes a gradual rise in sea levels.

Replacing streets with “vanes,” even the authors of this plan admit their ideas arenot feasible in every part of the city. However, the philosophy behind this conceptof a futuristic Manhattan is significant because it emphasizes “out of the box”thinking and forces us to consider throwing out the conventional while embracingideas that seem impossible. (Yarinksky, Adam. 2008. “Envisioning Radical Futures-New York City 2106: Back to the Future” Places 20-2)

We also took a look at the British Headquarters Map from 1782, which gives us aglimpse of Manhattan before rapid urbanization drastically transformed the island.Because our project focuses on sustainable architecture, we think it’s important to

look at the natural landscape of Manhattan. This gives us clues about where andhow new structures should be constructed. For example, locations that once werehome to wetlands are more prone to flooding today. We therefore need to ensurestructures in these locations are able to withstand frequent floods. A city, orbuilding that embraces nature will be more sustainable in the long run than onethat simply tries to “conquer” it. (Sanderson, Eric W., and Marianne Brown. 2007.“Mannahatta: An Ecological First Look at the Manhattan Landscape prior to HenryHudson.” Northeastern Naturalist 14 (4): 545–570.)

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In that same vein of thought, we spent a class focusing on the fallout fromHurricane Sandy, and we saw that it’s practically impossible to stop the sheerforce of nature. Climate change is expected to cause sea levels to risesignificantly over the coming decades, further exacerbating the impact of stormsand flooding. Today, the city has two options. The first is to attempt to combat sealevel rise with flood-walls and other barriers. The second is a more proactiveapproach. Essentially, this second approach involves learning to coexist and

adapt to climate change and the higher frequency of natural disasters by buildingsustainable structures. It’s important that we transform New York into an urbanenvironment that is able to withstand floods, storms and other natural disasters.Through architectural planning and better placement of critical infrastructure thiscan be achieved. (New York City Panel on Climate Change. 2013. “Climate RiskInformation 2013: Observations, Climate Change Projections, and Maps”. NewYork, NY.)

These selected class topics and supportive readings show that, for centuries, manhas always positioned himself against nature. Nature was something that neededto be fought, tamed, and even destroyed to make way for human “progress.” Wesaw this in the industrial revolution, in the building of the nation’s great cities, andeven in the Italian futurism sections discussed in class. Today, however, thedynamic between humanity and nature is changing. We plan to utilize thediscussion instigated by this changing dynamic and substantiated by classreadings, to fuel the narrative of our film.

To support, enhance, and expand upon classroom materials, we have conductedadditional research. This section summarizes two of our most significant findings inregards to green/blue roofs and the Hearst Tower.

The Guidelines for the Design and Construction of Stormwater Management System,a New York City Department of Environmental Protection publication, highlights thevarious ways in which storm water can be diverted or used as a resource. Itspecifically highlights blue roofs and green roofs as excellent measures to betterutilize storm water.

According to the guidelines, blue roofs allow ponded water to precipitate throughroof drains. Weirs, located on roof drain inlets, restrict water flow. The text goes on tosay that green roofs also aid in storm water run-off but in a slightly different manner.Green roofs consist of vegetative layers that grow in treated soil placed above adrain system. Green roofs hold storm water in soil and utilize storm water throughvegetative uptake and evapotranspiration.



Hearst Tower

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According to the NYCDEP’s webpage, the NYCDEP is in the process of conductinga study on the differences between blue and green roofs. They have built both ablue roof and green roof on top of PS 118, located in Queens, and they plan toanalyze the effectiveness of the two structures. Looking to the future ofarchitecture, blue and green roofs will play key roles in making buildings moresustainable.

Another storm water management measure outlined in the NYCDEP’s guidelines isfeatured at the Hearst Tower. This building doesn’t have a green roof, rather, itcollects rainwater and stores it in the basement. The water is then used to humidifythe indoor atmosphere and irrigate surrounding trees. This can be seen in the PBSdocumentary titled Treasures of New York: Hearst Tower .

Also seen in the documentary is a theme present in our coursework—radical ideasare crucial to the success of urban green architectures. When William RandolphHearst initiated the construction of Hearst Tower, he envisioned a tall building thatrivals today’s 47-story Times Square Tower. Unfortunately, his vision was underminedby the Great Depression. Only the base of Hearst Tower was built in 1928, but its

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Research is good, but research coupled with fieldwork is great. In order to literally“cover more ground” and have a greater presence in the field, we divided upfieldwork responsibilities.

Rebecca , in preparation for an interview with sustainable architecture firm 1100architect, has visited and photographed their building for the New York PublicLibrary in Battery Park City. This LEED gold-certified branch of the NYPL has wonseveral awards for interior design, and features innovative strategies to achievesustainability, making it a perfect building to focus on. Rebecca has also reachedout to the Brooklyn Children’s Museum (the first LEED-certified museum), inquiringabout their green education program and has requested an interview with noresponse.

Sifan has visited the Hearst tower, which is New York City’s first LEED gold-certifiedskyscraper. Utilizing his personal connections, Sifan has secured an interview with

Thomas Knapp, head of the Hearst Crisis Management Team. Like Rebecca’spotential interview, Sifan’s interview corresponds directly to his fieldwork, thus,allowing him to become an expert on one particular structure.

Michelle’s fieldwork, unlike that of Sifan and Michelle, centers on researchinggreen roofs. Michelle has visited structures featuring green roofs and hascontacted New York Green Roofs for an interview with no response.



Luke has been researching possible connections between our class readings andthe concepts of our video, and has also reached out to Jason Kliwinski of the U.S.Green Building Council to no avail.

Tom and Zara have been tasked with conducting public opinion interviews, askingBaruch students what they think about the future of sustainable architecture.Together they have collected a variety of responses that showcase a range ofopinions and knowledge on our video’s theme. These interviews will contrast withthe interviews of professionals, and will also document the level of knowledge thegeneral public has regarding issues of sustainability and architecture.

Our collected fieldwork provides a strong basis for our film going forward. Withmost fieldwork completed, we are excited to move into the interviewing andediting stages of our project.

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Michelle has researched green roofs and infrastructures and has maintainedcontact with gbNYC associate Stephen Del Percio, one of the first attorneys in thecountry to earn LEED AP designation, as well as New York Green Roofs, a leadingfirm in the field. She is also responsible for visiting and photographing greeninfrastructures at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens, the Brooklyn Academy of Music,and the Jacob Javits Center, amongst other locations.

Tom has put his talents as a journalist to use in conducting public opinion interviewswith Baruch students. Tom also serves as the editor for all of our research materialsand written reports, including the proposal and midterm paper. In addition to that,he has kept detailed records of our progress and has helped the team setconcrete goals.

Zara has also been in charge of conducting public opinion interviews. In additionto that, she has photographed green locations such as the Cooper Union buildingand the Highline, and has contributed to our research of green buildings,specifically by investigating architectural publications.

Rebecca has visited, filmed and photographed the New York Public LibraryBattery Park location, which was designed by 1100 architect. She has reached outto leading architects in the firm. Rebecca has also been researching sustainabilitypractices as a whole. She is also familiar with the connection between librariesand social change, as discussed in “Greening Libraries” by Monika Antonelli.



Sifan , who has researched LEED and the Hearst Tower, has secured our maininterview. Some of his sources include the PBS special Treasures of New York and“Why LEED Certification Matters” by the US Green Building Council. He will beleading our video’s discussion of LEED, recording the Hearst Tower tour andconducting an interview with Thomas F. Knapp, head of Hearst Tower’s CrisisManagement Team.

Luke has connected class-readings to our video and has been aiding the entireteam in connecting their research to the class discussion. He will also be in chargeof editing our video, which includes compiling and cutting clips for the final videopresentation. Luke has been working closely with Tom to aid the group withinterview preparation and has worked on aesthetic aspects of our midterm report.

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We plan to have all of our interviewing completed by the start of Spring Break,

and we also want to have our video’s script completed by this time. This will leaveus with the last few weeks of the semester to work on editing and finalizing thevideo. Tom will focus on writing a script with Michelle. Zara will use her curatinginterests to work on visual aspects of the video. Sifan, Luke, and Rebecca have allexpressed interest and have shown talent in using iMovie. Luke will be our“director” but the nature of the editing and producing process will becollaborative.

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Sustainable Design: The Future of Architecture in New York City