Gowanus by Design is proud to present Water_Works our second annual design and planning competition. This competition focuses on the post-industrial development of a contaminated site in the canal watershed that offers the challenge of rethinking how a new community resource can become an agent for remediation within a diverse urban context. The theme of this competition is framed in the following question:
Can a new community center and remediation facility on a heavily contaminated State Superfund site be designed to strengthen the urban infrastructure and educate the community about environmental challenges facing the area?
Gowanus by Design is invested in developing appropriate urban planning solutions that address an extraordinarily complex issue. During the jury review, it was agreed that even though there were many evocative submissions, no single entry fully addressed the myriad and difficult challenges presented by the competition brief. Therefore, rather than awarding first place, second place, and a handful of honorable mention winners, it was decided that there should be three winners in three categories: Urban Ecology, Architectural Design, and Community Programming.