GOWANUS 

The Gowanus Canal has a long history, it was an area that has experienced many different transitions throughout the time. It started off as a place that has many fresh seafoods, then the city became overcrowded, factories moved to Gowanus. This led to pollution mainly caused by coal-handling and oil plants. And although these factories and plants have relocated later on, the pollution greatly impacted the area and left traces throughout time. 

LAND USE

From these diagrams, it can be seen that many industrial building was situated around this area. And early on, many chemical and oil plants were by the river that caused the pollution. A visual map was made accordingly. From 1942 to 2012 a dramatic change is seen. 

ANALYSIS OF INDUSTRIAL BUSINESSES 2013

• 18 out of 38 businesses are marketing themselves as green 
• 27% of the businesses are using non-toxic materials in products 
• 30% have performed in energy efficiency
• 38% uses energy efficient products 
• 40% are reusing materials 

This is a sustainable food system, in it is a vertical farm, a brewery, bar, and a restaurant. The brewery and the vertical farm also serves for educational use. The concept of the design focused on the transition and pollution of the Gowanus Canal. The idea is to let people see the transition and remember what happened to this area and remind and make people more aware of the things we have done that destroyed our environment. Initially, the idea was to focus on creating recycled materials and use it on the facade to make a statement to the people. However, the focus was later shifted to showing transition between different phrases of Gowanus Canal through structure and design. In the plan, compost is situated at the basement, followed by the recycling center on the ground floor, the brewery, the farm, and restaurant on the upper floors, with the idea of creating a gradual transition from dirt to cleanliness. Around the elevator core, there is a compost shoot, on every floor. The compost then would be used at the vertical farm or the outdoor landscape as fertilizer. This creates a cycle.