Aquapelagic Infrastructures – The Big Pitch

By David Erdman

"This student-based research reconsiders the role of affordable housing as a catalytic vehicle for building a decentralized green-blue, flood and water reuse infrastructure that addresses the increased frequency of severe rain events, rising tides and drought in the Tri-State area. In partnership with the NYC Department of Environmental Protection, Arup, Scalgo (a leading hydrological software company), through the engagement of community partners Asian Americans For Equity and the Waterfront Alliance and with feedback from the NYC Economic Development Corporation and The Mets owners, the research uses the Willet’s Point site as a demonstration of how to build for 2100 in low lying areas across the five boroughs; focused on UNSDG's 11, 6 and 14.

Using the original 1968 plans for Flushing Meadows, the UN Water Conference plans developed with Pratt in 2023 and recent studies developed by the Water Front Alliance which “daylight” Flushing Creek in greater or lesser magnitudes, the proposals reshape shorelines and resituate Willet’s Point as a gateway for transit, commerce, housing and cultural activities that brings together the neighborhoods of Corona, Flushing and College Point. The three proposals coalesce networks of roof-facade assemblies with elevated grounds as the primary surfaces of capture for water reuse. They pitch and filter through natural green-blue infrastructures such as rain gardens, swales, wetlands, ponds and canals for internal gray water usage and for discharge.

Using gravity-fed conveyance systems as sources of hydroelectric energy and assessing capacities with Scalgo and Arup, the projects seek to reduce demand on upstate reservoirs for gray water, hold water reserves for major storm events and reduce increasing, long-term costs for water and power for the residents and surrounding communities. The historically toxic, post-industrial site is elevated, remediated through housing which cleans the water over time to help improve water quality in the Flushing Bay and Flushing Creek."