Architecture firm Kohn Pedersen Fox has designed the redevelopment of a public housing complex in Brooklyn that was ravaged by hurricane Sandy eight years ago.
Called the Red Hook Sandy Resiliency + Heart Program, the project involves the renovation of housing developments built on reclaimed land near the water in Red Hook, a neighbourhood in Brooklyn.
Thousands of its residents were left without power and access to supplies for over two weeks following the 2012 Superstorm Sandy.
KPF has designed the redevelopment of public housing in Red Hook that was left devastated by Superstorm Sandy
KPF's scheme involves a resiliency and renewal programme designed to lessen the community's vulnerability to natural disasters. It is also intended to improve the sustainability and livability of the New York City Housing Authority Red Hook Houses' 28 buildings, housing over 6,000 people. "Any sites that are potentially threatened sites and that are close to, or built on reclaimed land, have a threat of flooding," design principal Hana Kassem told Dezeen. "I don't think that we can propose anything in a blindsided way anymore."
Designs include an unobtrusive "lily pad" concept whereby a series of raised flood barriers, disguised as internal courtyards double up as social spaces.
Though their function is primarily utilitarian, the lily pads were designed to add value to the community.
It includes a freestanding plant that functions as both an above-ground boile...