2013_UMN MLA Capstone- Olsen: URBAN WATER MARGINS, Gowanus Canal, Brooklyn, NY

Urban Water MarginsResiliency + Adaptation for an Urban Coastal Community

Eric P OlsenMay 2013

University of Minnesota

Table of Contents

Project Intent Analysis - Nationwide Analysis - Gowanus: History Analysis - Gowanus: Current Analysis - Gowanus: Community Involvement + Action Hurricane Sandy - Gowanus: Game Changer Analysis - Gowanus: Future Planning - Gowanus 2080 Planning - New Vision 2080 Planning - Protect, Produce, Transition Planning - Food, Fuel, Filters Planning - Cultivate, Create Recap - Adapted + Resilient: Gowanus 2080 Bibliography Thank You

The coastal areas of the United States are some of the highest populated and most beloved places in the country. With cities such as New York, Boston, Los Angeles and others, the U.S. coasts are home to some of the largest and most important cities in the entire world. Coastal areas are an extremely interesting area of interstitial membranes between larger landmass concentrations and the open ocean, and often act as the gateway between a certain place and the rest of the world. Add this to the fact that they are often recreational meccas immediately adjacent to economic hubs, and you have the perfect recipe for successful cities and communities.

However, living in a coastal area also comes with certain implications that living in areas further inland often does not. Water, the very aspect that makes them such incredible places to live, work, and travel to, also comes with a unique set of challenges and risks. Everything from managing our impacts on water, to dealing with the impacts it can have on us is constantly in play for coastal areas. However, this fact can often be forgotten, or easily pushed aside.

The intent of this project was to evaluate how life in coastal areas is unique, and to understand how that uniqueness should drive the way we think about living in these areas. More specifically, the project set out with a goal to understand how the recent natural disaster of Hurricane Sandy along the east coast might have proved as a wake up call for how we need to address the development of coastal areas in the future. What existing paradigms related to our future planning might Hurricane Sandy have challenged? What issues reemerged as pressing and important to address a result of the storm? The main goal of Urban Water Margins was to evaluate the impacts of Hurricane Sandy on the coastal areas of the United States, and to understand how the storm event may have brought about a change in the paradigm of how coastal areas approach the future of their communities.

Project Intent

Analysis - Nationwide

What would the world be like if there was no water?

Water is what makes Earth, Earth. As far as we can decipher, water is the main ingredient needed in the mash up of required building blocks for life to exist. Thus, without water there is no life, and every living thing on earth should be extremely thankful that our planet just happens to fall within that range in the solar system where large amounts of liquid water sticking around for many millions of years is possible. Yet, even though we are bound to life by water, and cannot survive without it, humans often seem to have a very hard time living with water as well. Everywhere form the Red River Valley of North Dakota to the beaches of Louisiana, people are often at odds with water. On the one hand, water is great for us in that it sustains our life, transports our goods, and carries our waste away, but, at the same time, its floods and hurricanes can destroy our communities. Thus water and humans live in a constant state of flux between the good and the bad, the give and the take.

With the recent event of Hurricane Sandy devastating areas along the east coast, the opportunity has arisen to take a new look at how we manage the way we live in areas that are so heavily impacted by water on a daily basis. Thus, this project began with a critical analysis into what the coasts of this country are like, and how water impacts the situations of its adjacent communities.

The United States has an extremely interesting coastal boundary. In total, the continental United States has almost 5,000 miles of coastal shoreline. Of that 5,000 miles, 3,700 miles (75%) of the U.S. coast is susceptible to hurricane and tropical storm events. This fact becomes even more staggering when one considers that 123 million people are living in our coastal counties today. Coastal areas have seen a 40% increase since 1970, and are expected to see another 8% increase from their current levels by 2020. Additionally, coastal areas are already the most dense areas in our country averaging 446 persons per square mile (the average U.S. density is 105 persons per square mile). This information is staggering, and leads to the formulation of an interesting equation.

water + people = ?

How do we begin to approach how we live with water along coastal areas in the future?

+

In addition to understanding the trends related to the human-water interaction on a national scale, it will be important to have a more intimate understanding of these issues and trends. The Gowanus Canal and adjacent communities in Brooklyn, NY provides an exceptional opportunity to better understand what this project is about on a community scale.

The Gowanus Canal is a good point of study for a number of reasons. First off, the canal is not unique in its situation, so strategies developed here could be used as a model for many other places along the entire eastern and southern coasts. Secondly, the canal has been well documented and previously studies, providing a great platform from which to jump further into the identified issues.

How can the Gowanus Canal become a model of resiliency and adaptation for coastal areas dealing with climate change and natural disaster in the future?

17821766

Analysis - Gowanus - History

The Gowanus canal was historically a tidal creek, known early on in American settlement for its incredible oyster fishing. The first settlers of this area were originally from the Netherlands, which is interesting to note, especially given the canals current status as an area that will be dealing with much greater impacts from sea water and flooding in the future. The maps below show the transformation of the area from 1766 - 1844, just before the approval for, and construction of the canal.

1836 1844

1848 1942

Analysis - Gowanus - History

The canal, in some sense, was a response to the construction of the Eire Canal, which allowed for the rapid industrialization of New York City, and thus, created a great need for more industrial area along waterfronts. Over the years, the industry around the canal grew rapidly, and hit its highest point in the early to mid 1900s. Since then, the canal has seen varying levels of industrial decline and much of the adjacent area is now in some type of post industrial land use, although some industrial uses are still functioning.

20091951

Current conditions along the canal include post industrial landscapes, working industrial areas, and areas of heavy pollution from both industrial practices, and from combined sewer overflow (CSO)outlets into the canal.

Analysis - Gowanus - Current

Water & Edge Condition

Edge Conditions

Adjacent Vacancies

Canal Industry & Bridge

Personal Photos

Canal Pollution

Signage

CSO Outfall Area.

CSO Outfall Area.CSO Outfall Area.

The Gowanus is at an interesting point between two completely different paradigms of ownership and care. Prior to recent reinvestment efforts by adjacent communities, the canal was a backyard, dump area. The post industrial nature of the landscape, combined with existing pollution issues allowed for a place that was easy not to care about, and many illegal dumping sites of garbage and other waste were established along the length of the canal.

However, recently there has been a resurgence of investment by adjacent communities into the canal. Organizations such as the Gowanus Canal Conservancy, the Urban Divers, the Gowanus Dredgers, and the Gowanus by Design group (among many others) have spurred new interest in what the canal could be if it were treated in a better manner. The paradigm of canal treatment is in a very visible shift towards that of stewardship and care, and away form the misuse and maltreatment of prior years.

Vacant Lot Adjacent

Adjacent Street Condition

Industrial Relics, New Development, and Distant SkylinePersonal Photos

Analysis - Gowanus - Current

Watershed and Hydrology

Brownfield Locations

Maps from Remediation Infrastructure - Heather Fuhrman 2009

Maps from Remediation Infrastructure - Heather Fuhrman 2009

One of the reasons the canal is so interesting as a starting point for this project is due to all of the existing issues in the area. The canal was previously identified as a Superfund site, and the pollution issues associated with that have caused much discussion and debate among the community, city, and the EPA over recent years. The EPA recently came out with their plan to clean up the canal, and is working towards getting that project started.

In addition to the pollution issues from previous industrial land uses, the canal is constantly being subjected to millions of gallons of raw sewage being dumped into it via a significant number of sewer outfalls along its banks. The sewer systems of the communities adjacent to the canal area combined, so sanitary and rain water all enters the same system before it is moved to a treatment plant for processing. However, the areas around the canal put so much pressure on their sewer systems from sanitary sources, that any time there is a rain event, the sewers reach a level where overflow levels are achieved, and the water that cannot be handled by the sewer system is dumped into the canal. This not only creates a smelly and disgusting situation, but also a dangerous one for wildlife and people.

Existing Land Use

Map from the City of New York Department of City Planning

CSO Outfalls

Environmental Analysis

Map from Remediation Infrastructure - Heather Fuhrman 2009

Map from the City of New York Department of City Planning

A large amount of analysis has already been done at the canal by other students and professionals who have worked on projects in the area. This project utilized this already compiled information about the pollution levels and combined sewer overflow locations and impacts as a jumping off point for further explorations.

Soil Contaminant Behavioral Properties

Map from Remediation Infrastructure - Heather Fuhrman 2009

Parking Lots

Impervious Roofs 100,001 s.f. - +

Impervious Roofs 50,001 s.f. - 100,000 s.f.


In addition to all of the analysis and research found that had already been done on issues of pollution and CSOs around the canal, this project pushed even further into the causes of sewer overflows during rain events. A new set of questions was formulated that began to frame all of the impervious surfaces as possible assets to the area, instead of issues. When this viewpoint is considered, it is important to understand what each of the different types of impervious surfaces adjacent to the canal are. It is also important to know how much of an impact each surface type has to the overall problem, as well as how much impact per entity (the ratio of impact, i.e. 7% of the total impact from 19 properties vs. 35% of the impact from 2000 properties) is associated with each impervious surface type.

Impervious surface types were broken down into various categories, and were then categorized based on their size and location to the canal. These mapping exercises proved helpful in understanding where opportunities for interventions may lie further into the design process.



Impervious Roofs 0 s.f. - 4,000 s.f.

Watershed / Runoff Lines

Pervious Surfaces

Analysis - Gowanus - Community Involvement + Action

While working on this project, I was fortunate enough to be able to work with a number of other people and organizations that have a large interest and stake in what happens in the canal. I was able to work with some of the founders and leaders of organizations such as Gowanus by Design and the Gowanus Canal Conservancy, I had numerous meetings with community members and other locals who were heavily invested in the canals future, and I was also able to meet with staff from FEMA that were out in NYC after Hurricane Sandy, working with the city and other organizations on what the plan for the future of NYC should be.

In addition to the guidance, critique, and mentoring these people and organizations were gracious to provide me with, much information on the canal and the systems at work in the canal area was also gained in these meetings and partnerships.

In addition to my meetings and talks with many of these organizations, I was also able to help with the coordination of events on my visits out the anal for site visits and research. In March, I helped coordinate the Gowanus Canal Conservancys first Clean and Green event of the spring where trees were handed out to local community members, bee hives were constructed, composting processes were tended, planting and greening along the canal was carried out, as well as large cleaning efforts of illegal dumping sites in the area. These were all great experiences and allowed me a great appreciation for the work all of the organizations along the canal are currently invested in, as well as another incredible opportunity to meet more of the invested parties and individuals involved in the current efforts along the canal.

A day spent helping coordinate the Gowanus Canal Conservancys first Clean and Green event of this spring. The task, clean up an illegal dumping site with a group of volunteering college students from nearby universities.

Hurricane Sandy - Gowanus - Game Changer

Gowanus 1947

Gowanus 1922

After an understanding of all of the existing issues surrounding the canal had been completed, it was time for the project to step back and refocus on the original project intent of understanding what Hurricane Sandy and related issues such as climate change and global warming would have on the canal. To do this, a new and different set of questions had to be formulated, and new lenses needed to be focused on the project to begin to see the area in a whole new way.

What was discovered after the project began to view the area through these new lenses of climate change and natural disaster, is that an understanding of Hurricane Sandy as a game changer for coastal areas emerged. In essence, the current issues of pollution and sewer overflows that plague many cities in coastal areas still existed in a very real way,, but the disaster of Sandy had refocused the attention of the communities of these areas on what long term sustainability in terms of resiliency to water changes really meant. Thus, Hurricane Sandy became a critical inflection point for the project, and acted as the catalyst for a change in the paradigm of the future vision for the canal. The vision has now become not only about a clean and healthy place, but also about one that has the ability to adapt to changing conditions and that can be resilient to events like Sandy in the future as well.

Analysis - Gowanus - Future

When considering the future of the canal through the lens of coastal resiliency for the longer term future, two impacts of change become most prevalent. The first is that of climate change and sea level rise, and the second is that of storm events and the flooding that is associated with them.

For this project, a large amount of research was put into the various models of climate change and sea level rise. After all of the various research had been compiled and cross referenced, a decision was made to use the recent model created by the New York City on Climate Change where rapid ice cap melt attributes large amounts of fresh water to sea level rise over the next 50 to 70 years. This model was then molded into a situation such as that which was the case for Hurricane Sandy, where tides were high and at intense levels to predict what sea level rise situations might be like in 2080. This information was then used to tweak the current projections of flood zones for various storm events based on new mean sea levels in the future. Thus, Hurricane Sandy became a base off of which a newly manipulated and cross referenced version of sea level rise was added to understand what flooding impacts might be like in the future. A series of maps (which will be shown on future pages) covers these changes for various events.

In addition to this, a new type of flood mapping was done for the various flood zones for each storm event along the canal. Currently, flood lines follow contour lines which are biomorphic and do not respond to the actual physical structure of the city. Cities work on a system of straight lines and grids, so it would make sense that flood maps would respond to this conditions (i.e. if half of a property is flooded, that doesnt mean that the owner is only impacted by that event in a partial way). The diagram to the right shows a quick example of how a projected flood line might be overlaid over city parcel and building footprint data to come up with a hybrid model of flood line that better responds to the urban condition.

Analysis - Gowanus - Future

The series of maps below show the varying conditions for what a projected flood area is for a particular storm event today, versus what that flood area will be for the same type of storm event in the future. It is particularly interesting to note a few things about these maps. First off, sea level rise has caused the canal to grow a considerable amount by the year 2080. Secondly, it is interesting to note how climate change, global warming, and sea level rise have impacted both the flooded area associated with a particular storm, as well as the frequency with which those events are happening. For example, what is considered a 10 year flood event today, will be considered a 1 year event by the year 2080. Also, the future 100 year event has shifted to what we consider a 500 year event today, and the 500 year event has shifted from being considered a category 2 hurricane today to a category 3 hurricane by 2080. In essence, not only will flood events impact larger areas of land in the future, but they will also happen at greater intensities and more frequently.

Inundation Area - 2013.

Inundation Area - 2080.

10 Year Flood Event Area - 2013.

Yearly Flood Event Area - 2080.





Category 3 Storm Flood Event Area - 2013.




Planning - Gowanus 2080

If all of these changes are what we expect by 2080, and if what we see as 10 and 100 year events now are occurring as often as every 1 and 15 years by 2080, the current land uses associated with this projected impacted area will not be viable in the future. Thus, a change in land use along the canal will be needed. A strategy for doing this could be to break the canal down into a series of zones that could each hold a variety of different specific land uses and programs, but that within each zone, those new uses and programs feed off of and work with one another. The map to the right is an example of how the area along the Gowanus Canal could be broken down into different programmatic and land use zones by the year 2080. The zones identified have been placed based on the prior analysis that was done for the project as well as on possible future projections of new uses and paradigms. Each zone is described briefly on the following pages.

Integrated Seawater Agriculture - A system of seawater based agriculture is self-supported along the west edge of the canal. Shrimp and tilapia farms housed in post industrial buildings benefit adjacent energy producing salicornia fields.

CSO Nursery - Due to its proximity to overflow locations and other existing infrastructures, this area is a prime location for implementing new systems for sewer effluent management. Both algae and oyster bi-product cleansing systems are employed.

Canal Garden Park - Post industrial relics and a location between what will become a new, vibrant community type and a community with a number of key existing infrastructural systems, this park provides much needed open space and recreational area.

Protect / Transition Communities - The eastern community of Carroll Gardens high value is worth implementing a more protective strategy, while the western Gowanus neighborhood has ample opportunity to transition into a new community type paradigm.

Planning - Zones Identified

Industrial Paradigm Transition Area - This zone will retain some of the canals historic industrial feel and land uses, but in a new way. New types of industry based in production, craft, and local creation will use this area for every part of their industrial process from cultivation to production, and from creation, to sale.

Waters Edge - This zone will experience very dynamic shifts in water levels due to storm events and everyday tides. Thus, this area has the ability to capitalize on that natural movement of water and how it can be utilized to create space and experience.

Tidal Power - In addition to new strategies of cultivating power sources on the canal, the community capitalizes on the constant movement of the water in the canal to help power their everyday needs.

Water Garden - This area will see major levels of permanent inundation by 2080, thus a new type of program and land use needs to be considered that can accommodate year round wet conditions.

Planning - New Vision 2080

Based on the programmatic zones identified on previous pages, a master vision for the canal in the year 2080 was created. This vision utilizes both adaptive and transitional strategies to envision a canal that sustains a variety of new types of communities, and other land uses along its banks. Existing communities that have positive aspects such as very strong and critical infrastructure systems can be protected based on the value of these systems, as well as on other physical features that help lean towards this type of approach, including higher topography and lower percentages of vacancies and flood frequency. Other areas, where post industrial and vacant structures dominate, and where the impacts of more frequent flooding are more intense, allow for a different type of approach. These areas have become a transitioned type of community by 2080 that is centered around preparing for and living with the new water conditions by this time. In addition to this, strategies of production (food, fuel, products), cleaning (filtering, consuming), and industry have emerged in strategic areas along the canal.

In essence, the northwestern side of the canal has capitalized on opportunity to protect critical existing assets with a more traditional protection system that has been modified to better serve existing communities in multiple ways, and the southeastern side of the canal has allowed for transitional strategies of new community types, new production area types, and new strategies on how to process our waste water.

Build-to-Suit Private Development

New Industrial Typology

Cut Areas

Inundated Area 2080

Integrated Seawater Agriculture Field Production

Plinth - 26 Foot Contour Line

Production Barges

Energy Canal Cuts

Above Ground Subway

Protective Dike - 26 Foot Contour Line

0 200 400 800 1200

Planning - A Closer Look 2080

In addition to the master vision, three sections along the canal were chosen to design in a more detailed way. The northern section called Protect, Produce, Transition highlights two new types of communities (adaptive and transitional), as well as a new paradigm of production and recreation along the canal.

The second section highlights ways to utilize new technologies and processes to treat our wastewater in a new way. These new systems of treatment allow for a number of benefits ranging form cleaner water to the production of energy, to the creation of public spaces.

The third section at the southern end of the canal highlights strategies for a new type of industry that is rooted in localized production and a craft culture that is already a strong asset at the canal. New ideas about where industry can happen, and what happens in the places that it can;t are explored, as well as a possible opportunity for private developers to get in on the game and impact some of the change in the canal in a positive and economically beneficial way.



Cut Areas

Inundated Area 2080



Production Barges

Energy Canal Cuts

Above Ground Subway


0 200 400 800 1200



Cut Areas

Inundated Area 2080



Production Barges

Energy Canal Cuts

Above Ground Subway


Planning - Protect, Produce, Transition

This transect adapts two separate strategies for flooding resilience in 2080. The west side of the canal, Carroll Gardens Neighborhood, takes on a protective centered approach due to a very strong existing system of infrastructures and community assets that happen to lie on the edge of at risk areas. This strategy is based around the construction of a multi functionary dike that would protect Carroll Gardens from the 500 year flood event in 2080, as well as serve a variety of functions ranging from recreational use to market space for adjacent communities. Area below the dike is transitioned into a new integrated seawater agriculture use that is tolerant of flooding salt waters and productive for local economies.

The eastern side of the canal takes on a much more transitional approach to flood resilience. Due to a large amount of post industrial properties that will no longer contain viable uses due to frequent flood events provides an opportunity for the area as a whole to transition to a new model of living. Raised plinths created from earth cut from other portions of the canal where industrial clean up processes have been required raises new development above the 500 year flood event level. This new community model takes cues from classic style housing in the area, but adds a few new twists to the classic model to better fit the new situations that exist in 2080.

0 100 200 400 600

Feet

Plinth Developments - Raised above the new 500 year flood event level of 26 feet.

Canal Garden Park - Post industrial relics and open green space provide much needed parkland for adjacent

communities.

Integrated Seawater Agriculture creates a closed loop system

between a number of growing mediums.

Protective Dike - Protects the existing neighborhood of Carroll Gardens against

the 500 year flood event and provides an array of

other programs for adjacent communities.

Integrated Seawater Agriculture will help activate area outside of the new protective dike.

This transect adapts two separate strategies for flooding resilience in 2080. The west side of the canal, Carroll Gardens Neighborhood, is such a strong community that includes a number of critical and well functioning public infrastructure systems that it is worth protecting from some of the changes that are going to be happening. To do this, a multi-functioning dike structure has been implemented that could both protect and serve the community by implementing a variety of programs.

Area outside of the dike has been transitioned to a system of Integrated Seawater Agriculture that uses a closed loop system to grow tilapia and shrimp, produce biofuels form the crop salicornia, filter water through canal adjacent wetlands, and then feed the shrimp and tilapia with excess biomass from the farming operations and wetland areas.

Protective Barrier Recreational System Community Spaces Open Market Space Public School Areas

View from atop the new dike structure with fields of biofuel producing crops below. A new trail system provides recreational opportunities and open spaces for markets and community functions.

Plinths would be constructed with separated sewer systems and large sweet water cisterns for water capture.

A unique and system of vertical movement is implemented at the canal end to promote movement down to the water.

Development atop the plinths will follow the classic NYC brownstone block style, but with added features and twists.

View from along the new canal garden park. Old industrial structure provide interest and dynamic areas for tidal interaction. The park provides much needed open space for adjacent communities.

View from atop the end of one of the new plinth communities. A large public plaza with cafes

and entertainment areas overlooks the vertical system

of movement down to the canal comprised of a series of pools, industrial follies, ramps,

and terraces.



Cut Areas

Inundated Area 2080



Production Barges

Energy Canal Cuts

Above Ground Subway


Planning - Food, Fuel, Filters

This transect takes unique advantage of its placement in an area of the canal that will experience heavy changes in water level by 2080. Instead of attempting to block the water, the idea of more water is embraced, and even facilitated through the cutting of soil from areas adjacent to the current canal to create shallow oyster beds and canals that extend in towards the community like fingers.

This section also re frames the way the Gowanus neighborhood views the management of its waste water. Due to rising waters, existing combined sewer outfalls have to be pulled back and above the new water level. This is used as an opportunity to reroute the combined sewer outfalls to one of two places in this section. The first is an area that will use locally sourced bi-product oyster shells in a new process used for cleaning effluent water from combined sewer systems. When crushed and heated to 750 degrees F and mixed into a solution with effluent water, oyster shells have been proven to remove 68% of the phosphates form effluent water. If nitrogen is added to the process during heating, removal can be up to 98% effective.

The second section will use permeable membranes, floating on the newly cut canals to grow crops of algae for harvest and production into biofuels in a solution of effluent and CO2.

Algae Canals - Produce algae for biofuel production via the OMEGA system.

Community production area and natural edge conditions.

Oyster Shell Filtration Station - Uses bi-product shells from the oyster industry to cleanse effluent sewer water.

0 100 200 400 600

Feet

Crushed oyster shells will be used to filter phosphates out of effluent water in existing industrial tank relics near the canal.

Across - A view of a new oyster bed looking back

towards the filtering wetlands and re-purposed

industrial tanks now used for the filtering of

overflowing sewer water during rain events.

This section of the canal utilizes the need to change the location of combined sewer outfalls due to sea level rise as an opportunity to reroute the outfalls to an area where the effluent can be managed in a new way. This system would utilize exiting industrial tank relics along the canal in a process to cleanse the effluent water discharged during storm events. The process would use crushed oyster shells, that have been heated to 750 degrees Fahrenheit before being spun with the effluent water to remove phosphates from the water. Studies have shown that when crushed and heated to this level, the oyster shell filter process has been up to 68% effective at removing phosphates from effluent water. Additionally, if nitrogen is added to the heating process, the system has been seen to be up to 98% effective at removing phosphates from effluent waters.

After the water has been filtered in the tanks, it would be discharged into a series of wetlands adjacent to the facility that would allow the water to be filtered even further before returning it to the canal where live oysters could additionally filter the water in a series of new oyster beds cut into vacant land area. These new oysters would then be working on producing the new batch of shells that could be used in the process of filtering once they had matured and been harvested. This process utilizes the bi-product of oyster shells in a new way to benefit the canal. Once the crushed oyster shells have been used to filter the effluent water, they would be collected and transported to a solid waste facility where they could be processed in the correct manner.

OMEGA uses a mixture of effluent water, CO2, sunlight, and the natural motion from waves to grow algae that can be harvested as a fuel source

Another system of managing sewer overflows could be implemented just north of the oyster shell filtering process on the canal. This system would utilize a new technology currently being developed by NASA to produce jet fuel called OMEGA (offshore membrane for efficiently growing algae). This system uses permeable membranes in the shape of long tubes that sit atop of the water. The membranes used for growing algae (which can be harvested as a biofuel source) and are filled with effluent water. The algae feed off of the nutrients in the effluent water, and due to a reverse osmosis process, once the algae have eaten off the excess nutrients, clean fresh water is released out of the membranes. In addition to the effluent water, the algae use energy from the sun and CO2 from the atmosphere to grow. Since the membranes float on top of the water, the natural wave motion moves them up and down, stirring the algae with the effluent water and speeding the process of growth and cleaning.

Along the canal, perpendicular channels would be cut back into the surrounding area. These channels would then have rerouted pipes from combined sewer lines run down them beneath the water. OMEGA system units would then be run down the center of the channels on top of the water and would be utilized to produce fuel as an energy source. The area between the channels would be used for maintenance and harvesting of the algae, as well as for public recreational space, additional production space for energy crops like salicornia, and to increase the naturalized edge and habitat quality of the canal.

New canals will be cut back up into the community and used to implement a system called OMEGA (Offshore System for Efficiently Growing Algae)

View from the end of one of the algae channels. The end of the canal would have a vertical drop to navigate due to the channels being cut back into a slight slope. This provides the opportunity for the

creation of a system of tidal pools which would allow for a dynamic open space for the public to enjoy.

View down one of the algae channels during a festival of light celebrating the energy created by the OMEGA system and the clean water of the canal.

Planning - Cultivate, Create

This transect utilizes its location at the mouth of the canal as leverage to transition into a new type of industrial paradigm in 2080. Due to more frequent flooding, new industrial practices have been adopted to allow for the land use of industry to continue along the canal, but in a bit different way. This new industry is focused on the creation of goods on a more local scale. Production is a large aspect of this new paradigm and the current trend of a strong craft culture along the canal is transitioned into this new industry. Common industries in this new paradigm include brewerys, vineyards and winerys, as well as other more craft oriented business such as glass blowing, sculpting, and other types of farming. To combat the frequent flooding, industrial practices have moved to the upper floors of re purposed and new buildings, and a large production area comprised of a system of floating pads allows for the growing of crops, storage of material, and display of work even when the flood waters are encroaching on the community.



Cut Areas

Inundated Area 2080



Production Barges

Energy Canal Cuts

Above Ground Subway


0 100 200 400 600

Feet

Build-to-Suit Development - Private Developers take advantage of the need for new types of flood resilient developments

and create buid-to-suit production based communitiesNew Paradigm of Industry - based in

craft, local production, and agricultures, this industry is flood resilient.

A system of floating PADs (Production Adaptive Design System) allows for

production area that is not negatively impacted by frequent flood conditions.

A new paradigm in industrial practices allows year-round business with flood resilient infrastructures.

New types of industry based in craft and local production culture would begin to pop up at the mouth of the canal. These industries would be located on the upper floors of building to preserve their process and equipment during flood events. Lower floors would have other uses such as indoor public plaza space, temporary market space, and parking.

New types of communities would also emerge here where flooding would exist, but to a lesser level and frequency than in other areas along the canal. Private developers would capitalize on this opportunity to offer build to suit housing where lower floor uses were adapted to periodic flood events and upper floors were used for living. Additionally, these communities would play off of the adjacent new industrial areas and embrace a lifestyle of local production. Production would happen on many levels, roof, patio, ground level, and impervious surfaces would be utilized to capture sweet fresh water to use in the growing of food plants and gardens, something that will be especially important during what might be more frequent drought periods by this time due to global warming.

Build-to-Suit communities promote wet living and production.

Build-to-Suit vertical stratification of production regime.

This time lapse of perspectives shows how the system of floating PADs would respond to changing water levels during a storm event, allowing whatever use was located on that particular area to continue through

the storm without harm from flooding. PADs could be used for the storage of materials for adjacent industrial process such as glass blowing or other crafts, or could be used for production of local crops such

as hops or barley, or grapes that could be used in adjacent breweries or winerys.

Recap - Adapted + Resilient: Gowanus 2080

How can the Gowanus Canal become a model of resiliency and adaptation for coastal areas dealing with climate change and natural disaster in the future?

Recap - Adapted + Resilient: Gowanus 2080

This vision of the canal in 2080 capitalizes on the opportunities provided by the projected changes and by the existing issues of the site. It re-frames how the canal will plan for its future and reinterprets current problems and issues as opportunities in the future.

Bibliography

Gornitz, Vivien. Center for Climate Systems Research, Columbia University and Goddard Institute for SpaceStudies, with contributions from Stephen Couch, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York District. Sea-Level Rise and Coasts. 2006. Print.

Gowanus by Design. Home Page. Web. 13 Sept. 2012. http://www.gowanusbydesign.com/

Gowanus Canal Corridor Framework. City of New York Department of City Planning. City of New York Department of Housing Preservation and Development. City of New York Mayors Office of Environmental Coordination. July. 2007. Print.

Gowanus Canal maps from 1639 to 2004. US Library of Congress, New York Public Library. Georefranced and assembled by Eymund Diegel. Web. 14 Nov. 2012. http://issuu.com/proteusgowanus/docs/gowanus_canal_maps_1639_2004

Klaus H. Jacob, Noah Edelblum, and Jonathan Arnold. Climate Change and a Global City: An Assessment of the Metropolitan East Coast Region. Risk Increase to Infrastructure Due to Sea Level Rise. Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University. 2009. Print.

Meetek and Co. Duisbergs Shifting Landscape. Web. 20 Nov. 2012. http://meteek.posterous.com/duisburgs-shifting-landscape

New York City Department of City Planning. Bytes of the Big Apple. Web. 17 Nov. 2012. http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/html/bytes/applbyte.shtml

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Additional Sources of Images

Flooded Taxi. Web. 27 Nov. 2012. http://themissourireview.tumblr.com/post/34901890658/usatoday-another-amazing-sandy-photo-a

Web. 12 March. 2013. http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20120819/REAL_ESTATE/308199987

Web. 12 March. 2013. http://designingspacesforthesoul.blogspot.com/2010/12/sustainable-living-with-urban-roof-top.html

Web. 12 March. 2013. http://www.thelocalbeet.com/2009/07/22/visiting-the-gary-comer-youth-center%E2%80%99s-rooftop-garden/

Web. 12 March. 2013. http://kottke.org/tag/global%20warming

Web. 13 March. 2013. http://samimillergeog1202.blogspot.com/

Web. 13 March. 2013. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2277379/Valentines-Day-Venice-Take-wellies-City-romance-hit-snow-ice-floods.html

Web. 13 March. 2013. http://www.cococozy.com/2011/03/gorgeous-outdoor-dining-room-in-nyc.html

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Web. 13 March. 2013. http://futurehousefarm.blogspot.com/2011_01_01_archive.html

Web. 13 March. 2013. http://cvcsa.wordpress.com/2009/06/20/welcome/img_0004/

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Web. 13 March. 2013. http://www.mastershield.com/rainwater-harvesting-with-mastershield/

Web. 13 March. 2013. http://reducerunoff.org/green_roofs.htm

Web. 13 March. 2013. http://buildipedia.com/aec-pros/design-news/return-to-planet-earth-building-a-sustainable-brewery

Web. 13 March. 2013. http://mibeerwench.blogspot.com/2011/12/bells-brewery.html

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Thank You

A thank you goes out to all of those people who helped me over the course of this project. I would like to especially thank:

Committee Members - Matthew Tucker, Joseph Favour, Vincent deBritto Thank you for all of the guidance and critique over the course of our time working together. Thank you for the confidence and for the support that allowed me to get where I did on this project.

Studio Professors - Rebecca Krinke, Vincent deBritto Thank you for all of the positive support throughout the semester and for being so available and approachable. Your help in coordinating the studio and the project was incredibly important to me.

Gowanus by Design - David Briggs The mentoring you provided was extremely helpful to my growth as a designer throughout the project. Thank you for the guidance, critique, contacts, information, and everything else you so selflessly provided me with over the course of the project.

Gowanus Canal Conservancy - Hans Hesselein Thank you so much for getting me involved in the work that is currently happening at the Gowanus. The time I spent helping out the Clean and Green event was incredible. Thanks also for the great contacts, information, and guidance throughout the project, and for the friendship as well.

FEMA - Eric Wieland Thank you for taking the time to meet with me on my travels out to NYC and for the phone conversations. The information you provided me with was critical to how I approached my project and really helped me turn the corner into asking a truly different set of questions than had ever been asked before.

Eymund Diegel Thank you so much for all of the information you provided me with. Without the base information and files you provided, along with your own personal work and opinions on the canal, I never would have been able to make my project what it was. I will be forever grateful for you kindness and willingness to share your time and information with me.

Classmates Thank you so much for all of the great memories and incredible relationships over the past three years. I have learned just as much from each of you as I have learned from anyone else over my time in graduate school. Also, a special thanks to those of you who so gracelessly helped me out on my presentation day.

Kammeron Hughes Firstly, thanks for all of the support and discussion over the last year. It was one of the busiest, and most enjoyable times of my life. Also, thanks for the use of your computer, couldnt have done it without you.

JQ Calderon Thanks for the last 6 years of friendship. I know I was MIA for a lot of the last year while working on this project, but the best parts of my time at home were hanging out with you.

Mom and Dad Thank you your love and support. I could never have done this without you and I will always remember how much you helped me through both the good and the tough times. I love you.

Brian Olsen Thanks for just being you and for being around for me to talk to and to ride home with on the weekends. Good luck in your next three years.

Family Members Thank you to the rest of my family that has been such a big part of my life during this whole process. I am blessed to have the greatest family in the world.

2013_UMN MLA Capstone- Olsen: URBAN WATER MARGINS, Gowanus Canal, Brooklyn, NY

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Transcript of 2013_UMN MLA Capstone- Olsen: URBAN WATER MARGINS, Gowanus Canal, Brooklyn, NY