This was a student project by Brian Lapolla for Ashley Schafer's ARCH 841 course, Autumn 2008. What is the Waterkeeper Alliance working on today in New York City? Are there ecological opportunities associated? These questions were used to formulate a design that with machine-like qualities could begin to act as a water filter. Research on water towers and marsh wetlands created devices that justified design decisions within the urban tower. Maximizing the envelope to create coexistence was essential to juxtaposing human program and ecology. Tall and narrow form combined with floor to floor separation allowed the greatest quantity of sunlight to penetrate. The structural skin applies a density to solid/void using light penetration as the variable. The wetlands are then inserted within the building using the water tower as the primary circulation of water. The wetlands filter the water of pollutants, create the energy necessary to maintain a habitat, and then replace a healthier quality of water back into the East River.- Brian Lapolla
