Gowanus by Design: WATER_WORKS Competition Winners

Winning projects in three categories have been announced in Gowanus by Design's latest competition, WATER_WORKS. The brief called for solutions specific to Brooklyn's Gowanus area that simultaneously explored the role of water in recreation, quotidian uses, and in contaminated urban environments, and demonstrated how a redesigned community center and retention facility represent a more progressive view of the city's infrastructure.

The competition jury comprised Richard Plunz, Pofessor, Columbia University GSAPP & Director, Urban Design Lab; David J. Lewis, Founding Partner, LTL Architects; Robert M Rogers, Founding Partner, Rogers Marvel Architects; Andrew Simons, Chairman, Gowanus Canal Conservancy; and Joel Towers, Dean, Parsons The New School For Design.

While reviewing the over 150 submissions, the jurors agreed that no single entry fully addressed the multitude of challenges presented by the competition brief and therefore decided to award winners in three categories instead: Urban Ecology, Architectural Design, and Community Programming.

Following are the winning projects in the three categories:

Category: Urban Ecology

1st Place: Water_Works
Studio TJOA: Audrey Worden, Alex Worden; Brooklyn, New York

Honorable Mention: Modular Floodplain and Community Center
Pilot Projects: Scott Francisco, James Wilson, Drew Powers; New York, New York

Honorable Mention: Watering Mound
Urban Playground: Bhujon Kang, Andre Bighorse; Phoenix, Arizona

Category: Architectural Design

1st Place: HARVEST(IN)Gowanus
Amanda Gann (student); Knoxville, Tennessee

2nd Place: in[filtration]
Andrea Deberry and Michele Niaki (students); Urbana-Champaign, Illinois

Honorable Mention: Responsibility
CBE: Shu Kuei Hsu (student); Seattle, Washington

Category: Community Programming

1st Place: Flood Courts Gowanus
Josip Zaninović, Krešimir Renić, Ana Ranogajec, Tamara Marić, Branko Palić; Zagreb, Croatia

2nd Place: POOL LOOP
Morcillo + Pallares arquitectos: Ana Morcillo Pallares and Jonathan Rule; Murcia, Spain

Honorable Mention: Water_Works Gowanus Canal Community Center
Joseph Barrick (student); Washington, DC

All images courtesy of Gowanus by Design.