This 14-story new residential building, located in the recently rezoned section of Gowanus Brooklyn was conceived as a ‘Mother Tree’. We felt that this contemporary forestry theory was an apt working metaphor for our building. Sited on a prominent corner, it is meant to foster community growth through its backyard gardens and neighborhood-based retail tenants. It also has a second reference back to the Caribbean roots of its owner/developers. Palm trees, commonly seen throughout their birthplace, here is reconsidered in several ways including a unique ground floor system of two story high 3D printed commercial entryways and storefronts which reflect the unique bark patterns of such trees. Additionally, this will be the first time this process has been utilized for such a large scaled project in America. We believe that we have demonstrated some of the unique potential design possibilities that such a process begets as well as exploring how such a process can be used in an urban setting. In addition, by teaming up with Sika, the internationally recognized leader in cements, we have developed a material that permits such design flexibility by jointly: setting up quickly once leaving the nozzle, thus allowing unique casting possibilities without formwork, as well as achieving strengths of greater than 5000 psi necessary for meeting structural requirements. We believe that this project, a welcome addition to the rapidly morphing local urban fabric, will come to represent a completely new paradigm in how one can build in a world of diminishing resources. Worth mentioning is that the company producing the 3D components is an offshoot of our Architectural Practice, allowing a unique delivery methodology that bypasses many of the traditional conflicts present in the current traditional Architect/Contractor paradigm.
Collaborators:
- Madco3D: Manufacturer of Madco3D
- In House Group-Contractor
- TAM - Robot Fabricator
- Sika USA
Team Members:
Adam Kushner
Dan Bernard
Brian Marshall
Stever Bernard
Patricia Jebulan
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