East Village Mixed Use Housing

New York is rich in its cultural and historic infrastructure. Yet at the same time, growing rapidly. One goal of this mixed use project is to meaningfully contribute to that growing pattern with little or no new investment in infrastructure and transportation systems.

Developing public awareness to sustainable ideas and their benefits to the surrounding, contributing to environmental preservation, and reducing water and energy consumption are also crucially important. New York is a dynamic city, a city that seeks economic independence and improvement in quality of urban life.

By proposing a mixed use community that carries sustainable elements (green houses, local market…), less traffic and commercial space for moving and selling agricultural products is needed. It is also community for dwelling, but it will create a new urbanity, contributing to the preservation of traditions and community values. This will promote the idea of sustainability and will dramatically reduce environmental problems in an era of globalization and urban migration. It is the place where people feel comfortable, where there is some predictability as to how others behave while avoiding social settings that have no meaning. It is a setting for human behavior: eating, sleeping, loving, playing, socializing, and raising children. Let’s imagine the dream as reality: children have close by friends and spend their time playing outside; families gather in their communal garden, gossiping and growing produce. Shared facilities provide inviting spaces for birthdays and holidays. They rely upon each other for common sustenance, for a cup of flour, for time to talk. Here, sustainability refers not only to an increasingly imperative ecological condition of unstable energy supplies and environmental damage, but also to the social longevity of place. If dwellings can improve the quality of life, beyond economic accessibility, then it must work seamlessly with the holistic image of the neighborhood.

For more information about our experience and process as architect on mixed-use design, please visit this page.