City of the Post-Anthropocene

Industrial infrastructure once defined Red Hook–economically and visually–as the center of commercial shipping in New York City. However, the decline of that industry, as well as the looming climate crisis, has led to questions of how Red Hook can be revitalized and refortified in the 21st century. This project transforms an old cement carrier–the Loujaine–into a center for oyster aquaculture, vertical aquaponics, and marsh restoration in the Erie Basin.

School of Architecture | Graduate Architecture
Student: Robin Piatt Stegman
Faculty: Alexandra Barker
Looking up from the seafloor below a large vessel. The ocean tints the image in a blue-green hue. Large, pale skeletal silos reach down from the vessel in the foreground. In the distance, these silos appear like perforated columns creating a wall. Oysters and algae climb up the silos from the seafloor. Fish swim around.
Underneath the transformed Loujaine, oysters begin to populate bio-concrete skeletons. This underwater barrier protects the delicate ecosystem from strong waves during storms. The Billion Oyster Project wants to repopulate oysters in New York Harbor in order to help clean the water and promote biodiversity.
A view of the ship from the distance, looking back towards the land. The Red Hook Grain Terminal is visible in the background. The ship is populated with pale cylinders, curving upward with the shape of the vessel. Green and red plant life grows through the crevices. The water is filled with patches of marsh, which move in and out of the cylinders sticking out of the water. An egret peacefully sits in the foreground.
One of the reasons why Red Hook is such a vulnerable neighborhood in terms of climate events is because marshland was filled in to remake the coastline for industrial infrastructure. Stormwater and waves are more likely to cause flooding without those permeable borders. Here, we see how the wetland restoration in this project (and the underwater reefs) can help protect the neighborhood during future storms.
Architectural section drawing of the ship. Silos fill the interior of the ship, except for five, large bubbles of interior space, staggered, and connected by a grid system. Plants grow on the inside of the silos above the water. Oysters latch onto the sides of the silos below the water. Small, floating wetland modules are anchored to the silos/pilings. Oyster cages float under the water, attached to floating buoys.
Section drawing of the ship, showing how the silos perforate the interior. This drawing shows how all of the systems interact with one another. The silos above the water support the farming systems; they create the framework for oysters to grow below the water. In the in-between spaces, the grid provides space for algae to grow. The silos act as pilings that anchor the vessel deep into the ground, providing a stable structure and a protective barrier.
Section diagram of a single, vertical silo. The background above the water is represented in pale yellow, the water in blue, the sand in yellow. The perforations in the bio-concrete material of the silo are represented as gray ovals in the background. In the interior of the silo, we see rows of plants growing, above a pool of fish. Then, there is a barrier to separate it from the water below. Under the water, oysters latch onto the exterior of the silo.
A diagram showing how the aquaponics and oyster aquaculture work in a single silo. Vertical farm structures allow us to maximize the growing space. The fish in the pools below provide nutrients as the water is cycled back through the system.
Perspective rendering of people walking up the entryway onto the vessel. The sky is filled with clouds, in a deep hazy yellow of a late-afternoon storm. The walkway is made of perforated metal on a metal grid. A woman in a gray suit is in the foreground. A man in an orange sweater is further in front of her. They are entering among towering white, perforated silos. Long grasses are growing between the silos, and over their heads, beginning to consume the structure. In the background, patches of wetlands fill the waters of the harbor.
This view lets us experience what it is like to walk onto the vessel. This is a space that is designed primarily for non-human species. However, humans are still able to interact and benefit, by accessing the growing and lab spaces through catwalks interlaced throughout the structure.
Link to the project documentation.
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