Project Description

“Resilient Living: A Riverfront Housing Vision for NYC”

Our proposal envisions a new paradigm for urban housing along the riverfront of New York City—one that anticipates the future rather than merely reacting to it. Positioned at the edge where land meets water, the project becomes a threshold between the domestic and the ecological, the infrastructural and the cultural. This threshold is designed not as a line of defense, but as a landscape system that learns from the rhythms of the river and embraces change.

Landscape Management & Sea Level Resilience

Acknowledging the growing threat of sea level rise and intensified storm surges, our proposal reframes the waterfront as a dynamic, adaptive landscape. Rather than hard barriers, we employ a multi-layered soft infrastructure that integrates tidal wetlands, floodable public spaces, and vegetated terraces. These zones absorb, delay, and redirect water flows, providing both protection and ecological restoration. Housing units are elevated or modularly designed for relocation or adaptation, ensuring long-term resilience.

A Reimagined Manhattan Grid

The Manhattan grid, historically rigid and rational, is reinterpreted in our project as a flexible spatial framework. Instead of an orthogonal imposition, the grid here becomes a porous, responsive structure—organizing circulation, built forms, and open space while allowing the river to enter and shape the urban fabric. The grid becomes both infrastructure and interface, accommodating living, working, and gathering across multiple scales and gradients of elevation.

Waste-to-Energy Integration

As part of a regenerative systems approach, the project integrates on-site waste-to-energy infrastructure. Organic waste from residential and communal spaces is processed via anaerobic digestion and biochar systems, generating heat and electricity for localized use. The process is made visible as part of the architectural language—transforming waste from a hidden byproduct into an educational and energy-producing asset. This circular logic extends to material reuse, water recycling, and localized urban farming.

Living with the River

More than a housing project, this is a model for living with the river. Residents are not buffered from the natural world, but invited into a relationship of awareness, stewardship, and adaptation. A network of boardwalks, platforms, and seasonal water gardens fosters public engagement with the fluctuating landscape. Architecture becomes both shelter and mediator—between people, the city, and a transforming climate