JUSTIN BANDA

We introduced an arts-focused district near the crux, aiming to support the creative nature of the neighborhood while revitalizing a beloved, currently-abandoned power station, lovingly nicknamed “The Batcave” by residents. This area is marked by enclosed public plazas and high-density residential and retail along the waterfront. The 1st St basin is carved out to rectify canal overflow and flooding.

The program is tightly divided into four distinct zones, meant for as many uses: the concert zone on the first and second levels for events and community engagement; the administrative zone on the third and fourth floors for offices; the gallery zones on the fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth levels, for museum-type areas; and an outreach zone on the ninth and tenth levels for the Donda Foundation and special exhibits.

Our project site is located in Gowanus, a neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York, which was established surrounding a 1.8 mile long canal which gave the area its name and empties into New York Harbor.

The Canal was used in the 20th century as an industrial transportation route and dumping ground, creating an ecological disaster that remains one of the U.S.’s most severely contaminated body of water. In 2010, the EPA declared the Canal a superfund site, and cleanup began just this past September. The community is concerned that developers will purchase decontaminated waterfront property to gentrify industrial areas for residential use.

The life of Kanye West is a complex menagerie of contradictions. He is the motherless father, the misogynistic romantic, and a self-proclaimed god searching for a higher power. He is a writer, a celebrity, a rapper, a designer; the Chicagoan living in Tribeca. One of the most prominent architectural enthusiasts in the popular zeitgeist, Kanye’s persona and his work evoke a range of reactions.