2007 Studios

Progressive Housing in New York City (2008)

A Closer Look at Model Tenements and Finnish Cooperatives

The two major factors contributing to the introduction of progressive housing in New York City were the living conditions of the poor and the massive population of the city. These two forces working together created a housing crisis that continues even today, evident by the high cost of land in the city. By 1865 the city's population was just over eight-hundred thousand, half of which lived in tenement buildings. The majority of these buildings were built on the standard sized lot, established by the 1811 grid system, one-hundred feet long and twenty-five feet wide. The buildings were long and narrow and abutted each other on the long sides. There were only windows on the front and rear facades, leaving the interior rooms in the buildings with no exposure to natural light, these buildings also had little, if no, plumbing on the interiors.

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Gowanus Canal Corridor (2008)

In 2007 the National Trust for Historic Preservation's annual listing of America's 11 most endangered sites identified the Brooklyn Industrial Waterfront as a disappearing historic industrial site of national importance. The Gowanus Canal Canal, located in the natural basin between Park Slope and Carroll Gardens, is part of the historic Brooklyn Industrial Waterfront currently under pressure from three primary concerns.

These are:
ground and water contamination
conflicting land use needs
community desire for public recreational space.

The combination of these complex issues has put the canal corridor's historic industrial resources at risk. In 2004, the United States Army Corps of Engineers initiated an ecosystem restoration study. Complying with section 106 of the federal review process which is designed to ensure that historic properties are considered during federal project planning and execution, identified as National Register eligible a historic district comprised of the canal and several adjacent buildings as well as structures of historic and archeological significance. In light of the Department of City Planning's Proposed Rezoning Framework, this study looks at these issues in the context of the historic cultural landscape along the canal corridor. After conducting a historic structures survey beyond that of the Army Corps, and synthesizing the various issues affecting these historic resources, we can propose recommendations for appropriate future development along the canal corridor and the best means of its growth and preservation to further a public understanding of Brooklyn Industrial heritage.

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Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation Columbia University 1172 Amsterdam Avenue New York, New York 10027