B.I.G. Designs for Social Good
“Designing for Good” is essentially using sound, sometimes out-of-the-box design solutions in order to improve the lives of people in some way. There are many designers that aspire to do this and have produced very successful results. One example of this is the Laumeier Sculpture Park’s installation of miniature brass figures of each of the sculptures so that blind visitors can interact with the pieces more easily. However, the individual that I will be talking about today usually takes on design problems on a far larger scale. The man I am referring to is Bjarke Ingels, a true visionary in the architecture world. He made a name for himself at a young age and has continued to reimagine what architecture is ever since.
Laying the Groundwork
Mr. Ingels has done various projects all across the globe, but more recently has set his sights on Downtown Brooklyn. This 240-acre business district is in need of a remodel, and Ingels and his team over at Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) have been the ones chosen to do it. This area is home to local and national retail businesses, cultural, educational, and government institutions, and a booming residential sector. Thanks to all of these factors, after the 2004 rezoning, Downtown Brooklynexperienced enormous growth with a 30% population increase, a 26% job growth, and remains one of the busiest retail districts in New York City. With all of this growth, the “growing pains” caused by issues within the current infrastructure of the area have become apparent.
Bloomberg CityLab and Bjarke Ingels Group both note that Brooklyn’s history of street planning is not the most impressive. This has led to a grid system that encourages cars to use narrow passages as shortcuts. Between the risk of using these shortcuts, and traffic infrastructure that promotes the speed of traffic over pedestrian safety, there has been a rather large design problem brewing over in New York for quite some time now. With the heavily organic design solutions produced by BIG, who better to call on in order to fix the clogged arteries of this New York Borough.
The Solution
The image shown above is a depiction of the changes that BIG (with the help of XWY Architects) plan to make to the Downtown Brooklyn area. The driving principle behind this design is to take the narrow streets and alleys that were previously seen as unsafe shortcuts, and turn them into public spaces used for recreation, and also as a way to enhance the quality of life for pedestrians and cyclists. These improvements to the atmosphere of Downtown Brooklyn will make the area more walkable, thus reducing traffic by an undetermined amount. Speaking of atmosphere, as you can see within some of the official BIG mock-ups that I have provided, planting trees and other various plants within these outdoor common areas is also an important part of the plan. These plants will further enhance the overall atmosphere as I mentioned earlier, but they will also decrease the amount of “heat islands” within the city. Once again, this will lead to a more walkable environment for Brooklyn residents.
Another common feature within this new design is a large number of organic curves. Ingels has drawn on nature in many of his past (and current) works. Once again, nature is lending a hand in guiding this architect’s hand in creating a better environment for people to live in. In this case, these curves serve two primary purposes. The first of these purposes is to slow down any vehicles that are traveling through these shared public/traffic spaces. The second use for these curves is the fact that they create an illusion of space within the area, making it feel much larger than it might actually be.
Conclusion
Overall, Bjarke Ingels and the teams involved are working to create a much brighter future for the Downtown Brooklyn area. Using their unique take on the layout of the area, inspired by organic lines and curves; they are surely going to make Brooklyn a far better area for traffic. Which will also improving the lives of any residents and/businesses in the area. That is what I think is so incredible about this man’s work, Mr. Ingels does not simply design spaces. He designs spaces in order to improve the world around him and build a brighter future.
