Axis Civitas

Gowanus by Design announces the competition winners HERE.

Axis: a partnership; the central part about which a network is arranged.

Civitas: citizenship, especially as imparting shared responsibility, a common purpose, and sense of community.

Gowanus by Design presents its third international design competition, “Axis Civitas.” The competition asks participants to first map and present conditions relevant to the Gowanus area in a newly conceived Gowanus Atlas and second to use that analysis as the basis for their design of a Gowanus Urban Field Station that is open to the public. Gowanus Atlas, a collective mapping of the watershed surrounding the canal, will be a planning tool and local resource supported by the Field Station to facilitate the community’s grassroots collaboration in the continuing evolution of the neighborhood.

Water Works

Gowanus by Design is proud to present Water_Works our second annual design and planning competition. This competition focuses on the post-industrial development of a contaminated site in the canal watershed that offers the challenge of rethinking how a new community resource can become an agent for remediation within a diverse urban context. We envision this competition as an opportunity to consider a new urban typology while focusing on our protean relationship with water. Can a new community center and retention facility on a heavily contaminated urban site be designed so that it strengthens the surrounding infrastructure and educates the community about the precious value of water and the environmental challenges facing the area?