Two out-of-scale, Tetris-like towers coming to toxic, floodzone site in Greenpoint

Two out-of-scale, Tetris-like towers coming to toxic, floodzone site in Greenpoint

credit OMA

Just what the community wants! Two more out-of-scale towers to be inhabited by fedora-wearing tech bros and trust fund jet-setters casting shade on the neighborhood. The towers will be constructed at Greenpoint Landing and will be 30 and 40 stories high, housing 745 insanely expensive apartments. That’s a couple thousand more people on your G Train commute and at that great local bar you can no longer get into. And of course, this is all happening in an area that’s inches from a Superfund site that’s been designated a Zone 1 hurricane evacuation zone (the area was underwater during Sandy). Curbed has more.

The architecture firm founded by Rem Koolhaas is known for structures that appear to defy gravity, and these additions to the Greenpoint waterfront are no exception. The two residential towers embrace a Tetris-like symmetry; their facades, comprised of precast concrete and eight-foot square windows, are oriented differently on each stacked block of building to highlight the movement of the sun throughout the day.

“We have designed two towers—a ziggurat and its inverse—carefully calibrated to one another,” said Jason Long, partner of OMA. “Defined by the space between them, they frame a new view of Greenpoint and new vista from the neighborhood to Manhattan.”

The two Tetris-like towers and a standalone seven-story building will bring 745 rentals to the area. Thirty percent of those apartments will be earmarked as affordable and integrated throughout one of the two towers. Another Greenpoint Landing development site that’s still TBA will bring an additional 500 apartments to the area, capping off the full megaproject with 5,500 apartments (of which about 1,400 will be affordable.)

[…]The newly announced development also brings word of an expanded waterfront esplanade along the East River. Joining with the esplanade that’s been built out during former phases of Greenpoint Landing, the new stretch of public green space will be designed by James Corner Field Operations (who’s also behind the wild, native plantings of the High Line) and include a lawn, picnic area, a garden walk, and salvaged maritime pieces found at the site. Together with the already added esplanade, the new waterfront stretch will create 2.5 acres of waterfront access where previously there was none.

The development will see Eagle and Dupont streets extended towards the East River, and rise between them on the waterfront. The sites formerly served industrial uses, and have been closed off to the public. The mixed-use buildings will also have 8,600 square feet of ground-floor retail. Construction is poised to begin this summer.

credit OMA

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