SYMBIOTIC TRIBUTARIES | BROADWAY STORIES

CORE I STUDIO | COLUMBIA GSAPP

ABSTRACT

Symbiotic Tributaries seeks to address the excessive consumption of water and electricity in New York City, namely water and electricity by introducing a system that supplements these resources. In 2021, New York City consumed 979 million gallons of water, its record lowest since 1970. Despite this “record”, New York City unsurprisingly still ranks as the world’s most wasteful megacity in water consumption. Overconsumption is the word that can best describe New York City’s relationship with resources, and this overconsumption must be addressed.

As water continues to become a more and more valuable commodity, our dependence on carbon [especially emissions] continues to disrupt the delicate balance of systems in this world, causing both subtle and evident ecological shifts.

This proposal attempts to address this excessive consumption of resources through the collection and recycling of rainwater while bolstering clean energy production, and reimagines the way we utilize the city’s air space by introducing an expandable, templated, cantilevered structure that can both redirect acidic rain to purification systems and supplement clean electricity to the buildings the system is a part of. It provides public space as a walkable “garden” and relaxation area to the surrounding area, a private plane from the noise and bustle of the city, while still keeping the surroundings intact. This template relies on structural support from its surrounding buildings, the taller buildings will provide water collection systems to the lower structure, that will redirect water to collection pools to be filtered by an underground filtration system.

The system utilizes a series of cantilevered roofs for solar panel and collecting rainwater. The rainwater would then flow through dedicated river paths through tiered platforms into large collection pools. The rainscreens redirect water into the riverbeds and away into the water collection pools. The pools drain into the underground filtration system.

Research