The competition, held by the New York City Council and Van Alen Institute, calls for rethinking the iconic Brooklyn Bridge, improving walkways on the bridge that are often crowded with bicyclists and pedestrians. The winner of the competition is the “Brooklyn Bridge Forest” project.
“Brooklyn Bridge Forest” has been developed by an interdisciplinary team including the “Pilot Projects Design Collective”, “Cities4Forests”, “Wildlife Conservation Society”, “Grimshaw Architects” and the engineering consulting company “Silman”.
Authors of the project propose widening the upper deck of the bridge and planting trees on both sides. This will help to increase traffic capacity and separate the flows of cyclists, pedestrians and vehicular traffic.
The “Brooklyn Bridge Forest” project focuses on reimagining a well-known New York City landmark and connecting it with forests and natural systems.
“The “Brooklyn Bridge Forest” not only reimagines the Brooklyn Bridge; it reimagines humanity’s relationship with nature and our global climate, using the Brooklyn Bridge to lead us there,” said Jeremy Radachowsky, WCS Mesoamerica regional director.
The “Brooklyn Bridge Forest” project will also help NYC meet its commitment to an “80×50” plan, to cut its emissions by 80 percent by 2050, an ambitious goal that will require very creative and far-reaching strategies.
The Brooklyn Bridge is the largest suspension bridge in the USA, one of the seven bridges spanning the East River. It connects two large boroughs of the metropolis, Manhattan and Brooklyn. The bridge is almost 2 km long and 26 m wide.
Source: brooklyneagle.com