Its easy to throw superlatives at architects and designers without ever really acknowledging what it is that they do or understanding what impact (if any) they really have on the people and places around them.

thread is one of those unique firms that defies easy characterization moving fluidly between civic activists, architects, designers, and social innovators and we wanted to show some gratitude where it it due and offer them some thanks for being both incredibly talented designers as well as true community supporters.

We at GCCDC have had the good fortune to work with them on a number of grants, design projects and other proposals and in addition to being phenomenal designers they also know what it means to be part of a community and that ethos influences all of the work that they do.

I’ll be writing more specifically on their work with a bunch more photos but for now, go to their website:

http://www.threadcollective.com/

feast upon some really delicious images and ideas and check back for further reading. Thanks again thread. You rock.

Friends, Romans, Brooklynites send us your Ideas!

The times they are a changing and we at the Gowanus CDC are always trying to better understand what is it our community cares about? What would you like to see? What is your vision for the future of our beloved neighborhood?

We’re thinking big and local. How do we dramatically improve the landscape around us? How can we have greener buildings, better transportation, healthier food and more vibrant community interactions?

What are your ideas? If you were dictator for a day what would you change? What would you add? What would you preserve?

Is our zoning adequate? How do we create jobs? Foster industry and preserve quality of life?

What does a remediated canal look like? What surrounds it? What’s inside it? Floating wetlands, wooden piers, barge farms, bird sanctuaries?

What does responsible development truly mean? Boatels? Incubators? Art lofts? Charter Schools? Trade schools? A University campus? Affordable Housing? Condos? Community Coops? How would you get them built (or not)?

We want your ideas, drawings, probings and provocations and we want them now! Our favorite concepts will be featured in a forthcoming post.

Write us at ideas@gowanus.org

Gowanus Lowline Crossings is an exciting, open ideas competition, brought to you by our good friends at Gowanus by Design. The contest invites speculation on the value of urban development, of postindustrial lands, and the possibility of dynamic, pedestrian-oriented architecture that either passively or actively engages with the canal and the surrounding watershed. This competition, the first of a series, focuses on the design of connections in and around the canal, and the residual moments around these connections.

We’re thrilled to be the sponsoring partners for this inaugural event and can’t wait to see the diverse array of submissions.

You can sign-up for and register your submission here!

The EPA has a great website with lots of great tools for learning more about Air Quality. Click the image to take your very own guided tour of the ideal Air Quality home:

From TreeHugger:

Best Air Filtering House Plants from Nasa research!

Plants to Filter the Air in Your House
Having good indoor air quality is very important, especially since many of us spend so much time inside. NASA did a study to find out which plants were best to filter the air of the space station, and their findings are available to all.

Read on to see which house plants are best to filter the air (no only producing Oxygen from CO2, but also absorbing benzene, formaldehyde and/or trichloroethylene.

Via Wikipedia:

• English Ivy (Hedera helix)
• Spider plant (Chlorophytum comosum)
• Golden pothos or Devil’s ivy (Scindapsus aures or Epipremnum aureum)
• Peace lily (Spathiphyllum ‘Mauna Loa’)
• Chinese evergreen (Aglaonema modestum)
• Bamboo palm or reed palm (Chamaedorea sefritzii)
• Snake plant or mother-in-law’s tongue (Sansevieria trifasciata ‘Laurentii’)
• Heartleaf philodendron (Philodendron oxycardium, syn. Philodendron cordatum)
• Selloum philodendron (Philodendron bipinnatifidum, syn. Philodendron selloum)
• Elephant ear philodendron (Philodendron domesticum)
• Red-edged dracaena (Dracaena marginata)
• Cornstalk dracaena (Dracaena fragans ‘Massangeana’)
• Janet Craig dracaena (Dracaena deremensis ‘Janet Craig’)
• Warneck dracaena (Dracaena deremensis ‘Warneckii’)
• Weeping Fig (Ficus benjamina)
• Gerbera Daisy or Barberton daisy (Gerbera jamesonii)
• Pot Mum or Florist’s Chrysanthemum (Chrysantheium morifolium)
• Rubber Plant (Ficus elastica)

You can also see the best plants to filter formaldehyde, xylene and toluene by follow the link below. Thanks to commenter Tim for pointing out the book How to Grow Fresh Air.

Gowanus Lowline Crossings is an exciting, new open ideas competition, brought to you by our good friends at Gowanus by Design. The contest invites speculation on the value of urban development, of postindustrial lands, and the possibility of dynamic, pedestrian-oriented architecture that either passively or actively engages with the canal and the surrounding watershed. This competition, the first of a series, focuses on the design of connections in and around the canal, and the residual moments around these connections.

We’re thrilled to be the sponsoring partners for this inaugural event and can’t wait to see the diverse array of submissions.

You can sign-up for and register your submission here!

Featuring local pastries and specialties to pair with the coffees.
Book your ticket now (suggested donation $50):

Send us an email at info@gowanus.org to RSVP!

Gowanus CDC is proud to be a sponsor and part of the Terraform One -  OnePrize 2011, an architectural and urban design competition to re-imagine the possibilities for sustainability in our own NYC environs. Terraform One, led by the charismatic Dr. Mitchell Joachim, has been dramatically reinventing – and in some cases returning to – traditional notions of urban planning, ecology and design since their inception. Their work and the contests which they host have covered a wealth ideas from urban farming, to blimp transport to adaptive reuse of urban infrastructure. This year’s OnePrize competition focuses on defining NYC waterways as a kind of “6th borough” and the many design challenges and opportunities that come from this idea. We here in Gowanus are of course especially attuned to this possibility. Can’t wait to see the results.

If you have Gowanus related submission and would like to get further background and insight into the nuances of the Gowanus Canal region contact us! info@gowanus.org

Learn all about the competition here

Watch a video below:

Download the competition brief here to get started.
Good luck!

Gowanus CDC is currently in early stage development to create an interpretive center for urban and industrial ecology to bring the lessons of our urban ecosystem closer to our community and our schools. We are now going through an intensive research, design and program development process and can’t wait to share some of our new programming with you all shortly.

Over the summer the talented architecture students from Clemson University did an amazing series of conceptual renderings to help us unlock the potential of what this center might look like. You can see the fruits of their project here:

The Gowanus Custom Superblend is a special roast created by Frank D’amico, a third generation coffee roaster and local Carroll Garden’s hero to the under-caffinated. This rich brew was inspired by the glory days of the dock workers who used to labor in the early morning hours along the rough and tumble banks of the Gowanus Canal. But don’t let the backstory sway you, this is one of the finest custom blends he makes. The colors are bright, the flavors are rich and it will give you a swift kick in the derrier to help you start the day off right.

This special blend also has a social purpose, a portion of all proceeds will go to support education and social action around the community and cleanup along the Gowanus Canal learn how to get your own here.