terreform + michael sorkin: new york city (steady) state

terreform + michael sorkin: new york city (steady) state: "

'new york city (steady) state', terreform + michael sorkin, new york - future proposal





as part of venice biennale's international architecture exhibition this year, the U.S. pavilion

will showcase the work of seven architects and collectives who act independently as forces

for social change. curated by michael rooks of the high museum of art and jonathan solomon

of 306090 - workshopping: an american model for architectural practice consists of ground

breaking projects. each offer proactive solutions to critical, present-day problems through better

architectural design-from re-envisioning how cities can increase production of locally-grown food,

to providing engineering solutions to storm and flood disaster prevention, to transforming NYC

into a more eco-friendly city.



one of the projects that will be on display is 'new york city (steady) state' by new york based

non profit organization terreform led by architect michael sorkin.







'new york city (steady) state', terreform + michael sorkin, new york - current image





new york city (steady) state is a book and web publication project that
explores whether

new york city can become self-sufficient within its
political boundaries. intended as an alternative

master plan for the
city’s future, the study investigates the possibility for urban
self-reliance

in areas including food, energy, waste, water, air supply
and quality, manufacture, employment,

culture, health and transport. 
the project also seeks to provide a new standard for design

writing and
analysis on sustainability, one which is inseparable from and grounded
in a strong

awareness of the particularities of place, both social and
environmental.  new york city (steady)

state also provides a new model
for other cities to follow.







'new york city (steady) state', terreform + michael sorkin, new york - future proposal





terreform has spent the last several years working on an alternative
master plan for new york

city. its research grows from a single
predicate: it is possible for the city to become completely

self-sufficient within the five boroughs. the organization is devising a plan
in which the city’s

ecological footprint and its political footprint
are completely co-terminus.  the project includes

investigations of new
york city’s most relevant metabolisms, from food and energy to waste


and transportation. the purpose of the study is first to demonstrate
that this kind of radical

responsibility-taking is actually possible,
second to compile a catalogue of habits and technologies

that would
enable this, and finally to investigate the morphological and social
consequences for

the city.







'new york city (steady) state', terreform + michael sorkin, new york - current image





new york city (steady) state is not only a design manual, but it is a
design-driven argument

for a drastic reconfiguration of the way people
economize and handle their material resources.

current design guides
typically perpetuate models of sustainability that are too
discipline-specific,

too superficial and/or too divorced from context.
new york city (steady) state is a deep reflection

on the character of
sustainability and on current models for development and change. it
will provide

both a full catalogue of immediately practical solutions,
augmented by a theoretical text that will

look at the economics of
self-reliance and import substitution as a driver for this
transformation.

terreform increasingly sees the city as the logical
increment for resistance to environmental

and political degradation,
for realizing individual expression, as well as a key medium for taking


responsibility for the fate of the global environment. the project is
based on the idea that higher levels

of autonomy are crucial both for
the achievement of a sustainable future and for the democratic


character of cities.







'new york city (steady) state', terreform + michael sorkin, new york - future proposal





new york city (steady) state is thus a means of taking inventory for
cities currently relying

on and striving for more limited forms of
sustainability, a model for planning, a handbook

of techniques and a
speculation about synthesis. terreform advocates that this systemic,


integrated, large-scale master planning approach is exactly the type of
reorientation that

governments, planners, developers, architects,
engineers, designers and citizens urgently

need to consider.





'new york city (steady) state', terreform + michael sorkin, new york - current image







'new york city (steady) state', terreform + michael sorkin, new york -  houses becoming sustainable by using solar power, implementing

grey water tanks etc.







'new york city (steady) state', terreform + michael sorkin, new york - future proposal





terreform is a non-profit organization dedicated to researching forms
and practices of just

and sustainable architecture and urbanism.
founded in 2005 by michael sorkin, and located

in new york city,
terreform’s diverse group of urban designers undertake self-initiated


investigations into both local and global and serves as a resource for
community and other

organizations to support independent environmental
and planning initiatives.

"