02 June 2014
Starr Whitehouse is thrilled to be the landscape architects on the BIG team’s winning proposal for HUD’s Rebuild By Design competition. The team’s winning entry, dubbed “The Big U,” was awarded $335 million for the implementation of a series of berms to protect the Lower East Side while enhancing the physical, social, and economic resiliency of East River Park and the surrounding neighborhood in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. Starr Whitehouse was instrumental in developing an integrated landscape design for Lower Manhattan, weaving together ecological considerations, community needs, urban design, and resiliency measures. As leaders of the team’s outreach efforts, Starr Whitehouse assembled many of the key stakeholders in the Big U and planned a series of four community workshops that put design and ideation techniques normally reserved for the studio into the hands of over 150 community members which were critical for building support for the project and creating a responsive design proposal.
Starr Whitehouse congratulates Bushwick Inlet Park collaborators Kiss + Cathcart Architects for winning a 2014 AIA COTE Top Ten Award for the Brooklyn park project. COTE (Committee on the Environment) Awards recognize designs that use a thoroughly integrated approach to architecture, natural systems, and technology to provide architectural solutions which protect and enhance the environment.
The “BIG U,” a storm resiliency plan for Manhattan, is publicly revealed by HUD’s Rebuild by Design competition. As landscape architects on the BIG Architects’ team, Starr Whitehouse helped develop protective and social infrastructure from West 54th Street south to the Battery and north to East 40th Street, forming the BIG U. Starr Whitehouse organized a series of community meetings that shaped the recommendations. The interdisciplinary team melded the efforts of architects, landscape architects, engineers, public strategists and ecologists to create a viable incremental plan that marries storm protection to greater public enjoyment of the vibrant New York waterfront.
Team Members: BIG One Buro Happold Level James Lima Green Shield Ecology AEA Project Projects Arcadis
Starr Whitehouse wins a two 2014 ASLA-NY Merit Awards for its work on Hallets Cove and the Harlem River Promenade. Images from the project will be on display, along with those of other winners, from April 3 through April 30 at the Center for Architecture.
Laura Starr speaks at Skidmore, Owings and Merrill. Her lecture, titled “Making Density Livable” discusses New York’s urban landscape and its role in city growth and protection from major storms.
Starr Whitehouse advances to Stage Three of Rebuild by Design. As part of a BIG Architects’ team, Starr Whitehouse is exploring ways to protect the lower half of Manhattan, from West 54th Street south to The Battery and north to East 40th Street, from future super storms and climate disasters. The team’s plan, affectionately dubbed the “Big U,” investigates a series of vertical barriers for flood protection that integrate social infrastructure and speak to the shifting cultural milieu of upland neighborhoods.
Starr Whitehouse advances to Stage Two of Rebuild by Design, a multi-stage regional design competition that will develop innovative projects to protect and enhance communities affected by Hurricane Sandy. The firm is part of the by Bjarke Ingels Group team, along with One Architecture, James Lima Planning & Development, Green Shield Ecology, Buro Happold, AEA Consulting, and Project Projects. The team will work to analyze the current infrastructure of the Eastern Seaboard from a regional perspective, focusing on five to six sites where it will explore a range of large-scale interventions including levees, protective marshland, and opportunities for urban growth and transportation.
Starr Whitehouse reveals its concept design for a new park at New Rochelle’s Echo Bay.
Starr Whitehouse applauds Mayor Bloomberg’s release of A Stronger, More Resilient New York , as well as the talented minds from both the public and private sectors that generated this forward-looking response to coastal risk management and climate change. The report highlights climate analysis, addresses infrastructure and built environment issues, and defines action plans for coastal defense, community rebuilding, and economic recovery. Starr Whitehouse is honored to have contributed to the Staten Island and Southern Manhattan sections of the report.
ASLA-NY President Laura Starr and her partners Stephen Whitehouse and Jeffrey Poor host the ASLA-NY Emerging Professionals’ Open Studio.