This multi-species housing project located in Troy, New York on the Hudson River is about slowing down the collection, irrigation, and drainage of rainwater, and using this system to define the forms of the architecture and the ecosystems inhabiting the space. The constant movement of water is involved in mechanical systems and ecosystems, while also creating an aesthetic program of constant running vertical water throughout the whole site. The footprint of the structures are created to confine the system and keep it separate from the urban context outside. The architecture is intersected by vertical ecosystem pockets that are used for multiple systems including a living wall and an evaporative cooling system. The ecosystem cores intersect with normal cores on the opposite side of the building at random points to create thresholds for viewing into the ecosystem from the outside.
The vertical flow of water from the cores continues to fall towards a wetland rain garden which slowly flows towards the Hudson River. Along the way, the water informs ecosystems that are living around it, and the ecosystems inform the way the water behaves. Species are chosen to allow the system to function efficiently but are also chosen in order to provide the best possible habitat for the species. The connection between fauna/flora ecosystems and humans is difficult to physically create. This project looks at a system where both the people and the ecosystems are not able to function without the other by using the most tangible element that represents their connection: water.
