The Eagle received the following press release: Rafael Vinoly Architects’ expansion of the Brooklyn Children’s Museum, located at the intersection of Brooklyn Avenue and St. Marks Avenue in Crown Heights, has been certified LEED Silver, making it New York City’s first LEED-certified museum.
In addition (as the Eagle has previously reported), it has been awarded a 2009 Building Brooklyn Award in the “Institutional” category from the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce’s Real Estate and Development Committee.
The museum was founded in 1899 and expanded on its current site in 1977. In 1999, it began to seek ways to increase capacity and to create a new public presence for the 21st century. Rafael Vinoly Architects has achieved this by creating a distinctive L-shaped, two story structure that differs from its context in color as well as physical form, yet remains welcoming and deferential to the museum’s existing built fabric.
The plan doubles the museum’s space to 102,000 square feet and is expected to expand its annual visitor capacity from 250,000 to 400,000. The architecture of the new building is compelling and inviting to children, its glittering envelope of 8.1 million yellow ceramic tiles creating a landmark attraction.
Two stories of new construction integrated with the existing structure add a spacious lobby, exhibition galleries, classrooms, a library, a café, a gift shop, and administrative space. Child-friendly features include low-level handrails and porthole windows. Whenever possible, construction utilized rapidly renewable and recycled materials.
The museum is the first in New York City to employ geothermal wells for heating and cooling purposes. “The design of the Brooklyn Children’s Museum is a force for shaping the creativity of young minds,” says Rafael Vinoly. “Its expanded presence in the neighborhood elicits a visceral, instinctive response in children that’s exciting to see.”
Photo by Chuck Choi
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Tonight at 7 p.m. at the Waterfront Museum in Red Hook (290 Conover St.), Captain Samantha Heyman and Captain/Shipwright Nicholas Rogers of the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater will present "Celebration of the 40th Anniversary of the Launching and Restoration of the historic Hudson Sloop Clearwater."
Launched in 1969 after years of fundraising by singer Pete Seeger, the Clearwater sails the Hudson river, hosting public tours and school groups. The historic vessel's purpose is to educate about New York's waterways and the environment.
Next week, from July 30 to August 2, the Clearwater will be docking in Red Hook. For more information about the lecture or the ship, visit www.waterfrontmuseum.org or www.clearwater.org.
Photo courtesy of the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater.
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This summer the Enviromedia Mobile, the "traveling nature and maritime museum on wheels," has been touring Brooklyn. On Saturday it visited Governors Island, and on Sunday it visited IKEA/Erie Basin Park. This photo was taken at Erie Basin Park, and shows Urban Divers members preparing a tipi for the day’s "Urban Trekker Tour 2009." The festival featured a variety of environmentally oriented activities, including an eco-cruise, birds of prey demonstration, catch-and-release fishing, live underwater video exploration and eco activities under the tipi.
Upcoming festival dates are: August 30 and September 27 at Governors Island, August 16 at Valentino Park, August 15 and September 13 at IKEA/Erie Basin Park, and July 26 at Bensonhurst Park. For more information about each day, visit www.urbandivers.org.
Photo by Mary Frost
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At last night's Building Brooklyn Awards, held by the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, two eco-friendly projects were honored. Galapagos Art Space, a DUMBO venue on track to LEED Certifcation, received the arts and culture award. Pictured here are Galapagos director Robert Elmes (left) with Tony Daniels of Cycle Architecture, the LEED-accredited architect who designed the space. The Perry Building at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, received the National Grid Award, honored as Brooklyn’s first multi-tenanted green building.
Click here for Eagle writer Linda Collins' full report on the event.
Photo by Jennifer MacFarlane
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Now through July 18th, the Brooklyn Cyclones and National Grid present Going Green Week at KeySpan Park.
The Cyclones’ Going Green Week will feature National Grid expo tables on the ballpark’s concourse level to educate and motivate fans, regarding ways to be more environmentally conscious.
National Grid also offers a variety of energy efficiency tips, valuable rebates for the installation of energy efficiency products and information on its web site, www.thinksmartthinkgreen.com.
At last night's game, the first 2,500 fans in attendance received Going Green tote bags, presented by National Grid.
On July 18th, the first 2,500 fans in attendance will receive a 100% Organic Cotton T-shirt, presented by National Grid. That night, the Cyclones will also be wearing Bamboo Jerseys, made of all-natural fibers.
Tickets to Cyclones games are available at the team's web site.
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The Brooklyn Public Library is hosting two green job workshops in the upcoming weeks. Attendees will learn about the next generation of jobs that will have a positive impact on the environment, find out which types of businesses need green workers, and what skills and training is needed to land a great job.
The first meeting will be Tuesday, July 28, from 6 - 7:30 p.m. at the Business Library at 280 Cadman Plaza West. The second will be Tuesday, August 18 from 6 - 7:30 p.m. at the Central Library, at 10 Grand Army Plaza in the second floor meeting room.
Register online here or call 718.623.7000 (select option 4).
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If you’ve ever wanted to escape city life without being too far from the city, you might take some cues from artist Mary Mattingly. After several years of planning, she is now living on an inland deck barge — dubbed Waterpod — currently docked at Governors Island’s Yankee Pier.
Built from recycled materials and eco-friendly products, Waterpod is a sustainable living space, with its inhabitants (all artists) living almost completely off the barge itself. Chickens and a garden supply the food, and the barge relies solely on solar power, bicycle power and a picohydro system (water power).
Designed as a public work of art, since it launched in late May (it was first docked at the Brooklyn Navy Yard), it has showcased artwork and served as an educational tool, with visits from three to four school groups a week, said Mattingly.
Waterpod has open hours for the public to take tours. This past weekend, inhabitants of the barge hosted a yoga session, after which participants were encouraged to tour Governors Island’s green landscape.
The barge will be touring the Hudson and East Rivers, docking in each of the five boroughs. So far, it has had a strong presence in Brooklyn. Along with the Navy Yard, Waterpod was previously docked at the Sheepshead Bay Marina. For almost two weeks in August, the barge will visit Brooklyn Bridge Park.
Sustainable Living
Waterpod measures about 120 by 18 feet. It is made up of four separate spaces: a public area; space for the garden; an area that includes a bathroom, kitchen and gathering space; and a structure of 10 by 60 feet that’s broken up into sleep spaces.
Although the space to sleep is small and the barge is sometimes shared by up to five people, Mattingly (pictured left with Alison Ward and Eve K. Tremblay, artists and residents of the Waterpod) says it wasn’t that hard of an adjustment. “My apartment in Long Island City was quite small as well,” she laughed.
A typical day for the Waterpod occupants — all volunteers — starts at around 6:30 a.m., said Mattingly. Morning activities include visiting the chickens, cleaning their pen and watering the garden. The group then makes coffee with a “rocket stove,” which is a steel drum in which scraps are burned, made for the Waterpod Project by students in California.
Mattingly explained that for the remainder of a day, inhabitants clean the deck, check e-mails, make phone calls, work on the systems on the boat that aren’t yet complete, and take some leisure time.
The experience of living on the Waterpod has been good so far, Mattingly noted. “It’s really nice to sleep here at night. It’s peaceful.” But, she said, “it’s more isolating than I had imagined.”
There have been some challenges that Mattingly didn’t anticipate before moving on to the barge. “We don’t have enough food,” she said, because the chickens only produce one to two eggs a day and the vegetables — although getting fuller, particularly because of the rain — haven’t been able to feed the entire group. So they have supplemented with produce from local CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture groups) and gifts they have received.
Mattingly said the group has also decided to incorporate visits to surrounding neighborhoods, something that wasn’t planned before. They would take between 20 and 40 dollars a day out to explore.
Mattingly previously thought the group would be able to rely on bicycle power, but this has also proven difficult. “I have to pedal for half an hour to get half my cell phone charged,” she said. So they’ve placed more of an emphasis on solar power, which has been good despite the rain, and a machine that generates power from rainwater. Mattingly noted that she hopes to get a wind turbine installed on the barge, but that’s also been a struggle, as the Department of Buildings doesn’t allow them in New York City.
Still, “every day I’ve been learning something new,” Mattingly says. She hopes that people who visit and learn about the Waterpod will make changes in their own lives. “We’re pushing the limits for New York City. I hope it inspires people to implement [sustainable practices] in their own lives.”
Photos by Georgine Benvenuto
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