At its surface, the solution is clear; a Superfund site promises a clean future, where rapid development may proceed. Yet, the future conditions along the Gowanus canal do not look so positive. Soon the current course, addicted to developing cultural centers for mass Ð consumerist societies, will replace the existing spontaneous environment into a passive landscape infiltrated by commercial stores, globalized products, and high rent. The other future is unfashionable and Improbable. Historic preservation then transforms the canal into a landmark, maintaining the industrial buildings until their inevitable structural failure.
The best solution will find a balance through a critical understanding of the existing site conditions. The final program reinforces the proposal; one that lies in a method that through its conception, is processionally constructing an artifact.
Here we propose, The End of Gowanus.