Workshop in collaboration with Van Alen New York Prize Fellows A. Levi and A. Schachter
Role: Workshop leader and Collaborator
Website: Bronx River Crossing @ Van Alen Institute
Bronx River Crossing involved over “100 Bronx high school students and their teachers, local community leaders, and architecture students and practitioners in and around New York City to design and build a floating, large-scale model of the Lower Bronx River Watershed. Made from recovered materials including 3,000 used MetroCards, 30 broken umbrellas, 2,000 plastic bottles, 300 sycamore burrs, and 50 PVC window frames hauled off a demolition site, the model was assembled and launched on June 11 from 219th Street into the Bronx River, accompanied by a thirty-canoe-strong flotilla of the BRX participants responsible for its creation. After spending the previous night camping out along the river, the group guided the giant watershed model downstream and pulled ashore at Hunts Point Riverside Park for a public presentation and reception.
The Lower Bronx Watershed was divided into four regions of study–Estuary, Saltmarsh, Upland, and Freshmarsh– and a team of high school and university students was assigned to each. The four teams met weekly throughout Spring 2009 to plan and built one section each of the Lower Bronx Watershed model.”
Aslihan Demirtas co-lead the ESTUARY GROUP consisting students from Fordham University Department of Visual Arts and Pablo Neruda Academy for Architecture and World Studies. The studio revolved around the notion of collaboration and involved teaching in the high school along with the college students.