The Harlem Edge | Cultivating Connections

The Harlem Edge exhibition presents entries to the latest ideas competition developed by the Emerging New York Architects (ENYA) committee. Following previous waterfront sites that included Groen Hoek, Southpoint on Roosevelt Island, the South Street Seaport and the High Bridge Crossing of the Harlem River, the 2012 competition focuses on the redevelopment of the West 135th Street marine transfer station, which establishes a link from the water to the surrounding community. The marine transfer station is located in the Hudson River south of Riverbank State Park and the North River Wastewater Treatment plant and offers a range of challenges for designers as they reimagine the utilization of the existing site. These challenges include: public access to the waterfront, opportunities for urban agriculture, and integration of a speculatively repurposed facility for communal use into the city’s waterfront infrastructure. Emerging professionals with less than ten years of experience, including university level students, had the opportunity to creatively consider the possibilities for a multi-modal transit hub and a food and nutrition education facility. Working with Nourishing USA as a programmatic sponsor, the competition brief included both interior and outdoor spaces to anticipate programmatic developments in a growing urban agriculture movement, along with the requirements to physically connect to the adjacent residential community. 98 entries were submitted from 16 countries. The entries displayed in the exhibition represent the winners and projects that presented innovative thinking. Center for Architecture See also: Winners of The Harlem Edge / Cultivating Connections Competition