Our work in affordable housing is inspired by the mission of the early modernist movement in architecture to improve society through design. Architecture was seen as an instrument of social change especially through the design of housing that would improve upon the historically bleak accommodations of workers throughout the 19th century. Especially after WWI, there was an enormous demand for housing that was finally realized by European socialist governments who hired architects of the new style that prized above all light and air for each room, as well as a communal sensibility in the formal planning of each housing development.
Architects such as Bruno Taut in Berlin created monumental housing blocks such as the Horseshoe Housing, true to its name in the shape of an enormous curving courtyard with a park at its heart. Michel de Klerk in Amsterdam designed “The Ship” alongside a commuter railroad line in a highly sculptural brick courtyard that residents prided for its amenities and unique architectural details recalling Dutch rural villages, that many had emigrated from. In Vienna the great wall of the Karl Marx-Hof elevated workers housing to a level of a civic monument, glorifying the laborer in a manner equal to the scale of the palaces of the Hapsburg royalty.
In fact, le Corbusier’s book, “Un Maison, Une Palais”, “A House, A Palace”; was a direct inspiration, where he compared a modest house for his mother on Lake Geneva to his competition entry for Palace of the League of Nations. The implication was that through the careful proportion and architectural design, even a small house could imply the grandeur and breadth of living in a large palace.
This has become the theme of my designs for affordable housing, in both examples of Nehemiah Housing at Spring Creek in Brooklyn and supportive housing in the Bronx for Comunilife.
On a barren forty-acre landfill site in Brooklyn, commissioned by the Nehemiah Housing Company, a non-profit developer, we designed almost 500 units of housing for first time homebuyers. Nehemiah is an affiliate of the Metro IAF, a community organizing group that allows for lower income neighborhoods to take power and build housing through local faith-based churches and synagogues that can deliver votes. Previously they had built 2,500 townhouses, all identical, pre-fabricated, and with front yard parking that created a barrier to the street, with high fences and gates, discouraging a sense of community.
For the next phase on the landfill site, we argued that the urban setting would be better served by bringing the townhouses closer to the street with parking in the rear, accessible through a service alley. A modern interpretation of traditional New York townhouses was created with stoops for community interaction, an interpretation of Jane Jacobs “eyes on the street’’ making for a safe environment. As opposed to the existing identical units, we proposed multiple colors and bay windows to break up the scale of the long blocks. This was inspired by two sources. First, Taut’s Berlin housing which was colorful and organized as per the orientation of cooler colors of blue and green facing east for the rising sun and warmer colors facing the western setting sun. Secondly, as a justification, we noted that the organization was named after the Biblical prophet Nehemiah, who rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem, destroyed by the Babylonians in 500 BC. The first phase was infill in a neighborhood of ruins, abandoned by residents leaving for suburbia. This second phase was a new neighborhood, thus more akin to the New Jerusalem of the Book of Revelation. Therefore, we proposed twelve colors for the facades based upon the twelve Foundation Stones of the New Jerusalem. The Eastern Brooklyn Congregations was excited about this idea and convinced the contractor to include the different colors in a cement board material at no extra cost, eventually including the bay windows as well!
In addition, we discovered that the steel framed concrete modular units, up to this point eighteen feet wide could be increased to twenty feet since the units were brought from the plant in the Brookly Navy Yard to the site along local streets, not across bridges or through tunnels that would have limited the width, This allowed for two bedrooms in the front and rear, making the units more commodious and generous.
Named “El Borinquen Residence,” the 90,000 SF development in the South Bronx was commissioned by non-profit developer Comunilife, whose social services focus on New York City’s Latino community. (Borinquen is the indigenous name of Puerto Rico.) They asked us to design a residence that was evocative of Latino culture and in which art plays a fundamental pillar in improving the quality of life, treatment, and healthcare for the residents.
The massing is based on Latin American modernist slabs raised on pilotis, here to invite the community in, and create a higher ceiling for the common spaces on the ground floor. The façade is an abstraction of the logo of Comunilife which is a heart, here the façade has a warm red “heart” surrounded by the colors of the Latin flags; symbolizing nature: yellow for the sun, blue for the sky, and green for the lush vegetation of Latin America. The idea was cross fertilized by a painting of Paul Klee, where luminous light tones, slightly off center of the canvas are surrounded by contrasting darker colors, presenting a glow in the night and a ray of hope. Miro’s posters for Galerie Maeght also provided inspiration for the colors.
The elevator core of the lobby is tiled in layers of the colors of the Latin flags, and a powerful mural the full length of the corridor connecting the two internal courtyards that bring light to the interior spaces, has been painted by Aurelio del Muro and Marta Blair based on the poem “Río Grande de Loiza,” by the celebrated Puerto Rican poet Julia de Burgos. The ground floor also features large, light-filled community spaces that include a gallery space that will showcase rotating exhibitions by Bronx artists. Each hallway above picks up the colors of the façade, not only to provide a cheerful interior but so that some of the elderly residents can recall where they are with purely visual cues.
Our client, Comunilife, has been committed to providing vulnerable communities with housing and culturally sensitive supportive services for more than thirty years. The organization believes that no one should be without the housing and support services they need to lead a healthy and meaningful life. El Borinquen offers facilities and sanctuary for individuals facing uncertainty.
Comunilife’s CEO, Dr. Rosa Gil, praised our design as follows: “El Borinquen stands out as an architectural oasis, designed with respect and integrating the diverse cultural and artistic idiosyncrasies of the Latinx community. You have captured so well my ideas about the expression of art in the Latinx community, the integration of the community into the building, and the belief that equity in architectural design brings a state-of-the-art, dazzling building to be home to the poorest people in New York City. El Borinquen has exceeded all my expectations and fulfilled my dreams of architectural fairness for the most underserved among us.”
The twelve-story, 90,000 SF complex holds 148 units, ninety of which are supportive housing for youths aging out of foster care and for formerly homeless individuals with mental health needs. The remaining fifty-seven units are affordable apartments set aside for low-income seniors and community residents.
Located on Third Avenue and East 166th Street, El Borinquen is the fourth supportive project Alexander Gorlin Architects has completed in The Bronx’s Morrisania neighborhood. Other award-winning supportive housing projects include “The Jennings” at 903 Jennings Street, “The Brook” on Brook Avenue and East 148th Street, and 1191 Boston Road.