Sarah Brodbeck and Fatima Makiya

What happens when the architects, designers, and builders leave? In architecture, there seems to be an expectation that every aspect of life and nature can be controlled through our creations. Our project, The Rift, is aimed at embracing the volatility of life. The spaces depicted—designed to house a community and a local public school in Red Hook, Brooklyn—represent attempts to mend gaps in our ecosystem, often those between humans and non-humans. As these worlds come together through education, empathy, and cohabitation, the functioning and resilience of our ecosystem are improved. The design process was heavily influenced by site-mapping projects involving the Red Hook ecosystem. Our research focused on prospective students of the school, families residing in New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) housing, and homeless people living in the neighborhood. To gain an understanding of the ecosystem, we also studied stray cats that found shelter in abandoned lots and squirrels that relied on the community’s trash for food. The Rift was designed by Sarah Brodbeck and Fatima Makiya during their sixth architectural design studio at Parsons.