Fit Cities by Karen K. Lee

Author:Karen K. Lee
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Doubleday Canada
Published: 2020-01-06T16:00:00+00:00

6 | BUILDING MOMENTUM

VIA VERDE, ARBOR HOUSE, AND THE AFFORDABLE HOUSING STUDY

WALKING DOWN BROOK AVENUE in the South Bronx, it’s hard not to notice Via Verde. First of all, the structure is not one building but several buildings, of different heights and different shapes. It was constructed that way so the development would fit into an oddly shaped, roughly triangular plot that the City of New York had allocated to a new mixed-income affordable housing development. There are middle-income units that can be purchased, and there are also rental units for those whose incomes are too low to be able to afford to buy. Via Verde was the winner of a design competition held by the City of New York, in partnership with non-governmental organizations like the New York chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIANY), to improve the design of affordable housing in the city.

Via Verde translates from Spanish as “the Green Way.” It’s a name that can mean so many things: a green light signifying permission to move forward, environmentally friendly, exposure to the greenery of nature, the opportunity of having green space. Via Verde is all of that and more. Much like Intervale Green, it’s a development whose very existence can teach New York, and the world, a lesson. It’s a bricks-and-mortar testament to the fact that affordable housing developments (like market-rate housing buildings) can be innovative, environmentally friendly, and health-conscious. And it’s one of the first places where I got to see the Active Design ideas in action.

Green Pioneer: Via Verde

My involvement with Via Verde began at yet another AIANY event—this time, a presentation by the four finalists in the New Housing New York Legacy Competition. Sponsored by AIANY, the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, and the Enterprise Foundation, the competition had at its heart an admirable goal: to set a new standard for affordable housing by integrating design excellence, sustainability, and the promotion of healthy living. The prize was a triangular lot in the economically disadvantaged South Bronx. I watched, fascinated, as the finalists made their presentations. When the question-and-answer period wrapped up and the lights came on, I made my way over to introduce myself to each of the presenting teams. My hope was that, together, we could concurrently address our modern-day epidemics and issues of health disparities. It was during these introductions that I met Bill Stein, whose team was the eventual winner of the competition. (Bill and I would work together in 2009 on the Green Codes Task Force Health and Physical Activity Technical Committee.) His team’s innovative design proposed a twenty-story tower, a mid-rise building, and townhouses, all situated around a central courtyard, part of which would be made up of green spaces on building roofs—Via Verde.

We met many times over the years in which the Via Verde design and construction plans were being developed and finalized. The goal, from the outset, was to integrate

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