Inwood Community Health Pavilion
This project was created during a one-week intensive workshop at IE University. It features a plaza in East Inwood, Manhattan, which activates the busy intersection of W 204th Street and Nagle Avenue with a sculptural pavilion that engages not only pedestrians, but also passing cars and trains. A series of canopies catch and distribute rain water while guiding pedestrians around a miniature map of the neighborhood. The map bleeds out onto the street, prompting cars to slow down and train passengers to view it while passing by. Rain captured by the canopies flows down to create a wall of water, illuminated by lights whose colors correspond to the water’s pH, before being taken down into a cleansing machine which makes it potable.
The water is then supplied to drinking fountains on and near the site. An associated website accessed by QR codes at these fountains gathers data from the pavilion to provide real-time data about the water’s quality and resources to help locals advocate for climate solutions. In all, this intervention will provide Inwood’s residents with over 38,000 gallons – or 173,000 liters – of fresh drinking water annually.
Each user of the site is given a vastly different experience, from pedestrians to cars to trains. People walking through the site experience an airy, open plaza and an immerse map of their neighborhood which they can walk through. Water fountains on the miniature map correspond to other real fountains outside the city. For the cars driving by, the experience is of a textured façade with wall of water, and passengers on passing trains above get to view the map in its entirety.
