Crown House

Intro

In the heart of Crown Heights, there is an exciting architectural opportunity that has the potential to bring local communities together. A vacant site can be transformed into a new home for a multi-functional building, which includes a two-story education center, a bookstore, a coffee shop, four levels of residential units, and a lounge floor at the top. This structure, known as Crown House, aims to foster an environment of mutual acknowledgment, education, and collaboration.

Location

Brooklyn

New York City’s most populous borough, Brooklyn, is a tapestry woven from diverse cultures, resilient architecture, and trend-setting scenes. Home to 2.7 million people across 70 neighborhoods, it ranks among the world’s most diverse places. Within this vibrant mosaic, Crown Heights emerges distinctly, blending Afro-Caribbean and Jewish Hasidic traditions.

Crown Heights

Starting at the northeast corner of Prospect Park, this neighborhood balances Brooklyn's iconic residential areas with bustling commercial streets and green zones. Its up-and-coming nature, culinary diversity, and dynamic community spirit have made Crown Heights a desirable place to live for young professionals from the US and worldwide who aspire to build their careers in New York.

Eastern Parkway

A major thoroughfare in Crown Heights, it is renowned for its innovative design as one of the world's first parkways, conceived in the late 19th century by Frederick Law Olmsted, the architect of Central Park. This boulevard is distinguished by its wide, tree-lined median and pedestrian paths, serving as a precursor to the modern American parkway system. It also hosts the annual West Indian Day Parade, one of the largest and most vibrant cultural celebrations in New York City.

285 Kingston Ave.

Dividing Crown Heights into distinct halves, Kingston Avenue thrives with a blend of commerce and daily life. This street hosts two children's museums, numerous schools, the headquarters of Chabad Lubavitch, and boasts its own subway station. Bridging Eastern Parkway with Brower Park and Saint Andrew's Playground, Kingston Avenue serves as an essential conduit for the economy, education, and even wildlife.

Culture

Education

The proximity of the Brooklyn Museum and Brooklyn Public Library significantly enhances Crown Heights, bolstering its educational tradition through its own Children’s Museums. This, in turn, amplifies the significance of the adjacent public spaces and the development of pedestrian infrastructure.

Food

The Crown Heights food scene is another source of local pride and inspiration. It offers a quintessential New York variety of cuisines and surprises with hidden gems like the luxurious “Meat” and the laid-back “Covenhoven”. Additionally, establishments like these contribute to the architectural identity of the streets they inhabit, playing a significant role in creating a Genius Loci.

West Indian Parade

A counterpart to the Apollonian spirit of the local architecture and urban planning, the West Indian Parade is the most vivid and exuberant celebration of the year. It marches up Eastern Parkway, sending waves of captivating Caribbean beats and the mouthwatering smell of barbecue throughout Crown Heights.

Local Initiatives

Inspired by the aforementioned, local entrepreneurs are starting businesses oriented towards bridging communities, with the goal of bringing people from different walks of life together under the same roof. They host parties, encourage family dining, and support local charities.

Community

1991 Riot

Home to two very distinct communities, Crown Heights has experienced moments of discord and conflict. This tension culminated in the 1991 riots, creating a sense of distrust that persists to this day. The recent influx of so-called “gentrifiers” has added another layer of social complexity.

Brower Park

This place excels at bringing together children and adults from different communities through various tournaments, events, and activities. On a local scale, it demonstrates that good urban design, combined with nature and accessibility, can heal social wounds and build new bridges.

Book Shops

Bookstores serve as universal hubs of convergence and are vital components of every New York neighborhood. They strengthen local connections, foster the exchange of ideas, and contribute to the healthy regeneration of culture. Crown Heights would benefit from more of them, making a new building an excellent opportunity.

Social Hub

An ideal building enhances the neighborhood on functional, aesthetic, and social levels. Pleasing to the eye, it becomes a social hub, offering educational and communication opportunities to local youth. Thus, it secures a place in history, commemorating the neighborhood of its era and all of us along with it.

Program

Cafe

The glass door on the far left leads to a Jamaican-style café that serves famous Blue Mountain bean coffee, traditional Caribbean duckanoos, and tamarind balls. Offering special discounts for students, the café will gift loyal customers with tickets to evening lectures at the Education Center above and provide monthly reading recommendations for the bookstore.

Book Shop

In the middle of the building on the street level there is a modern Bookstore with a selection of literature for the youth of all surrounding communities. It has lateral portals that enhance internal circulation between different programs of the building, providing a desired social and cultural synergy. The Bookstore will hand out invitations to the lectures of the Education Center and discounts for drinks and pastries in the Cafe.

Education Center

Divided into three major sections on the ground floor, the building houses the lobby of the Education Center on the right, which is the core program of Crown House. The second and third floors are dedicated to study spaces, serving as a Yeshiva during the day and transforming into rentable classrooms in the evening. Floors four to six feature dormitories for overseas students and studio apartments for visiting professors. The seventh floor offers a canteen and a lounge.

Backyard

A balanced mix of landscaping and seating areas enables the backyard to serve flexibly alongside all three programs of the building, providing space for student events, bookstore readings, or outdoor café seating.

Concept

The historical architecture of the site boasts bay windows, which are among the most recognizable features of residential Brooklyn.

After the demolition of two buildings in 2012, their lots were merged into one. It's located near Eastern Parkway, Kingston Av station and Chabad Lubavitch HQ.

New massing creates a layout of two convex and one concave areas, which give space to Cafe, Education Center and a Book Store in between.

The facade recedes above the street roof datum, respecting the historical massing and creating green terraces for each of the studio units located above.

L7 - is a lounge space of the Education Center. It has a canteen, a study room and a space for after class events and gatherings.

Crown House turns an architectural page for the neighborhood, speaking the language of its historic forms and shaping it into the new poetry.

Close-Up Views

Axonometric View

Plans

Elevations and Sections

Thank you for your attention!

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