Phragmiticide Marine Park, Brooklyn, New York
Columbia GSAPP Spring 2024 | Studio Critic: Feifei Zhou of Feral Atlas
“Phragmiticide” unveils a multi-phased intervention at Marine Park in Brooklyn, where invasive Phragmites Australis thrives due to nitrogen from nearby wastewater treatment and golf course herbicides. The proposal reimagines the eventual replacement of the golf course with a Visitor Center, becoming the park’s new core, constantly harvesting phragmites for its activities, fostering rivaling native plant reintroduction, and restoring Monarch Butterfly habitats to ensure survival of native plants. It also envisions repurposing parts of the golf course buildings into a ‘Phragmites Composting and Milkweed Pod Harvesting Center’. Leveraging local regulations, such as ‘Monarch Preservation Plan,’ and ecological initiatives like ‘Monarchs in The Rough,’ the interventions activate both non-human and human to curb Phragmites’ spread and revitalize Monarch Butterflies populations, transforming Marine Park into a vibrant ecosystem.