By Holly Giermann

Despite Andrés Jaque of Office of Political Innovation emerging as the winner of the 2015 MoMA PS1 Young Architects Program (YAP), his competitors put up quite a fight. One of this year’s five shortlisted proposals, Erin Besler’s Roof Deck breathes life into arguably the most overlooked aspect of architecture – the roof – by injecting it with an active public program and making it a vessel for summer celebration.

Read on after the break for more on Besler’s proposal.

Drawing inspiration from such mantras synonymous with summer fun as “raise the roof” and “tear the roof off,” Roof Deck creates a hub for activity using the MoMA PS1 roof. By re-positioning the roof within the neighboring courtyard, it becomes a space for gathering and social interaction, offering a casual block party environment. Providing an array of programs with an emphasis on physical fitness and performance, the roof activates what was previously a thoroughfare, making it a destination.

In another effort to improve the space, Roof Deck’s design minimizes waste. The excess material produced from refitting the roof are not discarded, but rather reincorporated into other areas of the design. Additional strides are made through re-purposing the gutter system to dispense runoff into a collection and retention scheme, transforming the common system into a focal point and distributing discarded water for further use on-site.

Architects: Erin Besler
Location: Long Island City, Queens, NY, USA
Project Team: Jamie Barron, Erin Besler, Ian Besler, Kyle Branchesi, Ryan Conroy, Chris Gassaway, Devin Koba, Ingrid Lao, Bernhard Luthringshausen, Tori McKenna, Dami Olufowoshe, Tom Pompeani, Sai Rojanapirom, Shane Reiner-Roth, Evi Temmel, Tessa Watson
Engineering Team: Walter P. Moore, Kais Al-Rawi, Steve Lewis, Bo Ying Liu, Greg Otto, Frank Reppi, Sanjeev Tankha, Viswanath Urala
Year: 2015
Photographs: Walker Oleson

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