Green Daily

New York Magazine recently challenged four architects to come up with a plan for the empty lot at Canal and Varick Streets, with the only requirement being that it had to be a residential structure and meet zoning requirements.

One design in particular shone in its uniqueness and consideration of our planet's future: Work AC's "The Locavore Fantasia" (see the image at right).

The design, an apartment building, resembles a set of glass stair steps, and on top of each "step," or floor, is an outdoor garden. Each rooftop holds a different type of flora or fauna; there would be crops, flowers, and even a putting green. Four large tanks on the very top level would collect rainwater for the farms.
"We are interested in urban farming and the notion of trying to make our cities more sustainable by cutting the miles [food travels]," said Work AC co-principal Amale Andraos.

While the other architects incorporated some great concepts into their work, none were as eco-conscious and forward-thinking as Work AC's. We're better off just planting a garden in the empty lot, but if we're forced to put up more housing, the least we can do is allow it to be a site on which living things can grow and thrive.