Breakneck Bridge

Spanning 7.5 miles between Cold Spring and Beacon, NY, the Hudson Highlands Fjord Trail is a new multi-modal linear park created by Scenic Hudson along the Hudson River. The trail, with landscape architecture by Scape and buildings and structures by Gray Organschi, will provide visitors with expansive views across the river, as well as access to the region's complex system of waterways, wetlands, highlands and forests.

The Breakneck Bridge, designed by Gray Organschi in collaboration with structural engineering firm Fast + Epp, serves as a critical point of connection along the Fjord Trail, crossing over the Metro North Railroad tracks and sloping gently toward the riverbank, where it joins the southerly reach of the river's edge trail. Conceived primarily as a pedestrian path, the bridge also provides previously unavailable emergency vehicular access to the riverside stretch of the trail.

In keeping with the broader project goals of cultivating the ecological sublime and foregrounding the region’s landscape, the Breakneck Bridge strives to be visually quiet and elegant, modulating its form along its length to meet various clearance and performance requirements. Its primary structure consists of a slender arched weathering steel box girder, which recalls both the region’s industrial past and the railroad directly below. The bridge deck, a series of glulam timber panels cantilevered beyond the weathering steel arches, is bracketed by a visually minimal stainless steel mesh enclosure, keeping walkers and bikers safe from the railroad, but making way for spectacular views toward Storm King, across the Hudson river. With an emphasis on sustainability and durability, these elements coalesce as part of a prefabricated kit of components, allowing for easy maintenance with minimal disruption to the trail’s visitors and operation. This philosophy is emblematic of our design approach within the Hudson Highlands Fjord Trail as a whole, which aims to avoid excessively extractive industrial processes in favor of a regenerative material palette drawn from local sources, and uses tools and techniques that minimize the disturbance of this irreplaceable landscape and invaluable environmental resource.

Lisa honored by Architectural Record's 2020 Women in Architecture Awards

Lisa is one of five recipients of this year's Women in Architecture Awards by Architectural Record. According to the award's organizers, "the program recognizes and promotes women who demonstrate a commitment to excellence both in their work and in the world." Read the full press release here.

Alan and Andy collaborate on article published in Nature Sustainability

The article "Buildings as a Global Carbon Sink" has recently been published in Nature Sustainability. A collaboration between Alan Organschi, Andrew Ruff, and researchers at Yale University, the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, and Tsinghua University, the paper discusses the potential of using bio-based building materials to mitigate the effects of climate change. See this link to a blog post about the article, which is also mentioned in this CBC article. The original paper can be accessed on Nature Sustainabiliy here.

WT/GO Architecture presents concept design for University of Arkansas design competition

WT/GO Architecture has recently presented its concept design for the Anthony Timberlands Center for Design and Materials Innovation at the University of Arkansas. The building will serve as the epicentre for the Fay Jones School of Architecture's multiple timber and wood initiatives as well as house the school's design-build program and digital fabrication laboratories. See the project page for more images and information about WT/GO's proposal. The final result of the competition will be announced in May 2020.

Alan presents at mass timber roundtable

Alan will join an international panel of architects to discuss the emerging role of mass timber in architectural design. See this link for more information on the event.

WT/GO selected as one of six finalists in University of Arkansas design competition

In a newly established partnership with Waugh Thistleton Architects, WT/GO was selected as one of six finalists to design the Anthony Timberlands Center for Design and Materials Innovation at the University of Arkansas. WT/GO is thrilled that our combined commitment to sustainability as well as material and fabrication innovation was recognized by the campus review committee among almost 70 submissions. See the official press release here.

Image courtesy of Bryan Nash Gill

Lisa shares her experience creating the Ecological Living Module

On this Hive RE:think podcast, Lisa discusses the Ecological Living Module as a model for affordable, secure, comfortable, and sustainable housing.

Alan to lecture at The Architectural League of New York

Alan will present on using mass timber and bio-based building assemblies in the construction of new cityscapes, turning the future city from a source of carbon emissions into a carbon storage system. See this link for more information on the event - we hope to see you on November 26.

Lisa and Alan in conversation, hosted by the Liljestrand Foundation

Lisa and Alan will present and discuss the office's work at the Liljestrand House as part of the Foundation's Design Conversation Series. See this link for more information on the November 6 event.

Grand opening of South Shore Little League stadium

The South Shore Little League community recently celebrated the opening of the Joseph A. Verdino Jr. Grandstand in Staten Island, NY. The new stadium, named in honor and memory of a young player in the league, now allows the SSLL to host tournaments in an inspiring and functional new setting. Visit the project page for more information and images.

Hudson Highlands Fjord Trail

Gray Organschi Architecture was recently selected to join the Hudson Highlands Fjord Trail design team. This linear park will connect Cold Spring to Beacon, NY and feature recreational and educational structures that encourage public engagement with and stewardship of this beautiful landscape.

Painting by Jasper Francis Cropsey, Autumn - On the Hudson River (1860)

Image courtesy of National Gallery of Art, Washington

New website

Gray Organschi Architecture launched its completely new website, designed by mgmt. and built by GrayBits.

With the new interface and updated content, it is now much easier to navigate through our past 20 years of work, including the research and teaching that is critical to our practice. If this is your first time on our new site, welcome!

GOA at the United Nations

Gray Organschi Architecture collaborated with the Yale Center for Ecosystems in Architecture to design, fabricate, and install the Ecological Living Module (ELM) for the United Nations Environment Programme.

The 22-square meter home is constructed from renewable bio-based building materials and fully self-sufficient in terms of energy and water. The first demonstration unit, located in the UN Plaza in New York City, from July 9–August 23, contains features relevant to the local climate and context of New York. Future iterations of the module—including one in Kenya, the home of UN Environment—will respond specifically to local climatic and cultural contexts.

GOA and partners awarded three US Forest Service grants

The 2018 USDA Forest Service Wood Innovation Grants have allocated $8 million to 34 projects brought forward by business, university, nonprofit, and tribal organizations in 20 states to stimulate the growth of wood-based technologies and markets. In addition to increasing the health, efficiency, and resilience of US forests, projects were also selected for the use of wood products in innovative ways and promoting economic development in rural communities.

GOA and its partners have received three of these grants.

"Northern Forests to Timber Cities: Linking Urban Construction Demand to Northern Forest Mass Timber and Harvested Wood Products" works with the Northern Forest Center to develop new supply chains and material flows that connect the underutilized supply of New England softwood forests and rural workforce to the region's insatiable demand for dense sustainable urban construction.

"Overbuilds with Mass Timber—Building Preservation, Restoration and Growth" is centered around the Acme Lofts project with Spiritos Development and Acme Timber, LLC, which restores a historic downtaown masonry and increases its intensity of use with a circulation core and two additional storeys made of mass timber.

"Affordable Housing Opportunities with Mass Timber" uses the 340+ Dixwell project with Spirtos Development and Beulah Land Development Corporation as a precedent and catalyst for the use of mass timber structural systems as a way to create high-quality, healthy affordable housing stock in urban centers while empowering a new regional workforce.

Alan Organschi to serve as Portman Visiting Critic

Principal Alan Organschi has been named as the 2019 Portman Visiting Critic at Georgia Institute of Technology School of Architecture. As Portman Critic, Alan will participate in the academic life of Georgia Tech as a visiting design studio critic and guest lecturer, as well as chair the jury for the Portman Prize, which recognizes student achievements in integrating technical detail considerations into the larger concepts and process of design. He will also contribute to the curriculum of the School's comprehensive building design workshop, sharing his experience at the intersections of architecture, site, detail, and building technology.