As part of last year’s summer bridge program, our incoming freshman class began their work in designing a new green roof at the Newtown Creek Alliance headquarters in Greenpoint. This project immediately exposed these students to one of the many opportunities WHSAD has to offer. Over the years working with NCA, our students have designed and launched floating docks, landscaped nature walks, and cultivated a crucial partnership with an organization that aims to improve the environmental landscape of an area that has incurred tremendous damage from human activity. Acting as both stewards of sustainability and engineers of innovation, WHSAD students continue to aid Newtown Creek Alliance’s mission “to restore community health, water quality, habitat, access, and vibrant commerce along Newtown Creek.”
Thank you to everyone at Newtown Creek Alliance for working with our students and showing them the importance of collaboration in order to realize a more environmentally sound New York City. For more information about Newtown Creek Alliance, click the following link:
https://www.newtowncreekalliance.org
And check out WHSAD’s Canva green roof presentation here:
https://gardensinthesky.my.canva.site/gardens-in-the-sky
Below, you will find narratives from three of our freshmen, Mahkaylla Joliboisgantt (M.J.), Mrwa Naser (M.N.) and Miriam Stojko (M.S.) who worked on the green roof project.
Please provide a description of your project. What is it? What is the purpose? Who are the stakeholders?
The project my team and I were working on was for a green roof. The purpose of this project was to create a rooftop garden so that plants can survive on a rooftop. The stakeholders were the Newtown Creek Alliance. I actually started this project when I was in Summer Bridge, a program where an incoming freshman goes in during the summer and work on projects. That’s when I started this project, but then since the summer was over, I took a break from it and then I came back just recently. The things my team and I have been doing are using multiple programs such as Rhino and Twinmotion. Rhino is where we created the 3-D model of the rooftop garden and then Twinmotion was the program we used to import the flowers and the designs. (M.J.)
The project is the Newtown Creek green roof project. We are designing a rooftop garden design because the city experiences a lot of runoff, which leads to a loss of biodiversity. The rooftop garden will not only regulate runoff but bring life back to the area. The stakeholders would be any one environmentally cautious or any one who likes helping the environment and biodiversity. Over the course of the year, starting in the summer bridge program, we have been drafting, researching planing and presenting designs. (M.N)
The project we are working on is creating a rooftop garden to help make the environment in the area have a better future in terms of pollution. The purpose if this project is to create sustainability and to reduce pollution in the environment as well as having people get closer to nature. (M.S.)
How has your vision for the project changed over the time you have been working on it?
My vision for the project changed over the time as I have been working on it. My vision went from seeing the roof top garden as something just pleasing to the eye to a carefully executed plan to help the environment, especially in places like New York where there isn’t much biodiversity. The process of creating the original presentation made me realize the importance of each flower and caused my vision to change. (M.N)
My vision changed a lot since the beginning of this project because at first I thought to myself that I should just finish this so that it could look good on my future resumes. Then towards the end I realized that I’m not just doing this so that it could look good on me in the future, but I’m doing this because I actually find some joy in doing projects like this and seeing what I accomplish in the end. (M.J.)
Explain the process of designing your work. Think about the programs you have used, the feedback you have received, the practice you have had.
To create a functional layout I had to use a program called Rhino. Rhino is a 3D modeling software that we used to create the layout of the rooftop garden. Also we used a program called Twinmotion to make the layout more realistic according to how we envisioned it to be. Twinmotion is a 3D rendering program that can make your creations look more realistic. This project allowed me to become more knowledgeable in the programs the school had to offer, and allow me to know my future teachers better. The practice that I had was actually another project before I was put onto the rooftop garden again. I was doing a project for the Black History Month and that’s actually where I learned how to use all these programs and that was actually my practice. (M.J.)
We first went to tour and measure the area we planned on working on. Then we began drafting how we wanted the path to look like. After this, we researched the plants we planned on adding to our garden and then made a 2-D replica on AutoCAD. Once we accomplished these steps, we created the presentation and practiced speaking in front of an audience of WHSAD teachers and staff. Soon after this, we presented our design to Newtown Creek Alliance members for feed back, and then we used that feed back to improve the design and to create the final presentation for the Science Symposium. (M.N.)
Students from the woodworking club made a wooden frame for our mock-garden, and when we had gone to the Newtown Creek Alliance building we set it up. We put a piece of plexiglass on the frame’s opening and placed the layers in order. We then decorated the top with plants and sent it to the symposium to showcase it. (M.S.)
How would you rate your final design proposal? Why would you give it such a rating?
I would rate this project a 7/10 because of the time line. Many of the meetings were during Ramadan, which I was celebrating, so I could not attend. Also because I was in and out the project. I did like the plants, research, and fun work collaboration concept and look forward to continuing with Newtown Creek Alliance to improve the environment in North Brooklyn. (M.N.)
I would rate my final design proposal as a 9. The reason I would give my final design a 9 is my team and I covered everything that there is to think about for this project. I also feel like we executed the project to the best of our ability so far. (M.J.)
What words of advice would you give to someone who is about to get involved in such a project?
Some words of advice I would give to someone who is about to get involved in such a project is to be confident while presenting, to mange your time well, do as much research as possible, and to attend all meetings at which you will be receiving feedback that will help improve your product. Also, remember the measurements while planning and be very careful when making the measurements. (M.N.)
Some words of advice I would give someone who is about to do such a dedicated project is to make sure this is really what you want to do and that you feel comfortable doing it. Because a project like this requires time and a lot of thinking and if you aren’t dedicated to this you will never finish it. (M.J.)
What are some things that you learned about yourself as a person, student, designer, etc. from your work on this project?
Something I’ve learned about myself while working on this project is that I need to get better at communication with groups I’m working in. I’m good at and enjoy researching and finding better ways to help the environment. (M.N.)
Some things that I have learned as a student from this project is that I have a lot more potential than I thought I had at the beginning of this project. (M.J.)
I’ve learned that I have a short attention span and that I enjoy doing more of the physical work rather than planning or researching in time for projects like these. (M.S.)