Sustainable Architecture

There are only four Frank Lloyd Wright -designed houses in the state of New Jersey. One of them- located in Millstone, in Somerset County and dating from 1954- was purchased by architects Lawrence and Sharon Tarantino back in 1988. The couple’s restoration work on the house was recently featured in the New York Times after the house won a merit award for preservation in the AIA-New Jersey’s 2008 design competition. In addition to restoring the house’s kitchen pursuant to Wright’s plans (the original kitchen was destroyed in 1999 by Hurricane Floyd), the Tarantinos also installed a historic barn from Vermont on the property that will serve as a design studio.

The Dynamic Tower - a 1380-foot, rotating residential high-rise, will break ground in Dubai within a few months, according to Italian architect David Fisher, who discussed details about the project at a press conference today at the Plaza Hotel in Midtown. According to Dr. Fisher, a second Dynamic Tower will soon follow in Moscow with a third to come here in New York City. GlobeSt.com reports that although Fisher did not provide specific details about the New York iteration of the project, he did note that he is already talking to developers about bringing the concept to Gotham. The Dubai tower will cost $700 million and consist of 80 floors; the 70-story Moscow version is budgeted at $400 million.

It might be a bit early to start looking back on what has been a truly watershed year for the green movement at large, and green building in particular, but here's our stab at the top five green buildings in New York City that either received a LEED rating or were completed during the course of 2007. Note that not all of the buildings on our list actually sought certification, and some have yet to receive the designation from USGBC. There's nothing scientific to our methodology here, but we've selected projects that we think were important for a unique reason. Still, the real winner this year was the Big Apple itself, which saw an increasing number of green buildings break ground across a wide variety of sectors. Feel free to chime in with your thoughts- or if you think we missed a particularly deserving project- in the comments below.

#1: Queens Botanical Garden Visitor's & Administration Center

The Visitor's Center at the Queens Botanical Garden in Flushing tops our list as the first LEED Platinum building in New York City (once USGBC officially confers the designation). Designed by BKSK Architects to reflect the surrounding natural landscape of the Botanical Garden, the Center is an excellent demonstration of design excellence intersecting with sustainability. The project officially opened to the public at the end of September.

#2: New York Times Tower

The Hearst Tower, which sits just under a mile north of the New York Times' new headquarters, grabbed most of the green headlines along Eighth Avenue this year, certainly in part because it earned LEED Gold and the Times Tower chose not to seek a LEED rating. Still, Renzo Piano's new headquarters for the Times is a sustainable building under any standard, and is symbolic of the wave of green construction that's gripped Eighth Avenue in Hell's Kitchen, from the Times Tower and neighboring 11 Times Square, which will seek LEED Silver on the other side of 41st Street, all the way up to the Hearst Tower on 57th Street, as well as recent news regarding LEED Gold 20 Times Square which will soon take shape across the street at the Port Authority Bus Terminal. The New York Times moved into its new home over the summer; its public lobby is definitely worth checking out.

#3: Morrisania Homes

The Morrisania Homes, an affordable housing development in the Bronx, achieved a notable first in October when it earned New York State's first LEED for Homes ("LEED-H") certification from USGBC.

Developed by Boerum Hill-based R & E Brooklyn, Inc., 93 Nevins Street and 453 Pacific Street (collectively, the Brooklyn Health House) are currently under construction. The project team, which includes Kiss + Cathcart Architects and general contractor GreenStreet Construction, is remodeling a 1920s-era brick pharmacy- which also served as a Laundromat and a deli - into two three-bedroom, 2.5 bath townhouses that will each boast over 100 different green design features. Green Depot - also of Brooklyn - is furnishing the development with a variety of sustainable materials and products, and the project will be the first townhouses in New York City to be certified under the American Lung Association’s Health House program, as well as be featured as Natural Home Magazine’s 2007 Show House.