Cut&Paste Design Slam Competition | Autodesk University 2008

What happens when you are given a brief to design 500 housing units, a site in the East River between Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn, and 20 minutes to model your idea from scratch? You try to come up with an awesome idea!

Inspired by historical examples of architecture-as-infrastructure, including Ponte Vecchio and Le Corbusier’s plan for Algiers, Dave imagines a future where global sea levels have risen and obsolete infrastructure has been repurposed for new uses. With no river left to span, the iconic Brooklyn Bridge becomes the host of a new social housing development suspended between the bridge pylons.

Using the arc of the suspension cables as a point of departure, Dave created a 3d lattice structure, hanging the units in a lightweight net. The units themselves are derived from the net mesh, affording amazing views of what’s left of New Your Harbor. A new park replaces the roadway down the center of the bridge, connecting the units with one another and the natural environment.

Completed for Cut&Paste’s Digital Design Slam Competition at Autodesk University, this was the first live 3d design competition of its kind. Armed with just 3ds Max , Dave demonstrates that the most important tool is a good idea.