WALLPAPER* SPOTLIGHTS THE BIG U AND THE CONCEPT OF ‘HEDONISTIC SUSTAINABILITY’

‘Hedonistic sustainability’ – a term coined by BIG’s Founder and Creative Director Bjarke Ingels to describe how sustainable development and the pursuit of pleasure can coexist – is highlighted by Wallpaper* in a story focused on the BIG U. As BIG’s proposal for Rebuild by Design – an initiative by the Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development – the BIG U is a 10-mile protective system running around Manhattan’s coastline from West 57th Street south to The Battery and up to East 40th Street that aims to increase the resiliency of Sandy-impacted communities. The East Side Coastal Resiliency project – the section of the BIG U between Montgomery Street and East 25th Street – is currently under construction, and features a system of “bridging berms” that help protect the neighborhood from future storm surge while reimagining access and pedestrian bridges into the park, supporting diverse new plantings, enhancing views into the park, and creating better open spaces along the waterfront – a living example of ‘hedonistic sustainability.’