New Visions for the Abandoned Gowanus Batcave by Syracuse University Architecture Students

In 2012, Untapped contributor Will Ellis (of Abandoned NYC) took us inside the Gowanus Batcave, an abandoned MTA powerhouse turned homeless squat. At the time, the fate of the Batcave was up in the air as development plans in the Gowanus neighborhood marched ever forward. Later that year, philanthropist Joshua Rechnitz bought the building with the intention of turning it into arts and educational center. Yesterday, Curbed NY released plans dreamt up by architecture students at Syracuse University, who spent the semester working on the building in studio. Here are some examples:

Andrew Cardinale’s plan with workspace, galleries and living walls:

Mixing exhibition space and open green space in Heather Dela Cruz’s plan:

Nathanael Bengio hopes to retain the history of decay at the Gowanus Batcave:

Matthew Kiwior’s proposal for an industrial art site that imports and exports materials, tools and art:

Gergana Tzolova’s proposal for interior bike paths: