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Why farmworker housing, and why now This project began with a simple realization in studio: the people who feed cities are essential workers and yet safe, stable housing is often the most fragile link in the food system. That gap made me curious about how housing, health, and work actually intersect for farmworkers across our region. Jamie and I started our research online and in the library, collecting demographic data, policy notes, funding programs, and precedent examples

Daniel Hsu

For November 21st - Lily Rose Mager

This project aims to incorporate layers of private, semi-private, semi-public, and public spheres to create a productive co-living space. The private is represented by the individual dwelling units, consisting of one or two bedrooms and some private amenities. The semi-private is the shared kitchen, laundry, and lounge areas where residents can intermingle with one another. The semi-public space is the small urban rooftop farm. While the farm is primarily for the residents, i

Project Statement — Urban Metabolism Food scarcity in New York follows a sharp seasonal rhythm, most visibly affecting children during summer break when school meal programs pause. At the same time, urban farms experience peak production and temporary employment in summer, followed by a steep decline in both harvest and labor opportunities in late fall. The project begins with this imbalance and explores how architecture might mediate between cycles of abundance and scarcity.

Transcript: This project aims to incorporate layers of private, semi-private, semi-public, and public spheres to create a productive co-living space. The private is represented by the individual dwelling units, consisting of one or two bedrooms and some private amenities. The semi-private is the shared kitchen, laundry, and lounge areas where residents can intermingle with one another. The semi-public space is the small urban rooftop farm. While the farm is primarily for the

Located in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn, this project envisions a landmark housing estate for urban farmers, integrating living, agriculture, and enterprise into the city’s fabric. The design is anchored by a green axis connecting the site to a nearby garden, around which the built mass is organized. Rooted in a micro-climatic sunlight analysis, the project positions high- and low-light crops on all four façades, wrapping cultivation around residential spaces. The spatial layout fo

This project extends my previous research on quantifying farmland and developing minimum square footage housing, from the Chester Home prototype at the Chester Agriculture Center to studies of urban food production like Brooklyn Grange Farm. Each examined how systems of growing and living overlap, yet a question persisted: where does it all go?  Food waste remains a lingering challenge within these networks. This proposal addresses that gap by tracing the diverse streams of f

approach to this design prompt begins with considering the kind of impact I hope this project will have on the site, the block, and the broader neighborhood. As more urban cities recognize the importance of localized food production systems, vertical farming has emerged as an area of growing interest, offering relatively high food output with a minimal building footprint. In this project, revenue from the residential apartments supports the operation of the farm, which in tur

On Fulton Street, between a children’s playground and a church, the site sits within a cluster of community gardens and small farms in Bed-Stuy/Clinton Hill. Many of these sites operate on their own even though their aims, operations, and communities overlap. The Fulton Street project uses its unique crossroads, where families come for the playground and neighbors gather at the church, to connect them into a shared network. Urban-farm terraces rise from the playground along t

The Fulton Playhouse  sits beside a community playground and ballpark, surrounded by schools that span early education through high school, including Bethel Elementary, PS3, PS9, and the Brooklyn Waldorf School. This concentration of young children reveals a strong need for family-centered housing rooted in play and learning. The project preserves the site’s historic brick façade, carving into it to form a public indoor courtyard across the first three floors. The playground

Courtyard Park Harvest is located in Brooklyn, at 1024 Fulton Street, an area well connected by main roads, local streets, and public transport. The site sits between a church and a park, with residential buildings in front and behind. The east and south façades receive the most sunlight, shaping the design approach. Originally built in 1912, the existing four-story building will preserve its ground-floor façade, creating a new access from the park that extends green space i

By Daniel (Yijie) Hsu Transcript: The project is conceptualized as an urban agrarian housing that produces more than just crops – it is a foodscape that is simultaneously a gathering plaza, a city green space, a food literacy center, and a home to urban farm workers. The farming component is situated near the ground level for public accessibility, connecting both the street as well as the adjacent Crispus Attucks Playground and ball courts, spatially and visually, to attract

Site is TINY Towers Dwellings Different sizes to the facades 'Supposed to go on this way

by: Bowen Chang The Brooklyn Grange Rooftop Farm in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, exemplifies how industrial urban infrastructure can be reimagined as productive ecological space. Established atop a 3.2-acre warehouse roof without structural reinforcement, the site integrates soil-based farming, composting, and community programming within New York City’s dense built environment. As one of the largest rooftop farms in the United States, it serves both as a model for climate-adaptive