Bjarke Ingels Group has released its design to transform the Brooklyn Queens Expressway or BQP into a greenery parkland that creates a connection between the city and the waterfront in Brooklyn, New York.

The Brooklyn Queens Expressway was originally built by Robert Moses in the 1950's which is known as an iconic piece of NYC infrastructure that has accommodated car and truck traffic for more than 60 years. 

BIG's basic question the project was the key principle and asked that: How to turn aging infrastructure into an urban opportunity?". As the triple-cantilever structure along Brooklyn Heights shows signs of corrosion and aging, New York City commissioned BIG to repair the roadway, spanning from San Street in DUMBO to Atlantic Avenue in Cobble Hill.

With the scheme, BIG's proposal includes the replacement of the existing highway with an elevated structure that passed along the residential area. The 50,000-square-metre structure will include a plenty of rampways, greenery and park amenities which continue in a fluid form along the waterfront.

"Inspired by the opportunity to work in our own backyard, we have developed an integrated proposal we dub BQP - how to turn the BQ-Expressway into BQ-Park, while still accommodating significant vehicle flows along the route," said BIG in its statement.

"Construction of an at-grade roadway along Furman Street and Brooklyn Bridge Park, covered with a simple deck structure, is the first step of waterfront transformation."

This deck provides a platform for adding significant new parkland along an underused corridor, while connecting Brooklyn Heights to Brooklyn Bridge Park with a preserved or re-constructed cliffside, criss-crossed by rampways, greenery and park amenities.

Local park accesses accommodated on a meandering parkway, while space is created for a potential spur of the BQX light-rail line. The deck structure extends south to Atlantic Avenue - where it creates a new crossing and urban nexus, and the beginnings of a linear park which could eventually connect DUMBO to Red Hook. 

"The simple structural approach and one-time construction of the new roadway, create a more feasible and less costly solution for reconstruction of the BQP, while delivering far more benefits to the community," added BIG.

"With this proposal, we hope to build on the great work already being undertaken by many to think proactively about our urban future – and look forward to working with the Brooklyn community to find the best solutions for the BQE’s future," continued BIG. 

BIG recently unveiled its proposal for a floating city to create a new urban infrastructure that will help human populations for the problems of rising seas, extreme floods and storms.

Project facts

Partner-in-Charge: Bjarke Ingels, Kai-Uwe Bergmann, Martin Voelkle
Associate-in-Charge: Jeremy Alain Siegel
Project Leader: Autumn Visconti
Team: Veronica Acosta, Doug Breuer, Stephanie Bigelow, Terrence Chew, Jamie Maslyn Larson
Collaborators: Regional Plan Association, Arcadis

All images © BIG

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