Park Avenue Wind Turbine

Currently a finalist in the World Architecture Festival’s Award for Experimental - Future Project, Scott Brownrigg + Crown originally submitted the design for the New York “Centerline Design Competition”, a privately funded design competition to bring Park Avenue into the 21st century and transform its central reservation.

Inspired by the “expect the unexpected” concept, the design puts an alien like structure in the center of a structured urban environment by way of the dual purposed Wheel. The centerpiece of the project offers unparalleled views of the city with an environmentally conscious twist; the Wheel is also a wind turbine.

The Wheel offers a dynamic viewing experience; from up close high-level views of Park Avenue Skyscrapers to unobstructed northern views for the length of Park Avenue and beyond; offering a first time perspective for the public to enjoy. Even more exciting is the underground experience that the Wheel offers. New York City’s below grade infrastructure, arguably as important as its above grade buildings, is an area that rarely gets recognition as an attraction and is never seen from this viewpoint. The bottom of the Wheel’s cycle whisks riders in-between passing trains and back up again; an exciting unique experience for passengers of the Wheel and the train alike.

By locating the Wheel at this specific site, it broadens its uses to the corporate world, drawing tenants of the Park Avenue commercial corridor to take lunch breaks or host creative meetings within the capsules.

The Wheel, which sets the urban amusement theme, drives the concept for the rest of the median space. The remaining nine blocks are a variety of small-scale fun interventions bringing focus and interest one block-length at a time.