Powerhouse Arts Receives Swiss Arc Award

BADEN, SWITZERLAND — Powerhouse Arts has been awarded the Swiss Arc Award in the Education & Health category. For the past 12 years, the awards program has recognized the best buildings in Switzerland and those designed by Swiss practices around the world.

Sited in Gowanus, Brooklyn, Powerhouse Arts involved the restoration and adaptive reuse of the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Power Station, originally built in 1903. The 170,000-square-foot facility — accommodating workshops for wood, metal, ceramics, textiles, and print fabrication — transformed a derelict structure on a contaminated site into a vibrant center for artists, fabricators, and makers.

This year’s jury included Dominique Salathé, Manuel Herz, Ludovica Molo, and Roger Boltshauser. The ceremony took place in Baden, where Ascan Mergenthaler received the prize on behalf of the project collaborators.

From the jury: “The documentation shows that H&dM approached the building and the district in an almost scientific way. The raw structure and the past – not only as a power station, but also as a squat – remain traceable… The Powerhouse Arts is not just a building block for Brooklyn’s art scene and an urban development breakthrough. Rather, the jury sees it as an important contribution to the architectural discourse and a possible answer to the question of how historical buildings can be continued.”

Link

Jury Report