The project aims to solve the coming global water crisis by reinterpreting New York’s water tower. 

Historically speaking the water tower is a native typology, representing a solution to New York’s unique problem of distributing water to its high-rise buildings. Our project fuses the water tower with the skyscraper typology, aiming to benefit the community socially and ecologically. It aspires to provide infrastructural support by functioning as a hyper-efficient water collector and then processing the water for reuse.

Fundamental to the water purifying system is the use of pumps commonly used to distribute water in tall skyscrapers. The cascading water supply system uses reservoirs spread evenly inside a skyscraper to overcome the skyscraper’s verticality while keeping the water pressure in check. Stormwater collected onsite and from neighbouring canals is stored underground and pumped successively to the reservoir above for further purification. 

Our project envisions the reservoirs less as traditional tanks and more as ‘sky-lakes’, serving as bases for green micro-ecosystems. These vertically stacked parks are open to the public, providing places of respite for New Yorkers. Clusters of commercial spaces, offices, residential units and urban farms in the tower complete the project and provide outlets for the newly purified water.

A teamwork with Florencia N. Wibisono and Marcello Giuberto. The project was selected as finalist and posted on Nonarchitecture’s Instagram.