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  • Brooklyn Bridge Forest Pilot Projects & Collaborators shortlisted for Reimagining Brooklyn Bridge competition!

    The Brooklyn Bridge Forest project has been selected as a finalist in the Van Alen Institute's international Reimagining the Brooklyn Bridge competition.  Read more >>

  • Orchard Community Workshop many hands Merchants and residents of Orchard Street pitch in to design a better streetscape

    One of our signature services, "community planning workshops" can solve complex problems in record time. We bring stakeholders together to strategize, negotiate and create the best solution to difficult challenges.  Read more >>

  • Interlochen Arts Academy - Forest innovation course_workshop Teaching hands-on forest management and engineering innovation at Interlochen Arts Academy

    Pilot Projects has been working with the Interlochen Arts Academy to teach high school students about forest ecology, forest management, innovative wood design and hands-on construction. Small groups of students were assigned 10m x 10m forest plots to document the species and composition, create a model management plan, harvest several small trees, mill, dry, and process the timber, design a wooden bridge, build it and test it - all in one semester of their ecology class.  Read more >>

  • The Future of Forest Work and Communities Future of Forest Work: Youth Visioning Workshop, Peru

    Young people from forest communities around the world come together to co-create a future of forest stewardship  Read more >>

  • BBF painting and intro Introducing the Brooklyn Bridge Forest

    The much-loved wooden boardwalk of the historic Brooklyn Bridge will need to be replaced soon. The Brooklyn Bridge Forest is our proposal to preserve the bridge's architectural integrity — and create a new model for rainforest conservation and sustainable global trade.  Read more >>

  • Gowanus CSO floodplain Bio-industrial floodplain filtration system

    The bio-industrial armature we proposed for Brooklyn's Gowanus Canal was designed to clean overflow waste water through a modular floodplain system. Water cleaned by wetland plants and soil in the system would be re-released into the canal or channeled inland for further treatment.  Read more >>

  • Gantry section Gantry section of Gowanus Canal: Modular Floodplain proposal

    Our Gowanus Canal modular floodplain proposal: 40 shipping containers hold bio-remediation wetland plants and soil. A gantry crane services each module while barge-docking allows the containers to be relocated with low-energy transport.  Read more >>

  • Fellowship For Performing Arts Workspace Workplace redesign for non profit theater company Broadway location

    We worked with Fellowship for the Performing Arts to completely reinvent their workspace in their existing Broadway location. We took them from a sea of beige cubicles to a unique "back-stage" open workspace, with room for growth, flexibility, and a style that reflects their creative brand. To meet the high sustainability goals we re-used (and transformed) the existing systems furniture to avoid sending it to the landfill. This also saved on new material costs.   Read more >>

  • LES Business Improvement District Collaboration Lower East Side neighborhood improvements

    Visioning session with representatives of the Lower East Side BID. On the table: A proposal for container-based pop-up retail and artist residences on Norfolk St. between Rivington and Delancey.   Read more >>

  • HandModel Orchard Street Streetscape Model

    Community member locates a tree on the Orchard streetscape model. Over 50 participants worked on this collaborative model of the street to guide the new streetscape master plan.  Read more >>

  • Delancey Plaza Plan Working with LED BID to redesign the cyclist and pedestrian plaza experience at Delancey Crossing

    Pilot Projects is co-designing of a number of NYC plazas with our neighborhood partners. By adding right blend of furniture and other infrastructure we aim to make them safer, more bike friendly, and activated with vendors and other amenities. The new layout of the Delancey Crossing Plaza is currently in implementation phase with new structures and furniture to be added this fall.  Read more >>

  • Orchard St. Model Interaction Pilot Projects Orchard St. Streetscape Workshop

    Pilot Projects Orchard St. Streetscape Workshop  Read more >>

  • 3-D model Sandbox Large-scale corporate workplace planning using the Sandbox

    Broadcasting company executives drop by to discuss the total reorganization of two million sq. ft. of office space.  Read more >>

  • Workplace strategy for single-floor corporate client Workplace strategy for single-floor corporate client

    At the intersection of organizational culture and workplace design, our process includes a range of methodologies. Here we helped a furniture manufacturer make their office feel (and work) less like an office, more like the inviting environments their products are used in.   Read more >>

  • Battery Park Chair Design "Draw Up a Chair" competition entry

    Our entry to the Battery Conservancy's "Draw Up a Chair" competition for movable chairs on the Battery Park Oval found new uses for recycled aluminum, cast iron, and wood reclaimed from Sandy-damaged boardwalks.   Read more >>

  • Battery Park Chair Design rendering "Draw Up a Chair" competition entry

    Rendering of the Pilot Projects entry to the Battery Conservancy's "Draw Up a Chair" competition for the Battery Park Oval.   Read more >>

  • 100 Fountains graphic icons 100 Fountains graphic icons

    The impetus for much of our project incubation work is the desire for a more livable, equitable and beautiful city. 100 Fountains began with a vision of New York as a city known for its beautiful, functional, making-bottled-water-irrelevant public drinking fountains.  Read more >>

  • 100 Fountains “Respect the Fountain” whiteboard sketches Whiteboard sketches for "Respect the Fountain"

    100 Fountains and associated research was generously supported by the Environmental Protection Clinic at the Yale Law School. Here we brainstormed a public performance art piece to raise awareness of New York City's vast water infrastructure.   Read more >>

  • 100 Fountains “Respect the Fountain” in Washington Square Park "Respect the Fountain" in Washington Square Park

    Can we end our wasteful, expensive addiction to bottled water? To raise support for 100 Fountains, we held summer afternoon performances in Union Square and Washington Square Park.  Read more >>

  • Elixir Juice Bar tables Juice bar retail design

    We fabricated these rotating tables to allow customers to rearrange them as desired for a better view. Our only regret: No hooks for bags or jackets on the interior vertical surfaces.  Read more >>

  • LES Pop-Up Retail pop-up retail and artist residences in recycled shipping containers

    Detailed models help both design team and client envision how a project will change the street scape. Here's a close-up of a Lower East Side BID proposal for new container-based pop-up retail and artist residences.  Read more >>

  • Elixir Juice Bar prototyping retail elements Prototyping retail elements for NYC juice bar

    Our flexible menu of services gives clients the design and management support they need to increase productivity and decrease project turn-around time. These drums turned into custom ice buckets to hold fresh-squeezed juices.   Read more >>

  • BBF Uaxactun sawmill Uaxactun community sawmill

    Research for the Brooklyn Bridge Forest has taken us far and wide. This sawmill site in rural Guatemala is a potential partner and collaborator.  Read more >>

  • BBF project information booth Presenting the Brooklyn Bridge Forest at the New Amsterdam Market

    Global partnerships start with local outreach. In 2011 we brought the Brooklyn Bridge Forest proposal to lower Manhattan weekend markets.  Read more >>

  • Bike Rescue “Service Experience Map” Bike Rescue "Service Experience Map"

    What should happen to New York's abandoned bicycles? Bike Rescue proposes to get those bikes back in circulation, free up much-needed bike rack space, and create new jobs for our young people.  Read more >>

  • Revolution Rickshaw pallet trike sketch Revolution Rickshaw pallet trike sketch

    Some design efforts revolve around specific hardware challenges. Concepts may be brought to us by a client looking for development assistance, or a client may present us with a design problem we're asked to solve from scratch and complete in toto. Here's a work in progress for Revolution Rickshaws.  Read more >>

  • Power Playground rendering highway rest stop with Power Playground

    Power Playground was inspired by the idea that road trips should not have to entail atrophied muscles. We designed a human-powered air compressor / kinetic sculpture that promotes both public health and energy conservation.  Read more >>

  • Cities4Forests A global network leading cities partner with forests

    A global network leading cities partner with forests to combat climate change, protect watersheds and biodiversity, and improve human well-being, co-created by Pilot Projects Design Collective, World Resources Institute, and REVOLVE.  Read more >>

    • Pilot Projects is a systems thinking and design partnership (a family of three companies) that co-creates sustainable solutions to complex challenges in global systems, cities and the natural environment. Our core offering is a mix of strategy and design services to develop resilient, purposeful infrastructure in partnership with your team. If you are looking for an inventive and inclusive approach to a project involving people, culture, nature and the built environment, we would love to discuss it. You can find out more about our services here.

    Collecting global biodiversity leaders under the banner of playful engagement
    Amazon conservation meets woodworking innovation

    Amazon forest conservation meets woodworking innovation in Peru
    Forest Canopy

    Can we preserve the Brooklyn Bridge Promenade and protect a tropical rainforest? Winner of "Reimagining Brooklyn Bridge"
    cities, city, urban, forests, urban forests, trees, carbon, health, restoration , FLR, Forest landscape restoration

    We co-founded Cities4Forests, a global network to combat climate change, protect biodiversity, and improve human well-being

    Connecting Cities with Forest Communities on the Front Lines of Conservation
    Jalapa del Valle, Oaxaca Mexico

    Will these young people save the world? Meet the next generation of forest innovators.

    WOOD at WORK community of practice: Expanding the potential of the world's most sustainable building material
    The Cities4Forests Quito Bridge

    How can we bridge urban policy goals and forest conservation in tropical cities?

    Technology executives at Hearst Corporation co-create a balance between innovation and craftsmanship

    Students at the Interlochen Arts Academy learn hands-on systems thinking and design - from forest to bridges!
    Drawing of the GreenHub building

    Turning deadweight parking structures into a high-functioning mix of community space and cycling amenities.

    Collaborating with local residents in the Lower East Side to make one of NYC's best streets more pedestrian, business and bike friendly.
    NYC fountain and taxi

    We want to start an international revolution in urban hydration. Join us?
    Charity: Water co-working

    Office overhaul: bringing together innovative design and creative office layout, blending public and private, allows a charity to grow.
    Gowanus Canal Modular Floodplain Barge and Gantry Crane

    "Modular Floodplain" took Honorable Mention for Urban Ecology at Gowanus by Design's WATER_WORKS competition.

    Breaking down silos with a magnetic center creates a collaborative hub at Columbus Circle.


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