A 13-acre abandoned, uninhabited, rather creepy patch of land in the middle of the East River, North Brother Island hasn't been hospitable to anythingbesides birds who use it to breedin decades. Known for its now-crumbling cluster of medical facilities that once housed a quarantined Typhoid Mary, two admirably ambitious architecture students recently decided to reclaim the decrepitude, drawing up plans for a school for children with autism (a disorder that, by no coincidence, seriously impacts an underserved Bronx population). DNAinfo has all the details about Ian Ellis and Frances Peterson's hypothetical project, which would preserve the island's status as a bird sanctuary and let some buildings continue to decay while adaptively reusing others for the school.
The architects dreamed of a school that would re-use five existing structures for potentially 208 students and 52 instructors, who would travel to the island via ferry. ... The aspects that make it appealing to birdsisolation, natural environments and refugealso make it appealing for autistic children, Ellis said. · Architects Eye Abandoned North Brother Island for Autism School [DNAinfo]
· A 30-Photo Tour of the Abandoned North Brother Island [Curbed]
· Tour The East River's Mysterious North Brother Island—In 3D [Curbed]
· All North Brother Island coverage [Curbed]
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