The alien idea of erecting an "earthship" on an empty lot on Pitt Street between Rivington and Delancy streets in the Lower East Side is still very present. Plans for the "radically sustainable home" have reared their head again after three years of dormancy, with updated renderings and an enlivened push at becoming actuality; but with the building's new top-heavy shape, the structure may be bound to the realm of the imagined. Earthship in the Sky is the brainchild of Taos, NM-based architect Michael Reynolds. The structure is a "fully independent home that heats and cools itself without fossil fuel. It also harvests its own electricity and water and contains and treats its own sewage." The building also has a farming area where residents can grow their own food. Originally pitched as a six-story structure, the reimagined building takes a cue from sunflowersvery Taosand hosts living spaces near its top, closest to the sun.
The building came in front of Community Board 3 in 2011 "to favorable reviews." Now, Reynolds and co. are pushing forward with its evolved version. The Earthship model has been actualized in other locations, none of which are as transmogrified as what's proposed for the slight Lower East Side lot. Like most space things, whether this idea will take off or fail to launch has yet to be seen.
· Earthship [official]
· Lower East Side Residents Want to Board His Earthship [Curbed]
· All Earthship coverage [Curbed]
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