Future Green Studio provided party packs of seeded envelopes for guests of the exhibition opening Lost and Found curated by Steve Wood. The party, hosted by Interview magazine, was a double celebration for FGS with the timely completion of the planted marquee at 345Meatpacking.
See party photos here.
Future Green Studio has transformed the public plaza outside the Carroll Street subway entrance to address the dominant conditions on site – the movement of trains underneath and the flow of human traffic. A series of stacked corten planter boxes negotiate between elements of public and private space. Playing off the idea of sound and vibration generated by the trains, the fractured arrangement of corten boxes are a visual vibration of form. The geometric planting design includes drought tolerant plants, with large swaths of grasses and flowering perennials.
With a 3 million annual ridership flowing in and out of the Carroll Street subway stop, the public plaza is a new iconic corner mediating between a historic Brooklyn neighborhood and the industrial nature of Gowanus.
On October 18, the Van Alen Institute hosted an evening of rapid-fire Pecha Kucha presentations in partnership with the New York Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects. “Change Agents: Landscape Architects on the Innovation Forefront” featured twelve speakers who shared their own efforts to push the boundaries of the profession, advocate for positive change, and create quality spaces for civic life.
This research and cataloging project undertaken by the studio looks with a fresh perspective at existing conditions to better understand how our cities perform.
"We look to our city centers for culture, nightlife, fine dining and above all, high-density urban living. Farming typically doesn't come to mind. But landscape architect David Seiter says we can and should turn to our existing infrastructure as the landscape for growing our own food. One of his latest projects, Pool Farm, is convincing evidence..."
Click Here to Read the Full Article
Utilizing themes of material reuse and urban infill, this custom design and fabricated system of wood terraced planters transforms an underutilized rooftop pool into a dynamic private dining experience.
Landscape Architecture Pecha Kucha Night
Today’s landscape architects are pushing the boundaries of the profession, advocating for positive change and creating quality spaces for civic life. To examine the current state of landscape architecture and uncover new directions, experiments, and accomplishments, the New York Chapter ASLA and Van Alen Institute will co-host a Landscape Architecture Pecha Kucha Night on Thursday, October 18 at 7:00 p.m.
Pecha Kucha is a lively presentation format, featuring a lineup of twelve speakers presenting twenty slides at a rapid-fire twenty seconds per slide. Most of all, it’s an inclusive atmosphere of camaraderie and sharing.
Future Green Studio's David Seiter will be presenting on "Resilient Landscapes."
To view a list of presenters, click here.
This research and cataloging project undertaken by the studio looks with a fresh perspective at existing conditions to better understand how our cities perform.
This weekend, Dwell magazine hosted a home tour of a townhouse at 41 Bond, a residential building designed by DDG Design and landscaped by Future Green Studio. Future Green's work on the building facade and backyard were featured on the tour and on the website. Dwell writes, "With such a unique facade one can only begin to imagine what awaits inside." To view the link, please click here: Dwell Home Tours: The Townhouse at 41 Bond
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Design for this residential building clad in New York State bluestone echoes the historic character of Village bohemia - of artists' garrets and mid-century Manhattan.
Future Green repurposed this rooftop pool into a sophisticated, farm-style dining experience at The Press Lounge - an exclusive bar / restaurant that sits atop the Ink Hotel located at 48th Street and 11th Avenue in Manhattan.
Please view the video from the link provided below.
Utilizing themes of material reuse and urban infill, this custom design and fabricated system of wood terraced planters transforms an underutilized rooftop pool into a dynamic private dining experience.
Future Green Studio was featured in the Best of NY Home Design section of "New York Magazine". If you would like to view the link, please visit:
Future Green's roof garden meadowscape on First Street in Park Slope was featured in The Outsider – a garden blog on “Brownstoner” this week, a site that addresses real estate, development and design throughout Brooklyn.
Cara Greenberg, author of The Outsider describes how Future Green creatively transcends traditional definitions of landscape in order to sustainably compliment the dense urban environments that exist around us.
David Seiter, Principal of Future Green Studio explains: “Typically, landscape architecture looked at parks and gardens, but as we’ve moved into denser urban environments, we’ve started to consider under-utilized spaces as landscape — streets, roofs, spaces between buildings, vacant lots, waterfronts, all sorts of post-industrial areas.”
If you would like to read the full article and check out the blog, please go to:
The Outsider: Rooftop Meadowscape in Park Slope
This specimen green roof garden includes a random planting mix of grasses, flowering sedum, and groundcovers to create an immersive meadow experience on the rooftop.
The Brass Monkey is a hip bar in the Meat Packing District of Lower Manhattan. Located at 55 Little West 12th St, the bar hosts multiple floors, one of which is a roof-top bar with beautiful views of the skyline and the adjacent High Line Park. Future Green worked with WRK Design to design and install the roof garden with reclaimed wood fencing and found objects retrofitted into planters. Old ammunition carts, industrial grain scoops and school filing cabinets were used to create a gritty feel in contrast to the lush plantings. The planting palette includes river birch trees, scotch broom and flowering perennials and is meant be evocative of the wild urban meadow that the High Line helped make into the definitive landscape style of the neighborhood.
On June 15th, the home of Future Green Studio, Carroll Gardens, was featured in the Real Estate Section of the New York Times. The F/G Carroll Gardens Subway Station, which was designed by Future Green, was featured in both the text and a video clip. Author, Christian L. Wright describes the nice and easy vibes of the area, mentioning the street life, musicians, cafes and coffee shops one can find while strolling down Smith St. Wright draws attention to , "...the corner of Smith and Second Place, a former parking lot, [where] lies an emblem of change...". He describes this station as "...the sleekly renovated entrance to the F and G trains, still gleaming since reopening last summer, with a manicured plaza out front marked by cool steel planters of ornamental grasses."
If you would like to read the entire article and watch the video clip, please visit: Block by Block | Smith Street, Carroll Gardens Turn Left at the Roses
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/17/realestate/turn-left-at-the-roses.html?_r=1
This public project for a plaza outside the Carroll Street subway entrance addresses the dominant conditions on site – the movement of trains underneath and the flow of human traffic.
On June 5th David Seiter, David Goldberg, and Jim Russell traveled to PS 217 on Roosevelt Island to educate second graders about green roofs and garden design. Future Green facilitated the children to explore different uses of space, soil, plants, and sunlight conditions often associated with green roofs. The second graders received an opportunity to complete a planting exercise in which they planted a slice of a green roof in their very own garden at the youth center near their school. The children were able to truly absorb the information through this hands-on learning experience and will be able to monitor and maintain their small plot in the future.
The kids "had a blast learning about how professional architects, designers and master gardeners approach a space and loved examining your living sample of a green rooftop garden square" said Christina Delfico, coordinator of the DREAM IT, MAKE IT program.
"David Seiter is no stranger to adversity. Since launching his architectural landscaping business in the midst of the Great Recession, he's had to find innovative ways to fund his Brooklyn-based venture. Like thousands of entrepreneurs in New York, he's found the money spigot closed at commercial banks. Even TD Bank, his personal and commercial bank for 10 years, has continued to reject his loan applications for additional financing, he said.
Luckily for this determined 35 year-old, raising money has been an annual rite of passage that's gotten his creative juices churning. After tapping $15,000 from his personal savings and credit cards to launch Future Green Studio in 2008, Mr. Seiter funded expansion by reinvesting the profits gleaned from designing and building green-roof and rainwater gardens and plazas for residential, commercial and municipal clients in Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Bronx and New Jersey. That allowed him to build a website, hire 10 employees and bring on a small business adviser to create a strategic growth plan.
But last August, Future Green reached an inflection point. With revenues of $1.1 million, it needed working capital to get to the next level. That's when Mr. Seiter turned to a credit broker, Biz2Credit, and NYC Business Solutions, a free services provider that tries to stimulate lending to small and medium-size business in the city..."
Download the PDF to read the entire article by Lori Ioannou for Crain's New York Business.
"David Seiter found himself in the right place at the right time when, as a sole proprietor, he founded Future Green Studio in 2008. 'It was just me, at the brink of the green revolution,' says David. 'Our biggest challenge has been maintaining an operating capital and sufficient liquidity to support daily operations and foster expansion.' David turned to Biz2Credit for help in meeting that challenge."
Read the full article on Biz2Credit
It is a special pleasure when the studio's projects fall in our own neighborhood, or in this case, across the street. Future Green recently completed designing, planting, and paving a cozy backyard space for this Carroll Gardens residence. The planting palette includes Redbud and River Birch trees as well as Oakleaf Hydrangea, Winter Berry Holly, and 'RJM' Rhododendron. Hanging fabric pockets stepped alongside the staircase hold kitchen herbs and plants such as lavender and strawberries.
Completion is scheduled this year for the new domestic and international terminals at Chennai International Airport in India. David Seiter project managed vertical garden armatures while working at Landscape Architect: Hargreaves Associates, along with Frederic Schwartz Architects.
Verdant, productive courtyards sited within the terminals integrate vertical gardens - tall armatures that bring lush vegetation thirty-five feet into the air. These multistoried structures create a garden-immersion experience for travelers on both arrival and departure levels as they pass through this 'green gate' to India. The courtyards also incorporate reflecting pools and a patchwork planting strategy.
The project also addressed the adjacent parking garage for which an undulating, extensive green roof was designed. Apertures in the roof bring light, air, and vegetation to the lower levels of the parking structure, and on-site rainwater capture stores the water for use in the dry season for plant irrigation.
Architect: Schwartz Architects || Landscape Architect: Hargreaves Associates
"'What a stunning project – visual interest in all seasons. Well planned, and well executed by Future Green. Created a beneficial space for all residents of the building. When we visited the project in November 2011, the superintendent remarked on how easy his maintenance has been, and a party crew was there to set up tiki torches and equipment for a resident’s event. Add that to the list of green roof benefits – happy management and happy residents.' - Joe Donnelly of rooflite®
With convenient access to public transportation, schools, playgrounds, the waterfront, downtown Brooklyn, and Manhattan, the modern luxury of 360 Smith Street Residences reflects a close-knit community of 19th century garden brownstones. 360 Smith Street Residences' green roof sits atop a new residential building in the heart of Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, blocks away from Gowanus Canal. Built-in cedar screens and planters delineate seating, dining, lounging, and play areas.
The unique 360 degree view of the Manhattan skyline and of downtown Brooklyn offers a dramatic backdrop for this extensive green roof which functions not only as a place of repose and relaxation but also serves the vital role of stormwater retention – a key component for any urban roof site."
Read the full article at Greenroofs.com
This green roof sits atop a new residential building in the heart of Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, blocks away from Gowanus Canal.
An exhibition at the University of Colorado Denver featured Future Green's research on spontaneous urban plants, including images of the botanical profiles and related urban street intervention. The exhibition text and signage pulled from Future Green's story that appeared on Urban Omnibus in December 2011.
Special thanks to Joni M. Palmer (Ph.D., visiting assistant professor) and Becky Heavner (illustrator) for putting together the exhibition.
This research and cataloging project undertaken by the studio looks with a fresh perspective at existing conditions to better understand how our cities perform.
The appeal of quality landscape architecture in urban environments is well evidenced by recent successes such as the High Line and Brooklyn Bridge Park. And an appreciation of the environmental and health benefits of green space has spawned initiatives like Million Trees NYC, the NYC Green Infrastructure Plan and numerous community gardens throughout the city. Meanwhile, with all of our talk about the green amidst the grey, there’s little talk of the tenacious little flora that pops up in cracked sidewalks, vacant lots and otherwise neglected spaces, that thrives in places no other plants will grow. Informal plants — weeds — get a bad rap, but they too, alongside their intentionally-planted counterparts, can help alleviate urban heat island effect, support stormwater management infrastructure and aid phytoremediation efforts.
Landscape designer, teacher and writer David Seiter has been researching the city’s underappreciated plant life and finding ways to highlight its value. Seiter is the founding principal of Future Green Studio, a firm that works “to reveal the nuances of our urban landscape in subtle, poetic ways that provide clues to the complex ecology of cities.” Here, he presents “Profiles of Spontaneous Urban Plants,” an effort to champion the ecological and aesthetic benefits of informal vegetation, and shares the Studio’s beautiful and charming series of illustrations, based on traditional botanical classification drawings, of the wild urban plants found surrounding their Gowanus office.
Read the full article at Urban Omnibus
This research and cataloging project undertaken by the studio looks with a fresh perspective at existing conditions to better understand how our cities perform.
Future Green's project "Profiles of Spontaneous Urban Plants" was recently featured on the USA Network Character Blog. "Profiles of Spontaneous Urban Plants" is a project undertaken by the studio, looking with a fresh perspective at how our cities currently perform through the ecological and aesthetic benefits of informal vegetation.
Read the full article at USA Character Blog
This research and cataloging project undertaken by the studio looks with a fresh perspective at existing conditions to better understand how our cities perform.
A special congratulations to Darrell Williams and Waliek Juneol, graduates of Green City Force (GCF) who Future Green hired for the upcoming landscape season. "Again, we were really impressed at both of their level of professionalism. They both clearly demonstrated the characteristics we look for in employees – hard working, dedicated, and passionate. " GCF, which engages urban young adults in training and work experiences related to the clean energy economy, is one of Future Green's community partners.
Learn more about Green City Force
Construction just recently completed for Keppel Bay Condominiums in Singapore for which David Seiter, in his previous work at Hargreaves Associates, designed the garden skybridges and podium plantings.
The twenty-acre residential complex by Daniel Libeskind sits on the waterfront and includes both public and private outdoor amenity areas. Sixty-storied residential towers are grouped in pairs and are connected by garden skybridges at the 8th, 15th, and 22nd floors.
Seiter worked on the project from schematic design through to design documentation and developed planting and material strategies. In addition to the nine 1,500 square foot skybridge gardens, features include custom fences and guardrails, distinctive podium plantings, and an entrance water feature.
Client: Keppel Land International || Architect: Studio Daniel Libeskind + DCA Architects Pte Ltd || Landscape Architect: Hargreaves Associates +Sitetectonix
Photo courtesy of Keppel Bay Pte Ltd
Future Green's collaboration with DDG Architects at 41 Bond Street is featured on the Architect's Newspaper blog. The article features a video detailing the integration of planting into the bluestone facade of the building:
41 Bond from Architect's Newspaper on Vimeo.
View the full article at Architect's Newspaper Blog
In 2008, the Association for energy affordability made plans to build a green roof and solar panel array on its building at 105 Bruckner Boulevard in the South Bronx. They hired Future Green studio for the design and construction of the green roof and rooftop educational and gathering spaces.
This short film by AEA Productions documents the process.
This project in the Bronx employs a diverse array of performative design strategies to maximize on-site stormwater capture and energy efficiency.
Green Roof media supplier Rooflite has featured Future Green's Smith Street project on their website. The 6700 square foot green roof uses Rooflite engineered soil at a depth is 3.5 inches for most areas.
View the full article on the Rooflite blog
This green roof sits atop a new residential building in the heart of Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, blocks away from Gowanus Canal.
On October 19th, a ribbon-cutting dedicated Future Green's latest project: The Association for Energy Affordabilitiy's new green roof and rooftop solar demonstration and training facilities. Borough President Rubén Díaz and Daniel Buyer, Assistant Commissioner of NYS Homes and Community Renewal (NYS HCR), joined AEA Executive Director David Hepinstall and guests for the occasion. While serving in the State Assembly, Mr. Díaz helped AEA to secure a major grant to develop the green roof and solar photovoltaic components.
Read the entire article at Bronx Times
This project in the Bronx employs a diverse array of performative design strategies to maximize on-site stormwater capture and energy efficiency.
"New Yorkers built miniature models of green roofs, donated bikes, swapped clothes, and picked up ways to reduce their carbon footprint at GreenHomeNYC’s second annual The New New York Block Party on North 11th Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, on Saturday.
'We created this event as a way to help New Yorkers be inspired and have fun learning about green buildings and sustainability,' said Alison Novak, a board member of GreenHomeNYC.
The street fair was held in Gowanus last year. David Seiter from Future Green Studio—the only green business on the block last year—returned this year with an installation depicting native plants of NYC."
Read more about Future Green's installation and the full article at The Epoch Times
This research and cataloging project undertaken by the studio looks with a fresh perspective at existing conditions to better understand how our cities perform.
"The urban rooftop environment has remained largely unchanged for the last 70 years, according to a report by Columbia University. The report noted that New York City has more than 30 square miles (more than 22 times the area of Central Park) of roof space that qualifies for the most part as "tar beaches".
David Seiter, the founder of Future Green Studio, a design-build firm in Brooklyn, which specializes in 'landscape urbanism' and green roof design, wants to change all that. He looks at that empty canvas of cement and tar as an opportunity that is just waiting to be painted."
Download the PDF to read the entire article.
The English garden-inspired green roof juxtaposes hard, geometric paving lines with wild, overgrown swathes of perennials and native grasses.
This green roof sits atop a new residential building in the heart of Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, blocks away from Gowanus Canal.
This public project for a plaza outside the Carroll Street subway entrance addresses the dominant conditions on site – the movement of trains underneath and the flow of human traffic.
Future Green's project for The Loom is featured on the Studio G blog. Studio ‘g’ is a daily website dedicated to garden and landscape design run by Boston-based writer, Rochelle Greayer.
View the article at Studio G Blog
This urban courtyard was a concrete jungle before Future Green was hired to create an inviting space for residents of the mixed use commercial / residential building.
"According to Seiter, the key to Future Green Studio's success is what he sees as a nationwide shift away from 'traditional' landscaping to landscape urbanism - people are finally beginning to realize the ecological, economic, and aesthetic advantages of thoughtful and innovative landscape design.
'There's this tradition in landscape architecture of designing parks and designing gardens for aesthetic purposes,' he says. 'I think we've moved into a time where we're actually really interested in productive and performative landscapes, not just aesthetic landscapes.'"
Download the PDF to read the entire article.
This public park located in the heart of the Italian Village of Jersey City, NJ seeks to bridge the historical nature of the neighborhood with a forward-thinking park design, drawing on themes of sustainability and the imagination. In salvaging existing park materials including concrete slabs, paving bricks, and steel bench slats, the design imbues the park with a sense of spatial memory and environmental conscientiousness.
"On October 2, 2010, GreenHomeNYC's first 'New New York Block Party' showed residents not only how much is being done through green initiatives and businesses within their community, but what they can do as individuals to make a difference in their own homes and daily practices.
Throughout the day the block of Third Street between Hoyt and Bond streets and its immediate vicinity bubbled with activity. Organizers estimated that around 1,500 people attended from surrounding neighborhoods.
In the middle of the block, David Seiter, the founder of Future Green Studio, a Brooklyn-based design firm specialized in green roof landscaping, demonstrated greenroofing techniques in a dedicated nursery."
Read the full article on CNN
"Join David Seiter of Future Green Studio, 2pm for a Green Roofing Demonstration and Presentation as he walks you through his green roofing lot. See for yourself local and adapted vegetation suited for the harsh conditions of rooftop living, and learn the basics of what is need to install your own green roof.
Meet at the Future Green Green Roofing lot, middle of the block, across from the picnic tables, first come first serve.
Below is a sneak peak of David’s work in action, and the pet plants growing on Third Street."
"The words 'green' and 'future' are on our business cards for a reason. The increasing visibility of the landscape architect as a key player in the quest for a greener future is really what I hope that my work contributes to. I'd like to see a whole generation of landscape architects and designers take on the urban rooftop and 50 years from now see an aerial photograph of New York City as a tile mosaic of green, a patchwork of different spaces that speak to a heightened cultural value for landscape. That means something, and that vision was the generator of our logo for Future Green Studio. We have a ways to go to achieve that vision. But hey, if the sea levels do rise by then, at least the rooftop gardens I've created will still exist!"
View Dustin's full feature on J.Crew
"This green roof is on top of an Adelphi Street residence in Brooklyn. It's 600sf in area and provides a beautiful green oasis from the streetscape below...
The project was realized by Future Green Studio, a design-build landscape architecture and green roof design firm based in Brooklyn. We love the cut wood stepping "stones" and tiny purple blossoms that sprinkle the rooftop."
Read the full article at Apartment Therapy
A garden roofscape was designed to accompany an artist studio addition to a Fort Green brownstone.
"For nearly four years the VNA and historic Village community have worked toward transforming the long-closed, abandoned and neglected pocket park into a reinvented open space that will be unlike any Jersey City has ever seen. A competitive and exciting pro-bono design competition was recently conducted via a Request for Proposal and called for feedback and suggestions from Village residents.
At the October VNA meeting, over 60 attendees viewed four amazing visions for First Street Park and overwhelmingly selected Future Green Studio for an imaginative modern design that uses recycled and sustainable materials; provides playful passive sections for children; features restive, meditative elements like a central lawn, gravel walking paths and reflecting pool; and pays respect and homage to the neighborhood’s Italian-American heritage."
Read the full article at The Village
This public park located in the heart of the Italian Village of Jersey City, NJ seeks to bridge the historical nature of the neighborhood with a forward-thinking park design, drawing on themes of sustainability and the imagination. In salvaging existing park materials including concrete slabs, paving bricks, and steel bench slats, the design imbues the park with a sense of spatial memory and environmental conscientiousness.
"Mayer Schwartz’s art haven, the Castle Braid apartments celebrated its grand opening with a swanky art fair that pulled in a crowd and drew curios stares from Central Avenue residents.
The luxurious, contemporary 146-unit apartment, located at 114 Troutman Street off Central Avenue, is conspicuous amid the quaint low-rise apartment buildings, mini supermarkets, and dilapidated empty lots along Central Avenue and Troutman Street.
The Castle Braid comes equipped with amazing amenities – a full gym, game room, outdoor screen, a 6000 sq ft. courtyard fitted with a badminton court and playful swings (designed by Future Green Studio), yoga and fitness center, free bike rental, and much more."
Read the full article at Interactive Journalism
"On this week's HRN Special: The Green Architecture Panel. Martha Desbiens of vertNY, David Seiter of Future Green Studio, and Justine Heilner of Justine Heilner Designs weigh in on going green, what it means, and how to do it."
Listen to the full episode on HRN
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With spring in full bloom and summer's long hot days approaching, our studio checks-in with this East Hamptons beach house project completed a few years ago while David Seiter was Project Manager at Sawyer/Berson. Since the initial plantings, the client has beautifully cultivated the garden and outside spaces, designed to provide a peaceful respite and quiet getaway.
Coming up the oyster shell driveway and antique bluestone stepping path, the entrance facing opposite the beach is graced with field dug, fifteen- to thirty-year old Amelanchier trees, focal points of the striking front garden. On the pool side, a large wood deck encircles the bluestone coping around the pool.
The dunes leading back to the beach are part of the region's native plant reclamation zone, informing our planting scheme of native plant mixes and evergreen structures. Plants include inkberry, boxwood, hydrangea, lavender, and thyme.
Architect: Sawyer/Berson Architecture & Landscape Architecture
"It’s not the same Castle Braid Building (a.k.a. 114 Troutman) as it was in Betty Smith’s novel, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, set in pre-World War I Brooklyn. Durukan Design is transforming the 160,000-square-foot factory building for developer Mayer Schwartz into a rental apartment building with 146 one- to three-bedroom units. Concrete floors are printed with patterns, staircases take unexpected forms, and walls are built specifically so artists can use them as canvases. Glass encloses a 5,500-square-foot courtyard, designed by Future Green Studio, and is composed of green walls, garden enclaves, a graffiti art wall, a double-sided fireplace, wood furniture made from tree trunks, and found corrugated steel."
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