Phragmites Australis, a widespread invasive species that is common in North America, has been threatening the native flora and fauna of Jamaica Bay. Along with the nitrogen influx coming from a nearby water treatment plant and adjacent golf course’s use of herbicide, the resilient phragmites outcompete local plants with their extensive spread of rhizomes and stolons, as well as animals and human agents. The intervention is a community and research center that serves as a countering method, which takes advantage of the spread of invasive species as an opportunity to engage with the neighborhood through recreational and educational activities. While the research facility aims to repurpose phragmites as a sustainable material, the educational and recreational center helps promote environmental stewardship by facilitating classes and arts & crafts programs. The center itself embodies the intention, where the wall, decorative tiles, roof, and furniture incorporated phragmites as an essential part of the composition. The intervention intends to give the residents of the neighborhood the responsibility of maintaining the environment that they coexist with, in which the diverse application of invasive species becomes a form of community activity that contributes to balancing out the pervasive spread of phragmites.
