Abstract
Via Verde is a mixed-use, mixed-tenure, mixed-income housing development in the South Bronx, New York. Developed by Jonathan Rose Companies and Phipps Houses, Via Verde is an excellent case of affordable housing development that remediates a brown eld and incorporates a number of environmentally conscious and energy ef cient features. Furthermore, the project’s design re ects a deep conviction that the urban environment bene ts from housing development that forges a strong relationship between nature and the spaces in which people live.
Via Verde came about through unusual circumstances. Two competitions and a flurry of support from a number of public and private entities resulted in securing enough financial backing to fund Via Verde’s construction. Designed by Dattner and Grimshaw Architects, Via Verde features a number of buildings that range in scale from a twenty-storey tower to smaller townhouses. Public spaces and a network of green roofs run throughout the development.
Perhaps the most important factor that allowed Via Verde to come about was Jonathan F.P. Rose. President and founder of Jonathan Rose Companies, Jonathan Rose is a real estate developer and urban planner committed to practically and profitably stitching together the fabric of communities. In 2014, Jonathan Rose delivered a speech at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design in Cambridge, MA entitled “The Entwinement of Housing and Well-Being.” Rose’s speech discussed the importance of housing affordability on a number of fronts, and introduced a curious concept: cognitive ecology. Cognitive ecology, according to Jonathan Rose, is a “mental landscape of thinking, feeling and relating.” Connecting people with nature and providing housing stability through developments like Via Verde are critical steps toward generating a positive cognitive ecology in the lives of urbanites, reducing both physiological and nancial stress. Via Verde is the epitome of a housing development that generates positive cognitive ecology for its residents all while remaining environmentally conscious and energy ef cient.