Climatic and politically motivated displacement are not exceptional events. In 2012, New York City accommodated 6700 persons displaced by Hurricane Sandy. In 2023, the city accommodated 95000 migrants. Displaced persons are often portrayed through numbers; human experiences are quantified, and so are the standards used by international humanitarian organizations like UNHCR and the Sphere project. At Floyd Bennett Field current migrant shelter conditions are cramped, unsafe, and isolated. Floyd Bennett Field’s historical neglect and current isolation from the city underscore the urgency for transformative approaches to migrant housing that can benefit both displaced people and local residents at the site.

Our project proposes two systems of dwelling: immediate care and long-term care. Immediate care – stays up to one week – utilizes an existing hangar adapted for social programs on the ground floor and collective living on upper levels. This space provides shelter during emergencies and offers refuge for vulnerable individuals in New York. Long-term dwelling spaces –transition periods that last weeks, months, or even years – are constructed using wood, recycled brick, and aluminum, responding to the current climatic conditions with high winds and flooding zones on site. Rather than following international standards focused on the right to quantified space, our duplex system of collective living emphasizes the right to play, intimacy, a sense of agency, joy, and even grief. The structure is elevated and creates buffer zones and transitions from public to private.