NJ Institute of Technology Preservation Studio
At the College of Architecture and Design, fall 2019
By Anthony Schuman and Darius Sollohub
Anticipated reuse of the site is as an interpretive historic park. The park will feature the history of the jail and Morris Canal, as well as contemporary park activities such as skateboarding, graffiti, and mural arts. A children’s playground serving the neighborhood will blend with these and other passive recreational activities.
A team at NJIT led by Anthony Schuman and Darius Sollohub seeks support to stabilize and adapt the old Essex County Jail into a memorial site and park. The jail has been the subject of professional and academic research from Myles Zhang and the Newark Landmarks and Preservation Committee. Its preservation as a ruin will be similar in strategy to the Smallpox Hospital landmarked ruin on Roosevelt Island in New York City.
This studio proposed to save the old Essex County Jail by conjoining it to an adjacent site currently used as a parking lot. Working with NJIT’s Office of Real Estate Development and Capital Operations, the studio proposed new buildings on the parking lot site to serve future housing and academic needs, including laboratories, undergraduate housing, and graduate apartments.
Each proposal incorporated new construction on the parking lot side with a preservation strategy on the jail side. To enrich Columbia University’s detailed site plans and elevations, NJIT produced a 3D digital model of the jail through the methods of photogrammetry and an augmented reality consultant. Select students presented to senior staff at NJIT, including President Bloom and Provost Deek, who praised the work and pledged to incorporate strategies from this studio into future campus plans. The 2-D and 3-D printing for NJIT students was made possible from a $70,500 grant from the New Jersey Historic Trust.
Link to adaptive reuse student proposals
Link to restoration proposal and estimated budget
Four Preservation Strategies
Ranging in price from $6,219,000 to $6,693,000
Columbia University Architecture Studio
At the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation, fall 2018
By Belmont Freeman and Bryony Roberts
With guest studio critics Andrew Dolkart and Mabel Wilson
In Spring 2018, architects Belmont Freeman and Bryony Roberts led a Studio II class as part of the Historic Preservation Program at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, & Preservation. Eleven students documented and explored the historic context, condition, and importance of the old Essex County Jail, and then built upon this analysis to form preservation and memorialization strategies. Each student developed a proposal through an architectural design or interpretive design framework.
Architectural Design Group looked at options for new programming and building on the site. Students developed detailed proposals for new construction for institutional reuse like a technology center or a charter school hub, and also explored housing options.
Interpretive Design Group focused on developing proposals for editing and transforming the structure in order to communicate its architectural and social history. Students chose to develop projects centered on incarceration history, materials and technology, and community hubs.