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MoWA
2025 (Museum of Waste Art)
Preservation + Renovation
541 E 74th St, New York, NY, 10021 USA
01
Changwan Lim
A waste-to-energy plant is integrated with a data center, museum, and offices in Upper East Manhattan, preserving the historic steam plant facade. Recycled energy and materials are used throughout the building, including for museum exhibits and operations.

In United States, waste to energy (wte) plants are significantly less developed compared to other countries in the world. Most of the waste is being buried as a landfill and it is reaching to its maximum capacity.
To address this issue, the project aims to combine the wte with data center, office, museum, gallery, and exhibition space to blend industrial facility into city environment.
In addition, the historical brick facade from the original steam plant has been preserved to reduce environmental impact. Heat and energy generated from the wte facility is used to power itself and programs that co-exist. Any leftover energy is transferred to the city grid.
Raised floor and chilled beam has been installed to accommodate data center and office space needs. Primary circulation between each floor are stairways that are attached to the overhanging steel structures. Connection bridges between buildings has been installed to allow interconnection between programs.

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