TERRA MUSA

A new trend in market rate development of both permanent and temporary housing has moved much closer to the models set up by transient housing of the past. Market rate hotels and apartment rental developments are offering alternatives to traditional unit typology with many shared basic amenities like kitchens common living areas, and even in some cases shared bathrooms. Cost is not always the driving factor in the choice to live in these developments.

Terra Musa is a groundbreaking urban housing project in Red Hook, Brooklyn, New York City, offering a flexible and short-term accommodation solution specifically tailored for the community's seasonal and temporary workforce. TerraMusa pays tribute to Red Hook's long history centered around shipyards, its transient immigrant populations, and its emerging role as a hub for the micro food industry. It provides an adaptive and affordable living environment for a diverse group, including agricultural workers, market workers, and employees from local businesses such as the seasonal farmers' group, Red Hook Winery, and others.

The core of Terra Musa's design philosophy is to enhance the cohesion of the Red Hook community by integrating living spaces with the long-standing needs of the local micro-food and agriculture industry through a shared economy concept. The project will utilize an extensive development of public and shared program areas to strengthen Red Hook's existing micro-food industry, and by creating new shared housing supports to foster the growth of a shared economy. It provides temporary accommodations, marketplaces, and shared living areas to promote economic circulation for the local high-transit population. The project includes highly versatile modular housing units and an integrated market design, balancing the needs of Red Hook's workforce with comfort and affordability. TerraMusa's public program spaces can enhance Red Hook's catering and agricultural market services and also serve as focal points for community interaction. By creating shared housing support for initiatives like market collectives and linking these supports with the site organization and circulation of the entire project, Terra Musa aims to elevate the vibrancy and economic value of the local community.