Studio Gang Designs a Community-Focused Brooklyn Recreation Center 

Studio Gang has cultivated a sterling reputation for conjuring structures that pair spectacular visual presence with a steadfast commitment to environmental performance. Led by MacArthur Fellow and Galerie Creative Mind architect Jeanne Gang, the Chicago-based firm’s Aqua Tower rises in rippling concrete along the city’s South Side, while marquee projects such as the carbon-positive Populus Hotel in Denver and the Richard Gilder Center at the American Museum of Natural History push material and spatial experimentation into new territory. The practice moves with equal conviction at a local scale, too. The Shirley Chisholm Recreation Center, which recently opened in East Flatbush, Brooklyn, embodies that focus by presenting a civic building that settles comfortably into its locale while serving as a vital community hub.  

That ambition does little to diminish the project’s impact. Named for the Brooklyn-born activist, educator, and politician Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman elected to the United States Congress, the recreation center serves the communities she championed throughout her life. The 74,000-square-foot building replaces and expands former outdoor play areas, consolidating them within a compact footprint while simultaneously amplifying their reach. Commissioned by the New York City Department of Design and Construction, the undertaking reflects the city’s broader effort to deliver civic architecture that aspires to greater heights than a mere baseline utility.  

The building itself rises from a gated plaza, where a transparent main entrance sits between a public school and the recreation grounds. Broad arched windows punctuate the gently curving brick facade, drawing daylight inside and offering unimpeded views of the activities within. “The Shirley Chisholm Recreation Center is designed to welcome everyone and encourage people to gather, learn, and play,” says Weston Walker, Studio Gang design principal and partner. “The design’s sensitive form allows the building to be a great neighbor to the park and community, while strong visual and physical connections inside create a sense of openness.” 

Sitting within full view of the lobby, the center’s lower three levels concentrate on recreation and exercise. The giant double-height competition pool breathes easily underneath gently arcing “fish-bellied” mass timber beams. Around the corner, a vivid orange staircase punctuated with circular portholes of varying sizes leads either down to the basketball court or up to the gym and mezzanine walking track that loops around the court. Organic shapes throughout—as well as openings between floors that create clear sight lines—conjure a sense of fluid movement. The upper levels, meanwhile, shift toward community use, hosting after-school programs and a media lab named for Dr. Roy A. Hastick, Sr, a mentor-like figure in the community who spearheaded the Caribbean American Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Beyond, daylit rooms for children, teens, and adults extend to a wraparound rooftop terrace and gardens. 

Studio Gang approached the project with a strong focus on sustainability, making the center New York City’s first public building to earn LEED Platinum v4 certification. The team reduced energy use through an efficient building envelope, systems that reuse heat, and all-electric heating and cooling. A full review of the building’s materials guided decisions that limit environmental impact from production through construction. Durable choices on that front, such as mass timber, which performs well in humid pool areas, will help extend the building’s lifespan. Outside, added tree cover, green roofs, water-saving features, and a carefully planned stormwater system support the surrounding neighborhood as much as the building itself. 

That same attention extends to the building’s cultural dimension. The East Flatbush People’s Museum of Love and Wonder, an installation by Pittsburgh artist vanessa german, appears across multiple locations throughout the center. She invited neighborhood children to write down their dreams before sealing each note inside a transparent bead and gathering them into a clustered installation displayed near a window. Large freestanding sculptures appear in prominent areas while smaller works integrate into walls, cabinets, and even individual fitness lockers. Near the entrance to the exercise rooms, for example, a gridded vitrine presents gemstone portraits that depict both notable futures and residents from the surrounding community.  

“We’re grateful for this opportunity to honor Shirley Chisholm’s legacy with architecture that embodies her spirit: community-minded, resilient, and uplifting,” Walker continues. “We hope this building will make a lasting positive impact that radiates throughout Central Brooklyn and become a model for community centers in New York and beyond.”