Eco-Fiction Lab: Reimagining Newtown Creek
Eco-Fiction Labs are collaborative workshops that use fiction as a design tactic to help communities imagine and shape ecological transitions in urban environments. This edition focuses on envisioning the future of Newtown Creek—a waterway that has suffered from severe pollution over the past two centuries. We invite participants of all ages, including community members, neighbors, and artists, to share perspectives and co-create speculative futures for the creek and its shores.
The session will begin at Greenpoint Library with a short introduction to the history of Newtown Creek and ongoing ecological repair efforts. From there, we will walk to the Newtown Creek Nature Walk for a guided, immersive experience of the creek’s current landscape and ecology. Following the walk, participants will be invited to engage with fiction as a tool for design. Using various media—such as audio notes, images, photography/collage, short texts, or poetry—we will imagine alternative realities for the creek’s future, guided by our desires and collective imagination.
The ideas generated will feed into the narrative of a future exhibition, amplifying community voices and collective desires surrounding the ecological restoration of Newtown Creek.
Please wear comfortable walking/working shoes, weather-appropriate clothing (including sun protection), and bring a refillable water bottle + a snack.
Alberto Martinez Garcia and Andrea Molina Cuadro are members of Latent Ecologies, a NYC-based collective that advocates for designing symbiotic relationships between humans and non-humans in the urban context.
