A Bicycle-Powered Waterwheel Fully as Urban Metabolism Display

Design Studio – Individual Work
Cornell University, Summer 2025
Instructor: Jennifer Birkland
Sites: Williamsburg, Brooklyn

Overview:
Kinetic infrastructure where cyclists power an Archimedean screw while tidal current co-drives a waterwheel. Water cascades through mechanical gears, filters through native wetlands, returns to the East River. Metabolic cost visible
as hydraulic work. Recuperates Havemeyer Sugar Refin-ery’s industrial labor histories as contemporary pedagogi-cal infrastructure.

My Responsibilities:
Mechanical system design, energy conversion analysis, hydrological filtration, site choreography