The Javits Center has topped itself, literally, with a rooftop farm that adds functionality to its new highest-level event area. The 200,000-sq-ft rooftop now has a 1-acre working farm expected to grow 40,000 pounds of produce annually. Complementing the amped up garden is a glass-enclosed pavilion, outdoor terrace, meadow and orchard with 38 fruit trees—32 apple and six pear. These broaden the New York City convention center’s sustainability program, which includes a 6.75-acre green roof that local wildlife call home.
Green roof design-build firm Adaptive Green worked on the project, and an employee, who asked to remain anonymous, snapped this photo on Sept. 27, right after new plantings were installed. He used a Hasselblad 20MP/UHD 4K gimbal camera mounted on a drone.
“The airspace in New York City is one of the most complicated in the U.S.,” the photographer says. The firm needed a special waiver for the drone and had to conduct a “thorough safety survey” before it could take off, he adds. In addition to Federal Aviation Authority permission, the photo shoot required something else: “patience,” the photographer says. “The clouds were not cooperating and building shadows were a concern, and it took some time to wait for the light to be right.”