ORE Design + Technology

ORE was founded by Brooklyn-based designer Thomas Kosbau in 2009 with the philosophy that creative potentials in current scientific research and the natural world can be synthesized into architectural and industrial design solutions. Our current projects range from the DeKalb Market, a pop-up retail concept constructed of salvaged shipping containers, to the Riverpark Farm, New York City's first portable rooftop farm, to a bio-mimetic cactus that harvests drinking water from the air. ORE recently took first place in IIDA International competition with a proposal to replace Incheon, Korea's infrastructure of conventional asphalt streets with organically grown sandstone roads. ORE's innovative approach to design extends to our commercial and residential work, in which project costs are minimized by repurposing off-the shelf materials into custom fabrications. ORE was founded by Brooklyn-based designer Thomas Kosbau in 2009 with the philosophy that creative potentials in current scientific research and the natural world can be synthesized into architectural and industrial design solutions. Our current projects include Water Mill, a multiple building private residence in Long Island; Farmhouse, an education and event space for GrowNYC at the Hyatt-Union Square that is being built with recycled materials and energy-saving water-conserving technology; and Square Roots, the first campus of the city-grown food start-up headed by Kimbal Musk and located in the former Pfizer Building in Brooklyn. Some of our recent projects range from the DeKalb Market, a pop-up retail concept constructed of salvaged shipping containers, to the Riverpark Farm, New York City’s first portable rooftop farm, to a bio-mimetic cactus that harvests drinking water from the air. ORE recently took first place in IIDA International competition with a proposal to replace Incheon, Korea’s infrastructure of conventional asphalt streets with organically grown sandstone roads. ORE’s innovative approach to design extends to our commercial and residential work, in which project costs are minimized by repurposing off-the shelf materials into custom fabrications. Also in development are a jacket that converts into homeless housing made from recycled umbrellas, hydrogen producing algal bioreactors designed as modular architectural panels, and a zero energy desalinization system for arid, coastal regions with high population densities.