Architecture firm Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) this week unveiled the design for a 1,000-unit mixed-use tower at 175 Third Street in Gowanus, expected to be the largest building in the neighborhood.

Brad Vogel’s heart sank Friday when he saw a small duckling following its mother through a greasy mat of “black mayonnaise” floating atop the Fourth Street Basin of the Gowanus Canal.

BIG is back – and better — in Gowanus. The developers of 175 Third St. tapped Bjarke Ingels’ much-in-demand architectural firm to design their planned, 1,000-unit, rental apartment tower – and it’s ...