"At the essence of every city is a grid, the human desire toward order. Whether the city developed organically or it was strategically established, that grid is the DNA of the urban fabric. The essence of New York City is an unrelenting and systematic rejection of entropy and celebration of reason. Here, the buildings stretch into infinity and the streets are limitless projections on a virtual plane. Boundless and uncompromising, the grid of this city expands endlessly into the horizon.
From the domain of the surface dwellers, people are dots on a grid or vectors along a given path. Movement is defined by the grid, with few opportunities for “going against the grain.” It’s hard to appreciate the grid, as person’s importance is diminished in its relentlessness. The logical intricacy of the grand design is lost at the human scale. At ground level the grid exists in the subconscious, another element of daily life.
The wonder of the grid is observed from above. It can be viewed from a tall building, studied from a map, and observed by airplane. From above, the grid is exposed and the raw strength is apparent. The observer can see the rigidity, the numeracy, and the oppressiveness. Is there an opportunity to observe these characteristics while actively engaging the grid? Does New York City allow for an experience akin to pulling back the curtain while still watching the performance? The answer is currently, no.
The HTC is transportation system of interconnecting transit tubes that cut diagonally across downtown and transitions at midtown, to follow the classic grid lines uptown. At the intersections, the stations provide anchors to the existing grid. Many of these stations are located at the city’s most monumental locations, those that are both historically and/or economically significant. Other stations are located in that are not well serviced along existing public routes and function as incubation zones for development.
This was my competition entry for 2011 The Greatest Grid ideas competition sponsored by The Architecture League of New York, which they described as “[…] an international Call for Ideas that invites architects, landscape architects, urban designers, and other design professionals to use the Manhattan street grid as a catalyst for thinking about the present and future New York[…]” To read more please visit the competition website (http://archleague.org/2011/06/the-greatest-grid-a-call-for-ideas/)
