The MANHATTAN STUDIOLO [MArch 2 Design Report] - ADAM A LEGGE

THE

M AN H AT TAN ST UD IO LO

A L an d s c ap e o f Man h at t an’s Nar rat i ves & Un b ui lt Po t e n tial s

Island Territories VI: MANHATTAN Scapeland

Ad am A . L egge

Abstract | The MANHATTAN STUDIOLO

In his ‘retroactive manifesto’ Delirious New York, Rem Koolhaas explores how Manhattan became a mythical laboratory for invention as a result of the simultaneous growth of urban density and new technologies. Arguing that each block contains multiple layers of realised buildings existing in parallel with past occupancies and other potentials, the area of Midtown can be understood as an intense archipelago, with the Commissioner’s Grid of 1811 providing the bounding body to a series of individual islands.

The proposition itself, The MANHATTAN STUDIOLO, situates itself in the block that now holds the New York Public Library and Bryant Park, but previously hosted the Crystal Palace and Latting Observatory, asserted by Koolhaas as the birthplace of ‘Manhattanism’. Built for the 1853 “Exhibition of the Industry of All Nations”, the Crystal Palace coalesced different imaginations for the future under one roof, and the observatory revealed the extent of the here and now. Continuing this philosophy, the MANHATTAN STUDIOLO imagines an alternative landscape for this famous block.

A re-organisation of the library places the books, documents and records that recite the city’s stories into a topography of books. Within this sea of Manhattan narratives, vessel-like stacks house all the models, drawings and imagined futures of unbuilt Manhattan and provide a forum for the island city’s future. It will act as an ecotone, mediating the concerns of archiving, preservation and research with the creative cultivation of future visions for the city through a continual process of re-curation.

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Contents | The MANHATTAN STUDIOLO

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The Preface

1

The Manhattan Studiolo

7

Volume I: The INSULA

19

Volume II: The PIAZZA

55

Volume III: The CAMPO

75

Volume IV: The AULA

79

Volume V: The INTERSTICE

91

Volume VI: The STUDIOLO

97

Volume VII: The CORTE

117

Volume VIII: The LOGGIA

131

Volume IX: The CABINETTA

137

Volume X: The Exhibition

155

Bibliography

179

List of Figures

181

The LANDSCAPE OF MANHATTAN’S FICTIONS

Glossary | The Thesis’ Volumes

The STUDIOLO [Noun]

The INSULA [Noun] 1.

1.

A thing regarded as resembling an island, especially in being

reading, studying and writing. It is generally of a private

isolated, detached, or surrounded in some way.

2.

A ‘studiolo’ is a small room, often lavishly dedicated to character with consistently reworked collection, where new understanding was gained from continual juxtaposition.

An exploration of the island’s concern at a scale similar to the visionaries constructed the city, e.g. Randel’s Commisioner’s

2.

Map.

In addition to the above description, the studiolo refers to the tall stacks that holds the six visions of the city.

The PIAZZA [Noun]

The CORTE [Noun]

1.

A public square or marketplace, especially in an Italian town

2.

An investigation of the political concerns that comes with the

1.

The small court puncturing the dense urban fabric of Italian towns, allowing light and ventiliation to the street level.

block holding the New York Public Library.

2.

An exploration of how light is carefully controlled in the Studiolo through the two lightwieght facades.

The CAMPO [Noun] 1.

From Italian, the Campo translates to the Field.

The LOGGIA [Noun]

2.

An introduction to the proposal’s vertical thickness, allowing the

1.

A covered exterior gallery, often placed at the top level

2.

A space that allows the concern of the interior to be debated and

protoganist’s of the thesis to be understood.

comprehended in the context of the external environment.

The AULA [Noun] 1.

A large place where people can congregate, such as a hall.

The CABINETTA [Noun]

2.

The subterranean world of the proposal, where the island’s

1.

A small private room

2.

The inquiry into the bespoke cabinetta spaces that provide

narratives and fiction gather in one place.

considered crafted private study, present throughout the proposal.

The INTERSTICE [Noun] 1.

The EXHBITION [Noun]

A space, especially a small or narrow one, between things or parts

2.

1.

A public display of works of art or items of interest, held in an art gallery or museum or at a trade fair.

The intermediate spaces of the proposal that mediates the concerns of the outside world and the narratives held by the Studiolo.

2.

The exploration of the prosposed exhibiton of the thesis

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“Now Manhattan’s builders gather in the wings of the small stage to prepare for the climax of the evening: becoming their own Skyscrapers, they will perform a “Skyline of New York” ballet. Like their towers, the men are dressed in costumes whose essential characteristics are similar; only their most gratuitous features are involved in fierce competition. Their identical “skyscraper dresses” taper upward in attempted conformity to the 1916 Zoning Laws.”

Delerious New York, Pg. 128

THE

P R E FAC E

Preface | The Skyline of New York

A singular moment from the winter night of January 23rd, 1931, has provided inspiration for the structure of this design report. Arriving to the old Waldorf Astoria hotel, 3000 architects and artists gathered for the 12th iteration of “Spirit of the Age”, a series of costumes balls.

With a series of performances, a collection of eleven figures appeared on the stage. These selection of eleven of the island’s famous architects donning their own designed buildings as costumes, each evoking the main characteristics of their creations. The Waldorf Astoria’s creator, Leonard Schultze, settled only to represent one of the twin towers that made up the anticipated hotel. William Van Alen, the visionary behind the Chrysler Builder, used embellishment to distinguish his costume from the rest. Raymond Hood could only embody his Daily News Building; his work on the Rockefeller Centre was so complex, so modern that it could not be translated into a single costume. Gathered to perform their ballet, “The Skyline of New York”, these eleven figures would go on to enact the ideas that have sculpted the built fabric of the island, and more specifically Midtown Manhattan.

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II THE

VII

PI AZZ A

THE

CORTE

At the conclusion of the 19th century, the cultural ambitions of the New York Public

With the external structure of the Studiolo’s piercing The INTERSTICE and continues to

Library were on full display. Consolidating the massive collections of the Astor and Lenox

tower over the roof surface there is a requirement to not just the façade’s appearance but

libraries, the NYPL has continued to actively acquire items from all over the world. This

also how it works with the collections on the inside. The façade can be understood in two

endeavour has created the increasing need to answer the problem of storage. Resulting

parts, the folded and the straight façade.

from this endeavouring, the question of storage is of increasing importance. In the 1980s,

The lightweight timber folded façade has been a prominent design feature of all iterations

the library and the municipality took advantage of Bryant Park’s deterioration to execute

of The MANHATTAN STUDIOLO. Inspired by the drawing of Bolles Wilson’s Munster

a significant expansion of the main branch’s storage capacity. While restoring the park

Library and Morphosis’ Cooper Union, the folded façade functions as a feature that

to what one sees today, the library reclaimed space for over 87 miles (135km) of book

dissolves the full straight extrusion. Beyond this, considered placement of mechanical

shelves, with the storage space matching the extents of the iconic grass area in the middle

shutters, in keeping with the timber slits, provides careful control over the amount

of the park. When considering that the present day park receives over 12 million visitors

of light in the studiolos. This same concern over the light control in the Studiolo is

per year, making it one of the busiest parks in the western hemisphere, it is disappointing

present within the straight façade’s design. While it may initially appear as a extruded

that one can stand or relax on this grass, in the symbolic middle of the island with no

façade with simple cut-outs that provide minimal light, there actually is a wide variety of

indication of the vast collection below them.

potential mechanical openings. Protected by a protective UV coating on the windows,

Beyond the literal inability of the visitor to be engaged with the collection when in

it is possible to have opening these shutters, allowing the collection to be viewing back

Bryant Park, the NYPL is facing the problem of how users engage with the collection.

into the city. Equally, if one wants to eliminate light’s presence completely in order to

From the Ex Libris – New York Public Library, a 3.5hr documentary showcasing the day-

view it in an isolated manner, they can simply shut the openings completely. Using the

to-day workings as well as the library’s transition to a more digitally-accessible institution,

JOHN RANDEL JR. stack as a prototype, the following drawings explore both facades.

it is clear that there is lack of foresight appearing within the leadership of the institution.

However, if one was to zoom in to any of the other drawings, it will be possible to see the

Contradicting the name, the NYPL is actually constituted as a public-private partnership.

shutters in the other stacks.

Relying upon both private endowments and public money, the NYPL’s leadership has to regularly liaise with benefactors that require careful fiscal justification. These limits have created an institution that undertakes small-scale interventions or creates catchy campaigns that can easily be translated into political posturing for re-election. Overall, it appears that the main branch, the showpiece of the 92 libraries, is gradually becoming a languorous tourist attraction rather than an active part of the island. It is within this context that The MANHATTAN STUDIOLO operates, seeking instead to imagine a carefully considered re-organisation and expansion of the block to fully realise the ambitions of achieving a “transparent & accessible” collection intended in Astor’s will.

Volume II | The PIAZZA

Volume VII | The CORTE

Drawing Folio

Drawing Folio

Preface | The Skyline of New York

Rooted in the island territories studio’s lineage, the protagonists are given their own volume and are defined by the Italian notation of specific built elements. These categories allow us to think across a range of scales and issues, from the political environment discussed in The INSULA, to the tailored tectonic domestic study environments that make up The CABINETTA. In the spirt of the Skyline of New York, this design report has been structured as an elaborate performance, more specifically an opera. Made up of five components, with each playing a different roles in understanding the piece as a whole. The overture [The Manhattan Studiolo], provides the main introduction, making the audience aware of the coming piece’s tone. The recitative [Volumes I & II] divulges the more detailed introduction, and in combination with the aria [Volume III], where the singers begin to express a melody, the story is firmly set.

Coming next, the chorus [Volumes IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, XI] sets the opera in full swing, with each protagonist finding a voice in the performance. Finally, the concluding element, the ballet [Volume X] allows everyone to be heard in their own way, with the performance coming to an end.

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Axonmetric View - North West

THE

MANH AT TA N S TUDIOLO

A Landscape of Manhattan’s Narratives & Unbuilt Potentials

42nd Street Elevation 1:500 [PRINTED]

Section Through Middle of NYPL 1:500 [ORIGINAL]

S ection Through Middle of NYPL 1:500 [ORIGINAL]

Section Through American Radiotor Building & Grace Building 1:500 [ORIGINAL]

Basement 1 [-5.5m] Floor Plan 1:500 [ORIGINAL]

The Midtown Islands

I THE

I NS U L A

Crassostea Virginica’s Furrow - The Oyster Dredger

Volume I | The INSULA

The FURROW

Attaching itself to the East River’s coastline, the oyster dredger, Crassostrea Virginica’s Furrow, has the potential to dredge anywhere from Battery Park up to Harlem. This openness is reflected in the inquiry scope of semester one, where everything in the complex island seemed to demand attention. The oyster dredger proposed an initial offering to the city, allowing a single user and their carefully crafted workbench to dredge furrow lines in the river. Despite this intervention’s scale, its potential mooring spots allow it to function effectively as a guide for the island.

One can imagine sitting on this timber workbench, moored in the shadow of the Brooklyn bridge, bobbing with the river as they gaze upon the city. Following the island’s skyline, you would notice that it would appear like two separate cities have gradually merged, with Bowery brownstones separating the towering skyscrapers of Lower Manhattan and Midtown. In practical terms, it is a reflection of differing bedrock conditions which the island’s architecture cannot escape, but there are also little indicators of two different worlds, one pre-dating the Commissioner’s Grid of 1811 and one fully dictated by the grid’s imposition. Rather than focus on one of these conditions, this thesis has been anchored in investigating both, eventually settling for further enquiry in Bryant Park and Midtown. Therefore, to effectively discuss the complex and diverse context within which The MANHATTAN STUDIOLO operates, this volume will discuss both conditions.

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1:50 Perspective View 1:10000 Deviation Study (Plan)

The SLIP

1:200 Perspective View

The FURROWS

Volume I | The INSULA

23

island ter ritories VI : M A N H A T T A N S ca pe l a nd

1600x420mm Banner

The CASSOSTREA VIRGINICA’S FURROW [Lock]

1:200 Plan Showing Choreagraphy of the Drift

The DRIFT & DEVIATION

Redraft of the Castello Plan (Original 1660)

Volume I | The INSULA

The COLONY

Formed through collective working and individual ambitions, all potentials were obliged to remain open, requiring a framework for how to move forward without knowing exactly what would materialize. ‘Discovered’ by Henry Hudson in 1609, on the Dutch East India Company’s behalf, the island was ‘purchased’ from the Native Americans, setting in motion a perpetual cycle of development. Naturally, Koolhaas appreciated his country’s expertise in making man-made structures, commenting upon the transplantation of their planning temperament to the ‘new world’.[1] Describing how the island’s new core became a pentagonal fort, he discusses the inner city’s meticulous planning gradually gave way to disorder as the town grew.[2] Evidently, a city’s expansion causes distinct issues, for example, waste disposal lead inhabitants to simply dump it in the river. Alongside river contamination, through selling ‘water-rights’, the island’s waterfront was ‘wharfed-out’.[3] Continually expanded, it was demonstrative of an ambitious city planning sensibility, developing according to opportunity.

Thus, still relatively young compared to its European counterparts, the city can be read as an experiment in architectural planning. Contrary to the grid, a uniform development tool, Lower Manhattan coalesces colonial planning ambitions with the consequences of express expansion, with the area holding different buildings, each a monument to the ideas and visions that created them.

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301°

"Where the city's ceaseless crowd moves on, the live long day."

"On the river the shadow group, the big steam tug closely flank'd on each side by barges"

"With lines of steamships threading every sea."

6:22

"Shapes of the bridges, vast frameworks, girders, arches."

"This world all spanned with iron rails."

"City of hurried and sparkling waters, City nested in bays."

"Where our tall topt marble and iron beauties range on opposite sides."

"High growths of iron, slender, strong, splendidly uprising towards clear skies."

"When million-footed Manhattan unpent, desends to its pavements."

5:48

ISLAND]

True North

0:39

0:52

1:02

1:02

1:12

1:22

2:37

2:49

3:16

3:54

4:02

5:14

5:34

7:54

0:00

7:57

8:10

8:39

9:00

9:05

9:20

9:53

104° 135° 156°

29°

344°

Walt Whitman Poem Part I

Manhatta 1921 Paul Strand and Charlie Sheeler

SHOT FROM FERRY SHOT FROM GOV. ISLAND North Deviation North - C Deviation / 301° - C / 344°

241°

301°

SHOT FROM MANHATTAN BRIDGE North Deviation - C / 241°

Walt Whitman Poem Part I I

Walt Whitman Poem Part III

SHOT FROM WHITEHALL TERMINAL [TOWARDS EAST RIVER] North Deviation - C / 135° CW / 222°

Walt Whitman Poem Part IV

SHOT FROM EMPIRE BUILDING [PAN OF EQUITABLE BUILDING] North Deviation - C / 2° CW / 358°

PAN OF EQUITABLE BUILDING North Deviation - C / 301° CW / 59°

Walt Whitman Poem Part V

301°

Walt Whitman Poem Part VI

Walt Whitman Poem Part VII SHOT FROM 14 WALL ST [TOWARDS GOV ISLAND] North Deviation - C / 156° CW / 204°

Walt Whitman Poem Part VIII

Walt Whitman Poem Part IV BROOKYLN BRIDGE North Deviation - C / 104° CW / 256°

Walt Whitman Poem Part V

Walt Whitman Poem Part VI

Walt Whitman Poem Part VII

SHOT FROM EMPIRE BUILDING [TOWARDS TRINITY CHURCH TRINITY & ELEVATED CHURCH RAILWAY] North Deviation - C / 2° CW / 358° North Deviation - C / 29° CW / 331°

TERMINAL] WHITEHALL [TOWARDS ISLAND / 16° GOV. _ CW FROM C / 344° - SHOT 1:02 Deviation North

2:49 - SHOT FROM EMPIRE North Deviation - C / 2° BUILDING [PAN OF WOOLOWORTH BUILDING] _ CW / 358°

9:05 North - SHOT Deviation FROM

- C N/A / 29°[PAN _ CWOF TRINITY / 331°

CHURCH GRAVEYA

ALL]

/ 356°

GOV

ISLAND]

301°

0°

[TOWARDS ST / 204° WALL _ CW 14 156° FROM- C / - SHOT 5:34 Deviation North

7:57 North - BROOKLYN Deviation BRIDGE - C /104° _ CW

- PAN Deviat OF ionEQUITA -C BLE / 301°

BUILDI _ CW /NG 59°

BRIDGE TAN / 119° _ CW

4:02 North

tion

- SHOT

MANHAT / 241°

/

n-

CW

_

135°

/ -C North

1:22

FROM- C n - SHOT 1:08 Deviatio North

225°

FERRY C/ 301° [TOWAR _ CW DS / 59° WHITEH

] RIVER EAST RDS [TOWA INAL

TERM

HAll

WHITE

FROM

Devia

0:52 North SHOT Deviatio FROM

RD]

29°

2°

135°

2°

301°

0°

"The buildings of cities - the shovel, the great derrick, the wall scaffold, the walls and ceilings."

4:02 North

- PAN Deviat

1:22 North

- SHOT Devia

OF ionEQUITA -C BLE / 301°

BUILD _ CW ING / 59°

GOV [TOWARDS ST / 204° WALL _ CW 14 156° FROM- C / - SHOT 5:34 Deviation North

"Gorgeous clouds of sunset! Dench with your splendour me or the men and the women generations after me."

EAST RDS [TOWA FROM tion - C WHITE / 135° HAll _ TERM CW / INAL 225°

7:57 North BROOKLYN Deviation BRIDGE - C /104° _ CW

/ 356°

2°

301°

156°

135°

135° RIVER

]

ALL] FERRY C/ 301° [TOWAR _ CW DS / 59° WHITEH

0:52 North SHOT DeviatioFROM

n-

BRIDGE TAN / 119° CW

MANHAT _ / 241°

FROM- C n - SHOT 1:08 Deviatio North

"City of the world (for all races are here) / City of tall facades of marble and iron, Proud and passionate city."

CHURCH

156°

N/A [PAN / 29° OF _ CW TRINITY / 331°

0°

RD] GRAVEYA

-C 9:05 North- SHOT Deviation FROM

9:00 - SHOT FROM EMPIRE BUILDING [TOWARDS TRINITY CHURCH & ELEVATED North Deviation - C / 2° _ CW / 358° RAILWAY]

TERMINAL] WHITEHALL [TOWARDS / 16° ISLAND _ CW GOV. FROM- C / 344° - SHOT 1:02 Deviation North

Gate (I) : Hortus Conclusus | The ENCLOSED GARDEN Semester 2 (2019)

The PLANE TABLE

The FIELD

Semester 1 (2018)

Semester 1 (2018)

2:37

"High growths of iron, slender, strong, splendidly uprising towards clear skies."

2:49 - SHOT FROM EMPIRE BUILDING [PAN OF WOOLOWORTH BUILDING]

North Deviation - C / 2° _ CW / 358°

2°

3:16

"The buildings of cities - the shovel, the great derrick, the wall scaffold, the walls and ceilings."

3:54

"Where our tall topt marble and iron beauties range on opposite sides."

301° 4:02 - PAN OF EQUITABLE BUILDING

North Deviation - C / 301° _ CW / 59°

0°

301° 0°

4:22 4:22 Breathing City Breathing City

4:02 - PAN O North Deviatio

5:34 - SHOT F North Deviation

0°

29° 2°

9:05 - SHOT FROM N/A [PAN OF TRINIT North Deviation - C / 29° _ CW / 331° 156°

5:14

"City of hurried and sparkling waters, City nested in bays."

2:49 - SHOT FROM EMPIR North Deviation - C / 2° _ CW

5:20 5:20 Steamships Bay Steamship Ininthe Bay 5:34 - SHOT FROM 14 WALL ST [TOWARDS GOV ISLAND]

North Deviation - C / 156° _ CW / 204°

156° 5:48

"This world all spanned with iron rails."

6:22

"With lines of steamships threading every sea."

0°

1:08 - SHOT FROM MANHATTAN BRIDGE North Deviation - C / 241° _ CW / 119° 241°

0°

7:57 - BROOKLYN BRIDGE North Deviation - C /104° _ CW / 356° 104°

OF EQUITABLE BUILDING on - C / 301° _ CW / 59°

FROM 14 WALL ST [TOWARDS GOV ISLAND] - C / 156° _ CW / 204°

TY CHURCH GRAVEYARD]

RE BUILDING [PAN OF WOOLOWORTH BUILDING] W / 358°

0°

1:24 - SHOT FROM WHITEHAll TERMINAL [TOWARDS EAST RIVER] North Deviation - C / 135° _ CW / 225° 135°

0°

301°

0:52 - SHOT FROM FERRY [TOWARDS WHITEHALL] North Deviation - C / 301° _ CW / 59°

Zoomed In View of The ENCLOSED GARDEN

Volume I | The INSULA

The ZONING LAW

[1916]

Casting its long support framework for the crafted workbench into the river, the oyster dredger’s potential furrow positioning was established primarily by the shooting positions of the film, Manhatta (1921). Through noting the deviation from north, shooting angles were compressed into the Manhatta Ruler, an elaborate and scalable instrument for understanding the city, analogous with the bespoke nature of Randell Jr’s tools.[4] This ruler, combined with the locations of Vivian Maier’s photos established Gate (I): Hortus Conclusus, the Enclosed Garden, an analytical drawing out of Lower Manhattan’s historical themes, eluding the imposition of the Commissioner’s Grid of 1811.

Compressed into ten rulers or ‘drawing instruments’, the registration of future flooding projections is presented in parallel with the early development of the New York skyscraper and the subsequent 1916 zoning Law. Each ruler holds different readings of the city, and despite being dwarfed by today’s skyscrapers, the Equitable Building has appeared multiple times with great significance. Without any setbacks, the 40-storey extrusion blocked sunlight and air to the street, directly what the Zoning Law aimed at thwarting.[5] One of the thesis’ main protagonists, the architectural renderer Hugh Ferriss, began creating a series of massing studies that explored possible forms that would maximize building volumes, and thus, economic value.[6] The building’s significance is noted in Peter Nash’s observation, who argues the setback skyscraper went on to become ubiquitous with Midtown’s architecture, as well as global style.[7]

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Volume I | The INSULA

Wool w or t h Bui l di ng

STRIP 1 | Woolworth Building

Equitable Building

Trinity Building & US Realty Building

Woolworth Building

287 Broadway

The Wall / "The Gateway To SoHo"

One Liberty Plaza

Trinity Church Sea Level Change 2050

Hurricane Sandy 2012

Sea Level Change 2050 Cameron's Line

STRIP 2 | City Hall Park C i t y Hal l Park National Archive

NY Stock Exchange

Equitable Building Federal Hall

NY Mercantile Exchange

Tweed Courthouse City Hall

Federal Reserve

Department of Records

Sea Level Change 2050 Ratzer Shoreline 1776

Hurricane Sandy 2012

Cameron's Line

63 Nassau St r ee t

STRIP 3 | 63 Nassau Street

Trump Tower

Battery Maritime Building

63 Nassau Street

Federal Reserve

287 Broadway Sea Level Change 2050

Sea Level Change 2050

Hurricane Sandy 2012

Sea Level Change 2050

Ratzer Shoreline 1776

Cameron's Line

STRIP 4 | Jane Jacobs Jane Jac ob s Battery Maritime Building

Victoria Woodhull

Equitable Building Hurricane Sandy 2012

Jane Jacobs Residence 1935-1944

Holland Tunnel

One Liberty Plaza

Sea Level Change 2050

Sea Level Change 2050

Hurricane Sandy 2012

Hurricane Sandy 2012

Sea Level Change 2050

Sea Level Change 2050

Federal Hall Ratzer Shoreline 1776

NY Stock Exchange

13 5°

Tr ansi ent Wat er fr ont

STRIP 5 | Transient Waterfront

Battery Maritime Building Hurricane Sandy 2012

Ratzer Shoreline 1776

Sea Level Change 2050

Sea Level Change 2050

Ratzer Shoreline 1776

island territories VI : M A N H A T T A N Scapeland

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Volume I | The INSULA

T he R ot unda

STRIP 6 | National Archive & Custom House

National Archive and Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House

Battery Maritime Building

O ne Worl d Trade C ent er

STRIP 7 | World Trade Center

Twin Towers

Trinity Building

Federal Hall Hurricane Sandy 2012

Equitable Building

Sea Level Change 2050

Hurricane Sandy 2012

Ratzer Shoreline 1776

One World Trade Center

Br ooklyn Bri dge

STRIP 8 | Brooklyn Bridge

City Hall Hurricane Sandy 2012

Brooklyn Bridge

Sea Level Change 2050

Sea Level Change 2050

Sea Level Change 2050

Hurricane Sandy 2012

S tock Excha ng e

STRIP 9 | Federal Hall

9/11 Tribute in Lights

Empire Building

Pearl Street

Federal Hall

Hurricane Sandy 2012

Fulton Fish Market

Sea Level Change 2050

Stock Exchange Custom House

Hurricane Sandy 2012

Equ ita ble Buildi ng

STRIP 10 | Equitable Building

Trinity Church

Federal Reserve

New York by Gehry

Equitable Building Old Stonington Custom House

island territories VI : M A N H A T T A N Scapeland

35

New York City Police Department

Edward Mooney House

Manhattan Bridge Arch and Colanade

Strip Locations in Lower Manhattan 1:250 [ORIGINAL]

The Equitable Building Fire (1912)

Volume I | The INSULA

The ENCLOSED GARDEN

In conjunction with the importance in determining the city planning, the Equitable Building helped define the enactment of Gate (I): Hortus Conclusus. Built in 1913, the building only replaced its predecessor as it burned down on a cold winter’s night in 1912. The captivating accompanying image showcases this night, where emergency services fought the interior fire, while the exterior structure was draped in ice. As the island’s urban fabric has been sculpted by complex dialogues between various protagonists, each approaching the city with different agendas, it required decoding on various fronts. With the Equitable Building inspiring the enactment according to Season (Act I), the Enclosed Garden was also enacted according to Time (Act II) and Water (Act III). While casting shadows and receiving elements of overlapped film footage corresponding to the act, the drawing instruments scored the long plaster surface.

In parallel with recording movement on the ‘tracing-floor’ plaster surface, the enactment was filmed above and behind the projection surface. The image on the subsequent page showcases the openness of the enclosed garden’s cultivation, where at any point it was possible to engage and be able to decode the positioning of the elements in the garden. Personally, while the recording of this enactment was fascinating, it would be the enclosed garden’s framework that was most engaging with. Explored further in The CORTE, this framework defined the positioning of both the cabinet-like reading spaces and the incisions into the roof surfaces that allow light into the Studiolo’s landscape.

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The MANHATTAN STUDIOLO Adam Legge

01

Volume I | The INSULA

The BASTIONS OF BOHEMIA Agata Wolozyn Katie Hackett

03

02

01 / Gate (I): Hor tus Conclusus / The ENCLOSED GARDEN 02 / First Iteration of The PL ANE TABLE 03 / First Iteration of The FIELD - Lower Manhattan

The ENCLOSED GARDEN - Year 1 Semester 2 1:10 [ORIGINAL]

John Randel Jr’s The City of New York As Laid Out By The Commissioners - 1821

View of 2nd Avenue From 42nd Street - 1861

Volume I | The INSULA

The GRID

Despite appearances, various scholars and Koolhaas have remarked upon the “falsehood” in the purchase of the island in 1626.[8] As even the natives did not own the island, this transaction set a precedent for man’s ambition and necessity for commodifying to supersede concern for landscape, despite nature’s antecedence. This motivation was evident in the Commissioner’s Plan [1811], which as D. Schuyler explains in The New Urban Landscape, the gridiron was heralded as the perfect antidote to Lower Manhattan’s chaos.[9] Antithetical to planning ordinances, or lack of, that defined the supposed chaos, Koolhaas captures the gridiron’s objectives. “With one simple action, they describe a city of 13 x 156 = 2,028 blocks (excluding topographical accidents): a matrix that captures, at the same time, all remaining territory and all future activity on the island: The Manhattan Grid.”[10] Interestingly, in the imposition of this regimented lattice, we can observe no concern for the existing landscape. Koolhaas’ comments upon the exclusion of “topographical accidents”=[11] demonstrate that this map’s vision was to remedy man-made chaos and nature’s insubordination alike. The accompanying image demonstrates the strange effects of implementing these grand visions. As the grid necessitates both the demolition of existing properties and the flattening of topographical landscape, the house becomes an expired reminderr of time passed, where despite perching upon its landscape, it looks down upon the grid’s implantation and destruction, while eventually succumbing to it.

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The Manhattan Island with The Enclosed Garden Overlaid 1:10000 [Original]

Midtown & The ENCLSOED GARDEN 1:2500 [Original]

Volume I | The INSULA

The MIDTOWN ARCHIPELAGO

After establishing and testing the enclosed garden in the pre-grid world of Lower Manhattan, the analytical framework was imposed upon Midtown. In order to extrapolate why this area is termed by Koolhaas as a “mythical laboratory”,[12] the mapping created by enacting the enclosed garden upon the Midtown’s built [and unbuilt] fabric allowed the register of various elements. One such example is international consulates. Existing as anomalies, their own extra-territorial spaces,[13] they function as special proxies mediating their homeland’s political ideologies with the concerns of the foreign land they inhabit. Comparable to the consulates, it seems every major building could be interpreted as unique, after all, it is basically a prerequisite to be ‘special’ in order to actually be built.

With Delirious New York being the principal source for understanding the island, the focus became plotting buildings mentioned by Koolhaas. This act cultivated the distinct feeling that the ‘realized’ city can be read as a failure. While iconic as a singular building, the realized buildings, like Raymond Hood’s Rockefeller Center, were often just one fragment of a unrealized grand imagination of the architect.[14] Beyond these specific buildings, it was discernable that all blocks in the omnipresent grid can be termed as ‘islands’, each holding realised buildings and past occupancies with other potentials. The reading of the grid as a bounding body implies that Midtown is an intense archipelago, in the centre of which The MANHATTAN STUDIOLO locates itself, both in physical location and cultural ambition.

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Ga te (i): Ho r tu s C o n cl u s u s Pl a s ter Su r f a ce

The Manhattan Island with The Enclosed Garden Overlaid 1:10000 [Original]

View of Empire State Building From NYPL Reading Rooms

Volume I | The INSULA

FOOTNOTES [1]

Rem Koolhaas, Delirious New York: a Retroactive Manifesto for Manhattan (New York: The Monacelli Press, 2005), 17

[2]

Koolhaas, Delirious New York: a Retroactive Manifesto for Manhattan, 18.

“The Changing Shoreline of NYC”, Spacetime Department of New York Public Library, accessed May 05, 2020, http:// spacetime.nypl.org/the-changing-shoreline-of-nyc/

[3]

[4] Marguerite Holloway, The Measure of Manhattan: The Tumultuous Career and Surprising Legacy of John Randel Jr. – Cartographer, Surveyor, Inventor, (New York, W.W. Norton and Company, 2013), 57.

[5]

Rem Koolhaas, Delirious New York: a Retroactive Manifesto for Manhattan (New York: The Monacelli Press, 2005), 101

[6]

Hugh Ferriss, The Metropolis of Tomorrow (Princeton: Princeton Architectural Press, 1929).

[7]

Eric Peter Nash and Norman McGrath, Manhattan Skyscrapers (New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2005) 55.

[8]

Rem Koolhaas, Delirious New York: a Retroactive Manifesto for Manhattan (New York: The Monacelli Press, 2005), 18

[9] David Schuyler, The New Urban Landscape: The Redefinition of City Form in Nineteenth-Century America (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1986), 23.

[10]

Rem Koolhaas, Delirious New York: a Retroactive Manifesto for Manhattan (New York: The Monacelli Press, 2005), 18

[11]

Koolhaas, Delirious New York: a Retroactive Manifesto for Manhattan, 18.

[12]

Ibid., 20.

[13]

“Extraterritoriality”, Britannica, accessed May 05, 2020, https://www.britannica.com/topic/extraterritoriality.

[14]

Rem Koolhaas, Delirious New York: a Retroactive Manifesto for Manhattan (New York: The Monacelli Press, 2005), 181

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The NYPL Stephan A Schawrzman Building’s Rose Reading Room

II THE

PI A Z Z A

View From The Latting Observatory - 1853

Volume II | The PIAZZA

The WORLD FAIR [1853]

With a rich and distinguished history of collection and distribution, perhaps no block in Randell’s grid validates Koolhaas’ belief that each block simultaneously holds realised buildings and potential ambitions more than the block that today holds Bryant Park and the New York Public Library.[1] Beginning as rugged landscape, the block was quickly tamed to hold the Croton Reservoir, which was the principal distribution point for the city’s 19th century drinking water. While today the grid stretches beyond 42nd Street, at the time, the street was the extent of the city. In this almost rural area with sizable granite reservoir walls, it would be the World Fair of 1853 that would introduce “two colossal structures that would completely overwhelm their surroundings”.[2] The first structure, a symbol of Manhattan’s own ambitions, was an iteration of London’s Crystal Palace, presented to the world two years prior in 1851. Contained within the enormous Victorian glass structure was an island of exhibitions, each promising different possibilities.

With grandeur and spectacle, the inventor Elisha Otis demonstrated his transformational invention, the elevator’s safety catch, above the crowds, where a failed cable prevented a platform drop. Receiving applause in one structure, this device played a functional and crucial role in the second grand structure, the Latting Observatory.[3] The 350ft tower allowed the world’s visitors and the island’s inhabitants alike to leave their existence on the ground and ascend to a level that allowed scrutinization of their surroundings; it was in this examination that both the island’s potential and limitations were revealed.

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5.

2.

7.

10.

3.

8.

4.

11.

7.

6.

9.

12.

1.

1. The HUGH FERRISS Stack (Drawing) 2. The PANORAMA OF NEW YORK Stack (Modelling) 3. The VIVIAN MAIER Stack (Photography) 4. The JOHN RANDEL JR. Stack (Car tography) 5. The EDGAR A. POE Stack (Reading) 6. The MANHAT TA

[1921]

(Film)

7. Circulation 8. The Writer’s Cabinet N E W YO R K P U B L I C L I B R A RY: S T E P H E N A . S C H WA R Z M A N B U I L D I N G F O U N D AT I O N S

9. Book Storage 10. Panorama of New York Model 11. Lecture Theatre 12. Pefor mance Theatre

Basement 2 Floor Plan [-11m] 1 . Th e HUGH F ERRIS S St a c k ( D ra w i n g )

1:500 [ORIGINAL]

2 . Th e PA NO R A M A OF N EW Y ORK St a c k ( Mo d e l l i n g ) 3 . Th e VI VI A N MA IER St a c k ( Ph o t o g ra p h y ) 4 . Th e JO H N RA N D EL J R. St a c k ( Ca r t o g ra p h y )

Photo of Lady Leaving The NYPL - Vivian Maier

Volume II | The PIAZZA

The Historical Precedent of Distribution & Collection

The previous image reveals the view from the Latting Observatory’s platform. The block’s dual role to the city was present even in the Croton Reservoir and World Fair. Both structures gathered and distributed in their own way, one collecting and distributing water and one assembling the public and disseminating ideas. This duality sets a precedent that remains true in this block in the present day. Two years after the World Fair’s success, the exhibition and tower caught fire, leading to both being demolished.[4] In place of the Crystal Palace, Bryant Park was created, providing a public square to the city. Standing for another fifty years, the reservoir was eventually supplanted by the New York Public Library’s flagship: The Stephen A. Schwartzman Building.

From funds and instructions left by John Jacob Astor in 1855, the New York Public Library was created. The modesty demonstrated in the first branch, a small intervention in the East Village, was not present in the main branch’s completion in 1909. Receiving numerous large donations from island’s most generous benefactors, the board and trustees argued as a point of “civic pride” that it was befitting that the main branch to be imposing, at the time becoming the largest marble structure in the country.[6] In the branch’s deep walls, a vast collection was assembled. Even the Croton Reservoir walls can still be seen in the basement of the northeast corner. At the time of opening, the library and it’s numerous branches had a collection amounting to 3.5 million volumes, but now it has amassed nearly fifteen times the amount, boasting over 50 million items.[6]

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5.

2.

3.

8.

4.

6.

9.

1.

1. The HUGH FERRISS Stack (Drawing) 2. The PANORAMA OF NEW YORK Stack (Modelling) 3. The VIVIAN MAIER Stack (Photography) 4. The JOHN RANDEL JR. Stack (Car tography) 5. The EDGAR A. POE Stack (Reading) 6. The MANHAT TA

[1921]

(Film)

7. Circulation 8. The Writer’s Cabinet 9. Book Storage 10. Panorama of New York Model

Basement 1 Floor Plan [-5.5m] 1:500 [ORIGINAL] 1 . Th e HUGH F ERRIS S St a c k ( D ra w i n g ) 2 . Th e PA NO R A M A OF N EW Y ORK St a c k ( Mo d e l l i n g )

View of Bryant Park With NYPL Building The Background

Volume II | The PIAZZA

The “TRANSPARENT’ & ACCESSIBLE” COLLECTION

At the conclusion of the 19th century, the cultural ambitions of the New York Public Library were on full display. Consolidating the massive collections of the Astor and Lenox libraries, the NYPL has continued to actively acquire items from all over the world.[7] This consistent endeavouring has raised the problem of storage at multiple times over the library’s history. In the 1980s, the library and the municipality took advantage of Bryant Park’s deterioration to implement a significant expansion of the main branch’s storage capacity. While restoring the park to what one sees today, the library reclaimed space for over 87 miles (135km) of book shelves for 3.5 million items to be stored, with the storage space matching the iconic grass area in the middle of the park. When considering that the present day park receives over 12 million visitors per year, making it one of the busiest parks in the western hemisphere, it is disappointing that one can stand or relax on this grass, in the symbolic middle of the island with no indication of the vast collection below them.

Beyond the literal inability of the visitor to be engaged with the collection when in Bryant Park, the NYPL is facing the problem of how users engage with the collection. From the 3.5hr documentary, Ex Libris – New York Public Library, the day-to-day workings are showcased as well as the library’s transition to a more digitally-accessible institution, it is clear that there is lack of foresight appearing within the leadership of the institution.[8] Contradicting the name, the NYPL is actually constituted as a public-private partnership. Relying upon both private

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Stepped PIAZZA Plan 1:200 [ORIGINAL]

The Undeground Stacks Below Bryant Park

Volume II | The PIAZZA

endowments and public money, the NYPL’s leadership has to regularly liaise with benefactors that require careful fiscal justification. These limits have created an institution that undertakes small-scale interventions or creates catchy campaigns that can easily be translated into political posturing for re-election. Overall, it appears that the main branch, the showpiece of the 92 libraries, is gradually becoming a languorous tourist attraction rather than an active part of the island. It is within this context that The MANHATTAN STUDIOLO operates, seeking instead to imagine a carefully considered re-organisation and expansion of the block to fully realise the ambitions of achieving a “transparent & accessible” collection intended in Astor’s will.

FOOTNOTES Rem Koolhaas, Delirious New York: a Retroactive Manifesto for Manhattan (New York: The Monacelli Press, 2005), 23-25.

[1]

Koolhaas, Delerious New York: A Retroactive Manifesto for Manhattan, 23.

[2]

Ibid. 27.

[3]

[4]

“Historic New York Latting Observatory, City Tallest From 1853-56”, New York Yimby, accessed April 17, 2020,

[5]

“Facts”, New York Public Library, last accessed April 17, 2020, https://www.nypl.org/about/locations/schwarzman/facts.

“Collections”, New York Public Library, last accessed April 17, 2020, https://www.nypl.org/help/about-nypl/collections.

[6]

[7]

NYPL, “Collections”.

Ex Libris - The New York Public Library, DVD 2018: Amazon.co.uk: Frederick Wiseman: DVD & Blu-ray, accessed April 17, 2020, https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ex-Libris-York-Public-Library/dp/B07FFMVNN3).

[8]

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3.

2.

4.

5.

1.

1. The HUGH FERRISS Stack (Drawing) 2. The PANORAMA OF NEW YORK Stack (Modelling) 3. The EDGAR A. POE Stack (Reading) 4. The JOHN RANDEL JR. Stack (Car tography) 5. The INTERESTICE (With The Enclosed Garden(

Basement 1 Floor Plan [-5.5m] 1:500 [ORIGINAL]

The CAMPO Drawing - 1450 x 1450mm [Orginal]

III

THE

CAMPO

II

I N S E RT F O

II

OLDING PG

The CIRCULATION | 1:50 Perspective Section

IV THE

AUL A

The CIRCULATION Placed On Basement 1 Plan

Volume IV | The AULA

The CIRCULATION

Having briefly described the full composition in the previous volume’s exploded axonometric, this volume will be dedicated exclusively to the subterranean world of the Studiolo. The volume’s title, The AULA, translates to the classroom and touches upon the complex support programme that is required to keep both the existing library and the extended landscape to function. Explored in two distinct parts that volume will first explore the two extended architectures that function as deep retaining walls, separating the productive contoured landscape from the expansive storage world.

With close proximity to the Chambers Street building, the National Museum of Scotland’s extension became an interesting reference for the thesis. Citing thick Scottish castle walls as their inspiration, Benson and Forsyth implement a wall composition that celebrates its thickness by using it’s potential for interesting breaks and gaps that allow light to filtrate through. This precedent had a significant impact in how the two circulation stacks could provide both the quick circulation of the complex and an ancillary programme to the world it separates. The stack’s thickness, 5000mm deep, hold space for a corridor like route through, but also a variety of spaces for visitors to make use of. An example of one of these spaces are the reading rooms. A selection of oak desks, they provide a working environment that allows one to look deep into the canyons of the storage landscape, or if the reader faced the other way, they would have a fantastic view over the contoured landscape upon which The STUDIOLO stacks rest.

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Basement 1 Axonometric 1:200 [ORIGINAL]

The LANDSCAPE OF MANHATTAN’S FICTIONS - Cut Below Ground Level (-1m)

Volume IV | The AULA

The LANDSCAPE OF MANHATTAN’S FICTIONS

Having briefly described the full composition in the previous volume’s exploded axonometric, this volume will be dedicated exclusively to the subterranean world of the Studiolo. The volume’s title, The AULA, translates to the classroom and touches upon the complex support programme that is required to keep both the existing library and the extended landscape to function. Explored in two distinct parts that volume will first explore the two extended architectures that function as deep retaining walls, separating the productive contoured landscape from the expansive storage world.

With close proximity to the Chambers Street building, the National Museum of Scotland’s extension became an interesting reference for the thesis. Citing thick Scottish castle walls as their inspiration, Benson and Forsyth implement a wall composition that celebrates its thickness by using it’s potential for interesting breaks and gaps that allow light to filtrate through. This precedent had a significant impact in how the two circulation stacks could provide both the quick circulation of the complex and an ancillary programme to the world it separates. The stack’s thickness, 5000mm deep, hold space for a corridor like route through, but also a variety of spaces for visitors to make use of. An example of one of these spaces are the reading rooms. A selection of oak desks, they provide a working environment that allows one to look deep into the canyons of the storage landscape, or if the reader faced the other way, they would have a fantastic view over the contoured landscape upon which The STUDIOLO stacks rest.

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02

01

03

05

04

01 / Reading Room 02 / Study Space 03 / Performance Theatre 04 / Panorama of New York Model 05 / Writer’s Cabinet

Perspective Section Through The PERFORMANCE THEATRE 1:100 [ORIGINAL]

01

02

03

01 / The MANHATTA

[1921]

Stack

02 / Study Space With View Of Film Screens Held In The CIRCULATION 03 / The Lecture Theatre

Perspective Section Through The LECTURE THEATRE 1:100 [ORIGINAL]

The INTERSTICE - North East Axonometric

V

THE

I N TERS TICE

The INTERSTICE In Elevation

Volume V | The INTERSTICE

The MANHATTA RULER

In moving the thesis’ scope of inquiry from pre-grid Lower Manhattan to Midtown archipelago, the main remnant that was brought forward was the Manhatta Ruler. An elaborate and scalable apparatus, this tool plotted the shooting positions of the film Manhatta (1921) alongside photographer Vivian Maier’s shooting positions. Beyond using this as a means of creating furrow lines to explore like the group did in Lower Manhattan, this ruler informs the folded roof that tops The AULA. In the film, the enigmatic words of Walt Whitman’s poem Mannahatta interject black and white film captured by Sheeler and Strand. Alongside the insertion of secondary fold lines, Whitman’s words dictate the roof ’s fold points, creating an interesting roof surface that invites the visitor to saunter over, but also create inclines that encourage entering the world through the Studiolos. Despite being conceived as one surface that runs from 5th to 6th Avenue, the roof is actually made up of three isolated parts. Two parts top the landscape of storage and are celebrated as moments of extreme thickness, allowing the possibility of planting trees. If one was to imagine a collection of Cherry Blossoms planted on these thick roofs, it would be easy to envisage a visitor arriving under the cover of the pink leaves and being able to move onto the thin roof that caps the contoured landscape. This visitor would be able to look out onto the surrounding city with the Blossom’s leaves in the foreground, a gentle reminder that it is still a natural park environment.

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The INTERSTICE Pulled Up From The PIAZZA

Volume V | The INTERSTICE

The INTERSTICE As A Mediation Of The Real & The Imagined

In parallel to creating a walkable and plantable surface, the roof also plays a crucial role in achieving the ambitions discussed in The PIAZZA, a transparent and accessible collection.

Resulting from its folding that ranges from 600mm to 5500mm above ground level, there are both intermittent and prolonged moments where a visitor can be on the exterior of the Studiolo, but be able to peer down into the subterranean world. This openness would cultivate the interest of the onlookers, and encourage them to come inside to further inquire and engage with the collections.

While not obviously discernible from the ground level, if one was to look down upon the landscape from the surrounding skyscrapers, you would notice the thin portion of the surface appearing to lead into the final Studiolo-like architecture, The INTERSTICE stack.

While designed in the same manner as the other stacks in the proposal, it is a unique case because of it’s relationship to Gate (I): Hortus Conclusus, the Enclosed Garden. Conceived as mediating space for the outside environment and the world of the proposal, this stack provides an intervening space for the both real and the imagined to be considered. It does this by consistently welcoming new work from the city and by holding exhibitions and then consolidating this work further into the Studiolo’s collection. The first exhibition that would occur within the space is the Enclosed Garden. Returning to the thin roof blending into this stack, it is actually the projector lines from the plane table’s organization that dictates this folding roof ’s form.

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The STUDIOLO Stacks On Basement 1 Plan

VI

THE

S T UDIOLO

Ferriss In His Study

Volume VI | The STUDIOLO

Hugh Ferriss [1862-1962]

In completing the exercise of plotting Delirious New York, the impact of architectural renderer Hugh Ferriss was uncovered. As covered in The INSULA, the area of Midtown has a series of iconic buildings, fragments of schemes that were never fully realised. Interestingly, the work of Ferriss helps us to best understand this within the context of the real and the unrealized. Taking his work with architect Raymond Hood as an example, where Ferriss was commissioned to delineate wonderful renders of the real buildings, while at night these buildings were put into fantastical schemes for the city that were never realised. As over the thesis the Studiolo became an environment that cultivates the celebration of both real and imagined realities, Ferriss and his work appears to be the embodiment of the scheme’s ambitions.

The image on the accompanying page, Ferriss In His Study, showcases the famous figure alongside his collection of ongoing work he was completing. In addition to the scale of the canvas, often larger than himself, the fact different realities are held together in one place is very intriguing. This inspired an initial idea of showcasing the captivating work of Ferriss in one place, before developing into a set of individual stack that collect and curate the different visions of Manhattan, Ferriss and drawing being one of them.

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dows Win able Fo l d

Dra wing Res tora tion Work s hop

Loggia (Rea d ing Room)

The Green Roof

Dra wing Stu d y Sp a ce

1:100 Section [ORIGINAL]

The HUGH FERRISS STACK

Dra wing Exhib tion - Fer r is s’ Dra wings

sto ra tio n D ra wi ng Re

Wor ks ho p

Ro om s) IA (R ea di ng Th e LO GG

1:100 Perspective Rendered Section [ORIGINAL]

The HUGH FERRISS STACK

ud y Sp ac e D ra wi ng St

ng s rr iss’s D ra wi hi bt io n - Fe D ra wi ng Ex

Ruler 7 - The World Trade Center - The ENCLOSED GARDEN

Volume VI | The STUDIOLO

The VISIONS OF MANHATTAN

From the accompanying page’s image, we can see an example of how the Enclosed Garden interacted with the Manhattan island by using drawing. In the image, it is discernable that the plaster surface has been scored by one of the Enclosed Garden’s drawing instruments.

In order to facilitate an observable score, this surface was cast perfectly smooth, but also received a pass of etching from the laser to depict various concerns, for example, when interrogating Midtown, the plaster registered the dense floor plan. Beyond drawing, the city has been engaged with through a variety of different medias, often correlating to when specific character’s work was investigated. In total, six separate stacks that sit on the contoured landscape that explore the media their character was concerned with: (I) The HUGH FERRISS Stack (Drawing) (II) The PANORAMA OF NEW YORK Stack (Modelling) (III) The EDGAR A. POE Stack (Reading) (IV) The VIVIAN MAIER Stack (Photography) (V) The JOHN RANDEL Jr. Stack (Cartography) (VI) The MANHATTA Stack (Film)

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able Wi

Ma p Ro o m

Dra w in g Re st ora ti o n Wo rk s ho p

T he LOG G IA ( Rea di n g Ro o ms )

T he Green Ro o f

Fo l d s ndow

F o ld a b le

T he R a n d el Ro om

W in d 1:100 Section [ORIGINAL]

The JOHN RANDEL JR. Stack

ows

W in

M ap Ro om

a b le

Resto ratio n Work shop

The LOG GIA

F o ld dows

The R a n d el Room

The JOHN RANDEL JR. Stack 1:100 Perspective Rendered Section [ORIGINAL]

The PANORAMA OF NEW YORK Model

Volume VI | The STUDIOLO

The PANORAMA OF NEW YORK Stack

Taking the example of the stack concerned with modelling, this stack takes the responsibility of acquiring the largest architectural model of Manhattan ever made, the Panorama of New York, as well as other models of the city. Currently held in Queens Museum of Art, the Panorama of the City of New York model is a fascinating remnant of the 1964 World Fair.

Commissioned by the polarizing figure, Robert Moses, the 867m2 model included every single building in the city at a scale of 1:1200. With more than 100 people working over three years, the model depicts a total of 895,000 structures. In 1992, the model makers were recommissioned to update the model. However, minus minor changes, the model we see today is out of date by thirty years. In The MANHATTAN STUDIOLO proposal, this model would be acquired and continually updated, becoming a register of the contemporary island. This upkeep requires a team of model makers, and significant storage space to hold the removed buildings.

In conjunction with registering the real, in keeping with the ethos of the thesis, the proposal would also aspire to create models of the unbuilt architectural projects. Furthermore, while providing the space to hold the POTCNY’s building below the ground, the stack would hold large architectural models of the island’s unbuilt architecture. Held within the stack’s thick walls, and protected by the façade explored in The CORTE, moments are created where visitors can look out into the ‘Real’ while interrogating remnants of other potentials for the island.

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able W

Dra win g Res to ra t io n Work s ho p

T he LOG GIA ( Rea d in g Ro o ms)

T he Gre en Roo f

Fo l d ws indo

F o ld a in d o b le W ws

Ex h ib ti o n Are a - Recie ves Li gh t & Ref le ct io n Fro m Mo del Ca b in et Vo id

T he Mo del Ca b in et

Draw i n g Ex hi bt io n Sp a ce

1:100 Section [ORIGINAL]

The PANORAMA OF NEW YORK Stack

dow

Th e Mo del Ca bin et

Win

Dr aw in g Ex hib tio n Sp ac e Na tu ral ly Li gh ted

able

Dr aw in g Ex hib tio n Sp ac e Ar tif ica lly Li gh ted

Dr aw in g Re sto rat ion Wo rk sho p

Th e LO GG IA

Fo l d s

Exh ibt ion Are a Rec iev es Lig ht & Ref lect ion Fro m Mo del Ca bin et Voi d

1:100 Perspective Rendered Section [ORIGINAL]

The PANORAMA OF NEW YORK Stack

VII THE

CORT E

The CORTE - Exploded RANDEL Stack

Volume VII | The CORTE

The Folded & Straight Façades of the Studiolos

With the external structure of the Studiolo’s piercing The INTERSTICE and continues to tower over the roof surface there is a requirement to not just consider the façade’s appearance but also how it engages with the collections on the inside. The façade can be understood in two parts, the folded and the straight façade.

The lightweight timber folded façade has been a prominent design feature of all iterations of The MANHATTAN STUDIOLO. Inspired by the drawing of Bolles Wilson’s Munster Library and Morphosis’ Cooper Union, the folded façade functions as a feature that dissolves the full straight extrusion. Beyond this, the considered placement of mechanical shutters, in keeping with the timber slits positioning, provides careful control over the amount of light in the studiolos. This same concern over the light control in the Studiolo is present within the straight façade’s design. While it may initially appear as a extruded façade with simple cut-outs that provide minimal light, there actually is a wide variety of potential mechanical openings.

Protected by a protective UV coating on the windows, it is possible to open these shutters, allowing the collection to be viewed back into the city. Equally, if one wants to eliminate light’s presence completely in order to view it in an isolated manner, they can simply shut the openings. Using the John Randel Jr. Stack as a prototype, the following drawings explore both facades. However, if one was to zoom in to any of the other drawings, it will be possible to see the shutters any of the other stacks.

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Exploded Axononetrics of The JOHN RANDEL Jr. STACK 1:100 [ORIGINAL]

Perspective Section of JOHN RANDEL JR. Stack 1:100 [ORIGINAL]

The CORTE - Year 1 Semester 2 Iteration of the Studiolo - Gate (II)

THE

MANH AT TA N S TUDIOLO & The Previous Iterations of The CORTE

Collections Moved Through Raised Rail System

The ENCLOSED GARDEN

First Iteration Of The INTERSTICE

Perspective Section of Gate (II) - Year 1, Semester 2 1:100 [ORIGINAL]

The PROJECTED ROOM - 1:50 [ORGINAL]

Volume VII | The CORTE

The PROJECTED ROOM

Created in Semester 3, The PROJECTED ROOM is an A0 drawing that demonstrates understanding of structural and environmental concerns by zooming in at 1:50 scale. Despite exploring a proposal that was completely revised, through discussion of The PROJECTED ROOM, in relating to The CORTE, this text seeks to demonstrate how ideas have emerged, developed and left behind over the course of the two years.

The proposal described by The PROJECTED ROOM imagined a stack-like architecture that would hold the island’s imagined models, notably similar to The PANORAMA OF NEW YORK stack. The A0 detailed how the external environment would impact upon how viewers experience that collection, seeing the wider city behind the models. Reimagined and replicated throughout the final proposal, this experiencing of the collection within it’s ‘real’ context is fundamental to The MANHATTAN STUDIOLO proposal. Beyond the exhibition of the collection, the stack also facilitated undisruptive staff access through providing a 1500mm corridor that was contained within a hanging lightweight timber façade. Finally, one could discern the noticeable difference in drawing appearance. With various representation methods tested over the course of the two years, there has been several moments of reflection that have occurred, mostly when a new semester allows a period of distance away from the work. This particular set of experimentation were deemed particularly unsuccessful but despite this, it was fundamental in creating new methods of representing the proposal discussed in this report.

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The FERRISS’ LOGGIA - Cut At 7th Floor (+21m)

VIII THE

LO GGIA

Volume VIII | The LOGGIA

The RANDEL Stack’s Loggia An example of an interior Loggia condition

The MODEL Stack’s Loggia An example of exterior Loggia condition

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The Sir John Soane Museum’s Model Room

Volume VIII | The LOGGIA

Having explored the various special spaces that combine to form the stacks’ composition, as well as the façade’s that protect the collections, the final element of the stacks to discuss is The LOGGIA. The traditional understanding of a loggia would dictate it as simply a covered exterior gallery, often placed at the top level. While interesting, this thesis slightly expands upon it, and views it as a space that allows the concern of the interior to be debated and comprehended in the context of the external environment. The model room of John Soane’s museum is an example of the type of interface with exhibited objects that the Studiolo would seek to term a ‘loggia’. In this model room, one can investigate a drawing of a fantastical scheme, while looking at a model of the scheme, as well as a register of the ‘real’ through the window. This interaction, where the viewer will be impacted by the various real world changes like seasonal variation or sunlight levels, can be termed to fulfil the concept of The LOGGIA. When considering this in the Studiolo’s context, by placing a loggia at the top of each stack, the various visions of the city can be deliberated with a register of the further Studiolo landscape, but also with a register of the ‘real’ Manhattan. This volume is presented as a single drawing in the folio, a perspective section that showcases the HUGH FERRISS stack’s loggia. In the wall’s construction, we can read the recessed areas a potential locations for drawings of the city, both realised and unrealised. Recessed from external light, the valuable drawings would remain protected, but would still be able to be viewed with the NYPL’s marble façade in the background. With all stacks having a custom ‘loggia’ like moment, we can see that despite not always occurring outside and at times being restrained by glass, they all have fantastic potentials for facilitating interesting interaction with the Studiolo’s collection for the visitor.

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The WRITER’S CABINETTA Extended Beyond Perspective Section

IX

THE

C ABIN ET TA

Volume IX | The CABINETTA

Lying within the dense world of the John Soane Museum, the picture room holds an abundance of beautiful work, ranging from paintings to drawings like fifteen original Piranesi drawings for Paestum. For the purposes of The MANHATTAN STUDIOLO, it is the manner in which this vast range of work is presented. Contrasting isolated frames on walls in a traditional gallery, these paintings and drawings are bunched together on carefully crafted folding doors that sit flush within the wall.

Taking inspiration from this ingenious technique and attitude towards the displayed object, The CABINETTA seeks to address the question of how one exhibits the Studiolo’s collection.

As a private collection, the Soane museum would have access to 6,000 pieces of work. While this is a large amount, the Studiolo, as part of the NYPL network, would have access to a collection of over 50 million items. Celebrating the seemingly limitless potential encounters one could have with the collection, The CABINETTA offers a series of finely crafted domestic study spaces that seek to cultivate an environment where the cornucopia of curiosities are actively engaged. Perhaps the best example is the Writer’s Cabinet, a fashioned furniture piece that spans the middle of vast underworld of the Studiolo. Facilitating free movement through this furniture piece, one can sit and read in the offered seating places that are cast within the piece or withdraw into the privacy of the space inspired by the Da Messina painting St Jerome In His Study. Beyond the Writer’s Cabinet and the reading spaces worked into the contoured landscape, each stack has been designed with a bespoke Cabinetta piece that celebrates the practice it exhibits.

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Axonometric With Pulled-Up Writer’s Cabinetta 1:100 [ORIGINAL]

01

02

03

01 / Viewing Space - Overlooking P of NY Model 02 / The MODEL CABINETTA 03 / Exhibition Space

The MODEL CABINETTA 1:100 [ORIGINAL]

The PRIVATE STUDY - St Jerome In His Study

Volume IX | The CABINETTA

Da Messina - St Jerome In His Study

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01

02

01 / Flush Doors Holding Ferriss’ Drawings 02 / The Drawing Study Space

The CABINETTA Spaces In The HUGH FERRIS STACK 1:100 [ORIGINAL]

The PRIVATE STUDY - St Jerome In His Study

Volume IX | The CABINETTA

B. Walters - The Wooten Desk Patent

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Plan With Pulled-Down Elevation of Writer’s Cabinetta 1:100 [ORIGINAL]

X

THE

E XHIBTIO N

Vivian Maier Self Portrait

Volume X | The EXHIBTION

Vivian Maier [1929-2009]

While capturing a variety of issues within her square camera format, the capturing techniques of one of the thesis’s main protagonists, the extravagant Vivian Maier, provides an excellent precedent for how one can approach the thesis’ exhibition. From exploring her shots, one can clearly gleam the heavy reliance upon reflective surfaces in order to facilitate capturing herself. Rarely revealing her presence fully, she often chose to appear ghostly within the frame. Vivian’s figure transience is analogous to how ideas are considered and offered in the proposed Studiolo’s exhibition.

The exhibition’s anchor, the elaborate island construct, would hold a sectional 1:200 model in parallel with a 1:500 model that could slide open to reveal the proposal’s subterranean landscape.

Awaiting a reader’s engagement, the design report would have its home upon the 1:500 model. This location would allow the reader to engage with this detailed explanation, while having a wonderful viewpoint to look over the work. Beyond this report’s words and the island construct, the reader’s gaze will be able to notice the exhibition’s three other parts. The first, the Studiolo Wall, emphasises that rather than exhibit a pristine object, the exhibition employs an non-hierarchical presentation.

This wall, wrapping the exhibition, would mix ideas, scales and drawing types, facilitating a Studiolo-like environment within the Chambers Street’ walls. The second, the Gnomon, is the register of the second iteration of the Studiolo. While out of date compared to the rest of the exhibited work, the techniques employed in is craft were refined in order to complete the revised proposal. Finally, the Vitruvian Cabinet, is a construct that holds the etched plaster surfaces in parallel with the hanging folio drawings.

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Exhibtion View - Looking Over The ISLAND Towards The South Wall

Volume X | The EXHIBTION

02

03 04

01

01 / The Island 02 / The Studiolo Wall 03 / The Gnomon 04 / The Vitruvian Cabinet

Exhibition Axonometric 1:20 [ORIGINAL]

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Axnometric View Of The ISLAND Construct

THE

Island

Axnometric View Of The ISLAND Construct

Volume X | The EXHIBTION

01

02

03

01 / 1:200 Sectional Model 02 / 1:500 Model With Slidable Section 03 / Design Report’s Home

The ISLAND Construct - Plan 1:5 [ORIGINAL]

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Exploded Axnometric | 1:200 Model Held In The ISLAND Construct

Volume X | The EXHIBTION

03 01

02

01 / 1:200 Sectional Model 02 / 1:500 Model With Slidable Section 03 / Design Report’s Home

The ISLAND Construct - Axonometric 1:5 [ORIGINAL]

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THE

Studiolo Wall

Sir John Soane Musuem’s Main Hall | The Studiolo-Wall Inspiration

Volume X | The EXHIBTION

V / The INTERSTICE

III / The CAMPO

II / The PIAZZA

VIII / The LOGGIA

IX / The CABINETTA

X / The EXHIBTION

VI / The STUDIOLO

I / The INSULA

VII / The CORTE

The ISLAND Construct - Plan 1:5 [ORIGINAL]

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THE

Gnonom

The GNOMON | An Etched American Oak Surface With 1:500 Orthogonal Drawings

Volume X | The EXHIBTION

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The GNOMON | A 1:500 Representation of Year 2 Semester 1’s Proposal

Volume X | The EXHIBTION

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The VITRUVIAN CABINET| Holding The Etched Plaster Surfaces & The FOLIO

Volume X | The EXHIBTION

The VITRUVIAN CABINET

Despite being envisioned as a collection of non-hierarchical ten volumes, allowing entry to the thesis at different scales and concerns, we have reached the design report’s ending. As a concluding thought, the description of The Vitruvian Cabinet’s inspiration allows us to think about the approach to understanding the thoughts in play. As the Design Report and the Drawing Folio root themselves in Vitruvius’s De Architectura, his ten books of architecture, they take upon the obligation to sufficiently explore an ιδέα (idea). In Book 1, Vitruvius argues that in order to fully understand an ιδέα (idea), one has to undertake an exercise of three different types of drawing: ichnography, orthography and scenography. Ichnography, the precise ground plan, is commenced in order to understand the wall placement and overall composition of the scheme. Orthography, the section or elevation, is the practice of presenting the subject in parallel projection, allowing the contemplated work’s precise proportions to be understood. Scenography, the perspective drawing, allows the proposal to be put within its context with technique that converges all lines into one vanishing point. Although Vitruvius clearly is not talking about computer produced drawings, in the completion of each type, this thesis has rooted itself in these definitions. With the exception of

The CAMPO, The INTERSTICE and The LOGGIA, adequately explored in a singular drawing, each of the other seven volumes have featured all types of these drawings. Through adhering to Vitruvian standards, it can can be said that in this Design Report and the Drawing Folio, each scale and concern has been explored in a befititing way, in keeping with how The MANHATTAN

STUDIOLO has been cultivated through the two years.

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"Gorgeous clouds of sunset! Dench with your splendour me or the men and the women generations after me."

"Where the city's ceaseless crowd moves on, the live long day."

"On the river the shadow group, the big steam tug closely flank'd on each side by barges"

ty Church The Trini

STRIP 6

"Shapes of the bridges, vast frameworks, girders, arches."

"With lines of steamships threading every sea."

"City of hurried and sparkling waters, City nested in bays."

Start

"Where our tall topt marble and iron beauties range on opposite sides."

e ridg yn B okl Bro

"The buildings of cities - the shovel, the great derrick, the wall scaffold, the walls and ceilings."

The

TRINITY CHURCH SHOT FROM EMPIRE BUILDING BROOKYLN BRIDGE SHOT FROM WHITEHALL TERMINAL

Bibliography | The MANHATTAN STUDIOLO

•

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Ex Libris – The New York Public Library, DVD 2018: Amazon.co.uk: Frederick Wiseman: DVD & Blu-ray. Accessed April 17, 2020. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ex-Libris-York-Public-Library/dp/B07FFMVNN3).

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Ferriss, Hugh. The Metropolis of Tomorrow. Princeton: Princeton Architectural Press, 1929.

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Goldin, Greg., and Sam Lubell. Never Built, New York. New York: Metropolis Books, 2016.

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Holloway, Marguerite. The Measure of Manhattan: The Tumultuous career and Surprising Legacy of John Randel Jr. – Cartographer, Surveyor, Inventor. 2013.

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Jacobs, Jane. The Death And Life of Great American Cities. New York: The Modern Library Press, 2011.

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Koolhaas, Rem. Delirious New York: a Retroactive Manifesto for Manhattan. New York: The Monacelli Press, 2005.

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New York Public Library. “Collections” Accessed April 17, 2020. https://www.nypl.org/help/about-nypl/collections.

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New York Public Library. “Facts.” Accessed April 17, 2020.https://www.nypl.org/about/locations/schwarzman/ facts.

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STR Stre

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Peter-Nash, Eric., and Norman McGrath. Manhattan Skyscrapers. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2005.

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Sanderson, Eric W. Mannahatta – A Natural History of New York City. New York: Abrams, 2009.

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Schuyler, David. The New Urban Landscape: The Redefinition of City Form in Nineteenth-Century America. Baltimore:

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Spacetime Department of New York Public Library. “The Changing Shoreline of NYC.” Accessed May 05, 2020. http://spacetime.nypl.org/the-changing-shoreline-of-nyc/.

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0°

List of Figures | In Order of Appearence •

•

•

•

The Skyline of New York – Arch Daily. “Architects Dressed

NYPL. “The View From The Latting Observatory.”

https://www.archdaily.com/599743/architects-dressed-as-

Accessed May 25, 2020. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/

buildings-at-the-1931-beaux-arts-ball.

items/5e66b3e9-1d17-d471-e040-e00a180654d7.

•

Midtown Islands – Fresh NYC. “Smog Over Midtown

“Vivian Maier: Lost Photographs Of 1950s New York.”

freshnyc.com/photography/smog-over-midtown-

Accessed May 25, 2020. https://flashbak.com/vivian-maier-

manhattan-1943.

lost-photographs-of-1950s-new-york-397771/

The Castello Plan – East Indian Blogging Co. “The Purchase All Time.” Accessed 25, 2020. https://eastindiabloggingco.

•

Bryant Park – Unknown Author

•

The Underground Stacks – Untapped New York. “37 Miles of Library Stacks Under NYPL Stephan A. Schwarzman

com/2019/11/02/the-purchase-of-manhattan/.

Building.” Accessed May 25, 2020. https://untappedcities.

The Equitable Building Fire Of 1912 - Museum of The

com/2015/03/23/fun-maps-37-miles-of-library-stacks-

City of New York. “100 Years Ago – The Equitable

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Building Fire.” Accessed May 25, 2020. https://blog.mcny.

•

org/2012/01/10/100-years-ago-the-equitable-building-

index.php/thenonist/permalink/hugh_ferriss_delineator_ of_gotham/.

Randel’s Commissioner Maps of 1821 – NYC Urbanism.

“1821 – John Randel Map of the 1811 Commisioner’s

•

Plan.” Accessed May 25. 2020. https://www.nycurbanism.

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The View From 42nd Street – Arch Daily. “The Greatest Grid

•

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•

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Sir John Soane Museum (Picture Room) – Soane.org. Accessed May 25, 2020.“https://www.soane.org/.

View of Empire State Building From NYPL – Unknown

•

Author •

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New York.” Accessed May 25, 2020. https://www.archdaily.

•

Panorama of New York Model – Queens Museum. “Panorama of the City of New York.” Accessed May 25, 2020. https://

com/map-store/1821-john-randel-map-of-the-1811-

•

Ferriss In His Study – The Nonist. “Hugh Ferriss: Delineator of Gotham.” Accessed May 25, 2020. http://thenonist.com/

fire-2/.

•

Vivian Maier’s Photo of A Lady Outside NYPL – Flashbak.

Manhattan – 1943.” Accessed May 25, 2020. http://

of Manhattan: The Most Misunderstood Real Estate Deal of

•

View From The Latting Observatory – Digital Collections

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St Jerome In His Study – L’Architetto. “La Lettura Perfetta.”

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Rose Reading Room – 6sqft. “Senators Request Interior Landmark Status For Two NYPL Reading Room.” Accessed

•

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Maier’s Self Portrait – In Your Pocket. “Masters of Photograpy – Vivian Maier.” Accessed May 25, 2020. https://www.

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