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Manhattan Transformation Project
Introduction to Architecture: Perception
Prof. Madeline Schwartzman
Spring 2007
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STATEMENT
New York City's zip code system is illogical and often arbitrary. Though the majority of Manhattan zips range from 10001 to 10040, two anomalies--10128 and 10120--defy any reasonable numbering system. Moreover, neighboring codes are seldom consecutive, and more often than not jump hugely from zip to zip. How, then, could this strange disorderliness--in a city of grids and consecutively numbered streets and avenues--be repaired?
This model attempts to address the island's seeming lack of organization by simultaneously highlighting its gross lack of contiguity and allowing anyone to interact with the model (and thus, Manhattan) on his or her own terms. The completely malleable outer frame of the island can be shifted across all axes to reorder the zip codes in any system desired. Since each individual zip code is placed in ascending height according to its number, the first and most obvious realignment would be to create a new Manhattan with a consecutive and contiguous series of zips. The entire structure can even be unwound and reconnected to place the codes on the island's exterior, effectively inverting Manhattan's habitat from an isolated island to a lake ringed by small communities. Structure can be set in motion, and order can be created from chaos.
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