Dense mixed use urban development in Manhattan

Use zoning structure

The strips of the use zoning structure between 7th and 9th avenues are overlaid upon the existing forms of west midtown. Both solid and void are infused with the virtual use strata. All space where building is permitted is conditioned by its layers, anticipating the development of new John Hancock Centers and as yet unforeseen variations upon its multi-functional programme.

Subtraction

The primitive forms defined by the zoning strata are subjected to the exercise of subtraction. The method of application varies according to the size of the lot (the scale of land ownership), the functional programme of the strata and the need for light admission into the centre of the plan. These criteria determine at any given level the proportion of the volume which is subtracted (space) and the depth of the residual elements (form)

Superblock

The method of subtraction affords different formal possibilities with increases in lot size. Generally the smaller the lot the fewer the available options. The double block site of Madison Square Garden facilitates the development of a range of morphologies within the use strata. Each presents a disposition of form and space suitable for the particular programme which it accommodates. Thus, the differences between the use strata are reflected in contrasting morphologies.

Subdivided block

Conversely, lots of limited scale afford fewer possibilities for subtraction, particularly where adjacent lots abut one another. In areas of high density this condition will result in a sheer, though perforate, street wall.

Plans (lower)

The zoning strata determine that the lower levels of the Madison Square Garden site assume publicly accessible uses (blue) As such, streets and spaces are subtracted from the primitive mass at several levels, leaving residual forms suitable for various scales of accommodation. The Farley Post Office is preserved and, as is currently proposed, converted to form a new Penn Station. A linear block containing vertical circulation rises from the space between the two wings of the existing building.

Plans (upper)

Commercial uses occupying the mid levels (red) give way to a stratum providing horizontal circulation (grey) as well as public and services facilities. Vertical circulation rising from the station connects into this horizontal distribution network, sandwiched between the commercial stratum below and the residential above (yellow) The network permeates through the six blocks and implies its extension to adjacent sites to support high level accommodation contained therein.

Process

The fully developed blocks represent but one possible (and arbitrary) outcome of the process of piecemeal aggregation. Decisions by individual landowners (critically, whether to develop or not to develop), the practise of lot assemblage as well as trends in the real estate market determine many potential trajectories for local urban growth.

Growth and differentiation

Equally arbitrary is the limitation of the ‘site’ to six blocks. The ‘complete’ development is a frozen state in a process whose extension to adjoining blocks is implied but, again, represents only one possible outcome. As a ‘temporary’ condition, the six block development is, primarily due to scale, highly differentiated from its (existing) immediate context. It may remain so - a limited zone of dense, mixed use development. Conversely, it may extend east and coalesce into the midtown district or even proliferate throughout the area west of seventh avenue.

Distribution

The prospect from the south-west. The circulation slab rises from the station concourse and initiates the horizontal distribution network.

Penetrability
As in the example of the Menger Sponge, the exercise of subtraction generates forms which, though they possess an outward appearance of immense bulk, have limited volume and are infused with space. The internalisation of space suggests a new possibility for the configuration of the urban environment - the conventional horizontal sequence of form (‘buildings’) and space (‘streets’) is replaced by a model in which the two are bound intricately together, generating complex interactions between urban functions and the space which both separates them and provides their infrastructure.

Use zoning structure

The use zoning structure local to the six block site imposed upon its existing forms.

Site

A speculation upon development conditioned by the use zoning structure and employing the subtractive method is projected for a site covering six blocks. The area takes in the Madison Square Garden and Farley Post Office sites (each covering two blocks) as well as the blocks immediately to the north. The objective is a dense mixed use development connecting into Pennsylvania Station.

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