Manhattan’s familiar street grid is a work in progress, an evolving creation that began with a bold vision by the city’s commissioners in 1811, but which has been altered and amended by generations of planners, builders, and advocates. What mark will future architects, private developers, and city officials leave on the grid? What new kinds of buildings will they construct within its blocks, and what new ways will they devise for organizing its streets?
To answer these questions, the Architectural League of New York, in partnership with the Museum of the City of New York and Architizer, issued a Call for Ideas inviting architects and urban designers to speculate about how Manhattan’s grid might be adapted, extended, or transformed in the future. The Unfinished Grid: Design Speculations for Manhattan presents the eight winning projects, all of which offer provocative ideas for the future of the city.
Members of the jury for the Call for Ideas were: Amale Andraos, Hilary Ballon, Rosalie Genevro, Sarah Henry, Wendy Evans Joseph, Marc Kushner, Mark Robbins, Gregory Wessner, and Sarah Whiting.
And through April 15
THE GREATEST GRID: THE MASTER PLAN OF MANHATTAN, 1811-2011 celebrates the 200th anniversary of the Commissioners’ Plan of 1811, the foundational document that established Manhattan’s famous street grid. Featuring an original hand-drawn map of New York's planned streets and avenues prepared by the Commission in 1811, as well as other rare historic maps, photographs and prints of the evolution of the city's streets, and original manuscripts and publications that document the city’s physical growth, the exhibition examines the grid’s initial design, implementation, and evolution.
The Greatest Grid traces the enduring influence of the 1811 plan as the grid has become a defining feature of the city, shaping its institutions and public life.The exhibition is accompanied by a book of the same name, edited by Hilary Ballon of NYU, who also curated the exhibition, and co-published by the Museum and Columbia University Press.
Venue: Museum of the City of New York · 1220 Fifth Avenue, NY, NY 10029 · 212.534.1672
The Greatest Grid: The Master Plan of Manhattan, 1811-2011. Dec 6 through Apr 15
The Greatest Grid: Gallery Tour. Sunday, January 15 at 2:00 pm.
