HYC/NYC

This project was undertaken as part of studio at the M.F.A Transdisciplinary Design program at Parsons school of design. The project aimed to raise questions around air rights and the vertical geography in New York City.

The final outcome was this short film, which was a look at the reality of commute in an increasingly vertical urban world.

As part of our research into the issue of air rights, we chose to map the system based on 5 parameters:

○ Traffic

○ Communication

○ Zoning

○ Infrastructure

○ Patents

We chose to study each parameter along a range of possible values

Having decided to attempt to communicate our understanding of the issue via film, we then proceeded to build a backstory and context in which the film takes place.

Radical efficient architecture and urban development practices have shaped cities as centers of peak capitalism dramatically. Land floods, population growth, and climate catastrophes led people to move to cities to gather and combine strengths, instead of fighting in singularity. The shortage of space was an ever-existing problem of modern days. Development firms bought air-rights from unknowing citizens and created privileged towers of prestige. Air became the new currency and was in force traded as stock as replacement of past currencies. People realized the value of it and communities gathered to protect their private, non-commercial air-rights. They combined them into spaces for the common. This clever initiative and its intentions quickly got diminished. The lawyers of big transnational corporations saw the flaws and grey zones within governmental air right policies. Tax havens emerged. Airspace in a certain height is not nationally bounded and allowed them to set new horizons and mega cities got layered/separated between L Y C (Low York City) and H Y C (High York City). People have to travel between layers, it takes time. Vertical and horizontal infrastructure emerged during the time of encapsulated architecture. Elevators and trains are not traveling the most efficient way, due to new zoning regulation issues. Migration movements are happening, some people kept them ways open to escape the tragedy of the LOW City and are using custom made maps to memorize the routes and paths which have to get communicated over time.

1ST STATION – 10 YEARS

Built in 2028, the first HYC – Atmos 1, was one of the first air cities built on top of New York City. There was very limited place for new development in NYC. Development companies used to buy air rights to overcome these limitations. Air rights became a very expensive commodity, even the smallest space can make a big difference for the current architectural designs.
A new architectural movement was started by the international development companies, however, community groups start to get on track and create organizations to collect neighborhood air rights to build more affordable housing for their community. These initiatives have very different aesthetic than the big commercial projects you might see in the city center. The community developments are more modular and adjustable. Since early air cities weren’t legally required to ensure sunlight penetration to the lower layers, the area below the city became a dark wasteland of perpetual night.
High rate of abandonment of apartments, as residents moved to the higher levels led to a drop in housing prices leading the area to become one of the largest slums in the world. From this slum, the first wave of air rights activists rose up. Headline on screen about man trying to sneak into Town A from below using air conditioning ducts.

2nd station – 25 years

As living conditions in the slums below Atmos 1 (now LYC 1) got worse, the rising cries for legal reforms in air rights finally bore fruit in 2043 with the establishment of Atmos 2. The first social welfare air city in the world, the city was built to serve NYC’s most vulnerable populations. With social housing, nutrition, education and employment programs, the town was envisioned as the transitional platform that aids the balancing of wealth distribution. Before the construction of Atmos 3, Atmos 2 was seen as a beacon of hope for impoverished around the world with its extremely liberal immigration rules. As the population density increases the NYC’s MTA does not progress with same rate of the new developments. Commercial companies start planning for new transportation infrastructure that connects the new building together. Different levels of transport systems are express through different lines. Traveling express is more expensive since it skips many of the layers, while the working class needs to use a local train.

3rd station – 50 years

The success of Atmos 2 led to the conceptualization of Atmos 3. Billionaire Tusk bought the air rights to build a new techno-utopia with its own constitution and economic systems. At the time of establishment, Atmos 3 was the world’s first micro-nation in the sky. Bitcoins, Augmented reality and full on sensory overload ala HyperReality (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJg02ivYzSs&t=28s).

4th station – 75 years

Pushing the limits of human survivability in low density atmosphere, Atmos 4 was built due to rising demands to luxury living at higher altitudes. Atmos 2 and 3 were inaccessible to large swathes of the rich and powerful and the booming economy created more and more demand for luxury vertical living. With ample access to sunlight and clean air, Atmos 4 was also the first air city built in line sunlight and natural resource regulations. (Passengers getting on the train at this station are wearing fancy privacy masks on their faces to prevent surveillance and protect identity)

5th station – 100 years

We have arrived at your destination. Welcome to Atmos S (Space). Outside of Earth laws and regulations. Alternate self sustaining economy, port of transit for space mining, Personal air suit is provided, and person steps off train into the light. (Planet Pass – official travel document for leaving and entering earth)

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