New York City: from the material realm to the immaterial cathedral

 The Big Apple for many years has been the emblem of the buildings, soaring skyscrapers and development of technology, and thanks to this caracteristic it become an exemple of architecture and urbanism. The urbanistic network and the skyscrapers answered with maximum efficiency to the great and continuing need for material spaces that dominated the 90 years, satisfying the demand of real estate over the years. In recent years, however, the advent of Internet, broadband and global crisis changed the habits and create new forms of work and relationships. The material space has gradually lost importance in favor of the immaterial. In addition to the immaterial revolution there is an awareness by the population of the importance of natural resources of our planet.

The population growing and the capacity of the land has been greatly exceeded.
The Vitruvian Man has been replaced by neurons man.

Our vision for NYC is based on these inputs. The output that follows is an interpretation in three sequential levels of the city based on the structure of man: the feet are the minimum relationship to the ground, the trunk the tool of assimilation and production, the mind the connection device with the outside.

The three levels of New York City will be:

Level 1: the nature re-dominate the urban space. The lush vegetation, thus increasing the level of biodiversity of the area compatibly with ongoing climate change. The city limits are eroded by the increase in the level of the sea. Even unusual shapes animals live at this level. The climate tends to be more and more like a tropical climate and it favors the growth of a very luxuriant vegetation and many animal species.

Level 2: new elements of connection create interactions between existing skyscrapers. These new network responds to multiple functions: it is the new network of use of the city and it multiplies the potentially productive land. Some of these links will become gardens and farms to answer the demand for food in the city. Other elements will be tanks of collect rainwater, iwhich they are essential in times of greatest drought.

Level 3: Broadband will continue to simplify and change our actions by replacing most of our trips and making us obiquitus. Thanks to integrated chips in our bodies we can see in real time the level of food availability and where find them, the production of energy, the most efficient route for travel. We would not need most of the physical spaces because the immaterial will supplant many places.

New York is truly a city on a human scale.