Storefront

City of Things
New York, USA

Architect: Manuel Herz Architects, Basel
Photography: Manuel Herz Architects
Exhibition: October 2015

Manhattanisms

· Who is the ‘we’ when we think of sharing?

· Can we think sharing much more radically and substantially than the (neo-liberal) instruments of flat-share, car-share, work-share, time-share, and similar devices that are mostly consumption-oriented?

· Can we radically expand the ‘we’ to include animals, plants and even inanimate objects?

· Can we think of a truly shared city, where we humans are just one amongst many other actors in the urban fabric?

· In reference to Bruno Latour’s concept of ‘Parliament of Things’ I declare the future of Manhattan a City of Things.

· The right to speak, and the right to be represented does not only belong exclusively to humans. In a shared and truly urban environment, this right is extended to non-human. It is extended to all things.

· We can no longer maintain the distorted dichotomy between culture and nature. We share this world with many. We are just one party, among all animals, plants and objects. What if we welcome all things into our city?

· This model represents a vision of Manhattan where all things, animate and in-animate are given a right to be represented.

· Given the nature of the small scale, this model partially operates on the level of illustration.

It also provides a habitat for a fauna and flora that is mostly ignored.

· The model should not be misunderstood as a utopian (or dystopian) cinematographic vision of the urban fabric taken over by other species.

· It is rather a representation of our acknowledgement that the object – subject dichotomy does not apply in a shared city.