a+t architecture publishers

The segregation of uses carried out in New York City, and in the rest of US cities from the 1950s on, was driven by the greater return on investment from single-use buildings and brought about the progressive disappearance of housing from downtown areas to the benefi t of offi ce buildings, active only a third of the day. The result of this inactivity was the destruction of the commercial fabric and the area becoming run-down.

After observing the decline for twenty years, the town planning regulations of central Manhattan went back to promoting mixed-use buildings. The Galleria was the first to be built under the new regulations which called for the introduction of shopping malls on the ground fl oor and large atriums. The addition of housing obliged the introduction of structural changes to the traditional offi ce skyscraper: intermediary technical floors, separate lobbies and fragmented vertical transit.

Project published in the article Hybrid versus Social Condenser by Aurora Fernández Per included in This is Hybrid.

PROJECT PUBLISHED IN: