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Our subject is the process of city building; our focus is Lower
Manhattan. At this extraordinary moment in the life of New
York City, a ground swell of interest in Ground Zero has moved
urban planning and design from the domain of experts into the
glare of public scrutiny and headline news. The public, or
rather a variety of publics, has claimed a role in the planning
process and insisted on its stake in Ground Zero, although
what role New Yorkers will be able to play going forward remains
unclear. Our primary tasks this semester are to understand
the multiple factors that shape the rebuilding process, study
the historical context of redevelopent in New York City, and
evaluate the impact of urban planning and design on city life.
Along the way, I hope your judgment of the competing visions
of Lower Manhattan grows sharper and your appreciation of the
complexity of urban life and design is substantially enriched.
[ Web site is forthcoming. ]
The Subway Project was undertaken during the Fall Semester 2001
by the students in an undergraduate seminar at Columbia University,
Transportation and the Urban Development of New York (Art History
C3982x) taught by Professor Hilary Ballon. The mission was to
advise the leaders of Columbia University about improvements
needed in the subway stations at Broadway and 116th, 125th,
and 168th Streets in order to serve riders more effectively,
meet the demands of more intensive use in the future, and reflect
in an appropriate manner the identity of the University. This
report summarizes recommendations made to Executive Vice President
of Administration Emily Lloyd and other distinguished guests
at a presentation in Low Library on November 28, 2001.
The study encompassed three parts: 1) an historical examination
of the stations, which opened in 1904 as part of the first line
of the I.R.T. subway, and their impact on land use and urban
development of the surrounding area, drawing on research materials
at Columbia University, the Metropolitan Transit Museum Archives,
and the New-York Historical Society; 2) an assessment of user
needs, including a survey to determine the concerns of riders,
and an evaluation of current conditions, including access, circulation,
platform conditions, lighting, signage and decoration; and 3)
a design study suggesting ways to improve conditions in the
subway, enhance urbanistic opportunities, and signal the presence
above-ground of Columbia University.
The documents below have been formatted as portable document
files (pdfs) for ease when printing. This format necessitates
the Adobe Acrobat Reader. (If you encounter any problems viewing
the file you will need to download a browser plug-in from the
Adobe
Web site.)
Click to download the students' final project.
[ Preface ]
[ 116th Street
Station ]
[ 125th Street
Station ]
[ 168th Street
Station ] |
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