URB_713 Lively Cities – Core Studio: ‘Life Along the (e)L’

Students in this studio investigated a site located in New York City along the L Train corridor that connects Manhattan with Williamsburg—a thriving neighborhood in the borough of Brooklyn. In 2012, the Canarsie Tunnel, through which the L Train runs, was completely flooded due to Hurricane Sandy, causing major damages to the tunnel. In order to repair this piece of infrastructure, the Metropolitan Transit Authority announced in 2016 that it would shut down the tunnel for more than a year starting in April 2019. This tunnel carries approximately 250,000 commuters back and forth between Brooklyn and Manhattan each day.

However, this is more than just a service interruption for the large number of commuters who depend on the L Train to get from their homes in Brooklyn to their workplaces in Manhattan. Looking at the bigger picture, Manhattan is considered the economic, cultural, and educational epicenter among the five boroughs. In light of the needed repairs, such monocentric focus is a drawback. Brooklyn is currently experiencing a renaissance and transforming into a buzzing epicenter of its own.

The objective of this studio was to explore this developing dynamic: students were asked to consider design scenarios without Manhattan as the most dominant center. How could this shift make the city more robust, particularly in terms of its shared infrastructure? As the studio unfolded, each group of students took a different position toward the L Train interruption, developing a variety of different scenarios, ranging from a complete shutdown to bypassing the tunnel altogether.

Finding alternative models of centrality in light of a scheduled infrastructure makeover enabled students to consider a unique opportunity for discovery. The tunnel closure provided a platform for speculation on future models of urban life, a possible departure from conventional urban expansion models. Students speculated on themes of centrality versus de-centrality, expansion and reduction, and anomaly and routine, among others.