The Origin

 THE ORIGIN Future as we imagine it today is only a view controlled by our mind of what our world could be. It’s conditioned by our past experiences and actions, the very same that leaded us to the current statement and introduced the questioning raised by this competition. To be legitimate and lasting change cannot be due to one man, it must come from a global realisation, a chain reaction. A peremptory concept of global urbanisation would only be one more mistake due to our delusions of grandeur. What matters is not to change, but to show the example, give keys that will lead the way to change. The solution is of course not to run away looking for the past by excess of nostalgia, looking for good old time, but to find reasons to our failure. What did we forget? What moral values did we lose? What did we do to reach this point?

For wants of rapidity and productivityNew York cityhas developed using traffic axes. Each street, each avenue is a border dividing blocks, districts and communities. A fast and continuous flux of roaring cars and pedestrians, running from a point to another. We lost this notion where the way to go is often more important than the final destination. We forgot to take the time to live our city, observe her, and understand her. We are running away from this agitation by taking refuge in enclosed parks, delimited and protected. We are running away of noise and atmospheric pollution produced by our human activities. Let us imagine a world where this city, these streets, becomes our refuge, a place of life and meeting, of exchanges.

Thanks to its history and specificity, Broadway is the symbol ofNew York, a place of reference for its inhabitants. As a former indigenous track Broadway was always here since New Amsterdam untilNew Yorkas we know it. By upsetting the orthogonal frame from which the city developed, Broadway created numerous plots unfit to be built and created voids, breathing and iconic places like Times Square or the Flatiron building. To transform Broadway in a walkway reserved to cycles and pedestrians would be the first step of a general banishment of any motor driven vehicles, the first step to a change of rhythm and urban temporality, the first step to conscientiousness. Linking Central Park to the south end ofManhattanisle, this pedestrian street would become the city’s backbone, would allow it to breath and unit its different districts.

New York cityunderstood early the necessity to create green area to oppose a growing urbanisation. However even though they are abundant and diversified, they remain isolated and independent, as if disconnected from the urban environment. Imagine an architected Nature, where the city encompasses and promotes a chaotic and wild vegetation. Imagine, as a museum, a multitude of precious jewel cases, bases and frames showcasing the work of nature itself. Let us imagine a memorial in tribute to what we are now destroying. By disturbing users’ perception and reference points, maybe we will bring self awareness and a long lasting change.