Project by Drew Bennett, Emily LeCompte
Sub-City examines climate adaptation as a condition of continuous infrastructural modification rather than resolution. The project situates contemporary responses to environmental instability within the longer history of zoning and housing regulation established by the 1901 Tenement House Act, treating law as an active mechanism that continually shapes building typologies and urban form within New York City.
Through the parafictional premise of raising the city’s ground level with sand to mitigate storm surge during unprecedented sea level rise, the project traces how adaptation strategies generate new spatial and social pressures. At 556 W 53rd Street in Hell’s Kitchen, a slurry wall is constructed as a utilitarian intervention, stabilizing buildings while complying with light and air regulations. Through construction documentation and two scenographic models, Sub-City examines the bureaucratic and social dimensions which emerge as climate infrastructure becomes commonplace; highlighting how current adaptation strategies unevenly distribute care and expose class-based vulnerability.
