My first visit to New York provided an initial insight. We arrived in the afternoon on a very hot day. The taxi that took us from JFK to the Upper Westside was air-conditioned in the old fashioned way. Blasts of warm air flooded through its open windows as we swung around intersections. The worn sound [...]

Manhattanism is the architectural doctrine of density, height and a Coney Island sense of commercial invention. It has been New York’s major contribution to world culture. For years, New York designers and theorists have struggled with Manhattan. The Commissioner’s grid has been its formal master and the Manhattan block has acquired mythical status. There have [...]