Project New York curators Troy Conrad Therrien and Christopher Barley with the architect teams: Alfred Zollinger und Sandra Wheeler of Matter Practice, Peter Macapia, Marc Fornes, Chris Leong, Gerald Bodziak and Emily Abruzzo.

When we speak of the world in 2030, we inevitably imagine a digital world.  Our real life will likely be coupled with virtual content and we will move freely between the physical and the virtual realms. So it seems but natural that most futuristic visions these days tend to be digital renderings, with all the attendant problems – a disconnect from reality and a lack of context.

So when Christopher Barley and Troy Conrad Therrien, the curators of Project New York, engaged five emerging architects to apply the ideas of the Audi Urban Future Award to the very real context of Manhattan, they were careful to retain some level of materiality. Abruzzo Bodziak Architects, Leong Leong, Marc Fornes & THEVERYMANY, Matter Practice and Peter Macapia / labDora all built models of their ideas to be inserted into the 50-foot long model that has become the frontispiece of the Audi Urban Future Initiative. The curators also encouraged the architects to expand their ideas out of their assigned neighborhoods on the model, until they had to physically encounter each other’s concepts, creating a very physical dimension to the collaborative process. And even more hands-on aspects emerged this evening, as the architects presented their work at Project New York Talks.

Take for instance, the work of Matter Architecture Pratice. Sandra Wheeler and Alfred Zollinger dealt with the Trans-Manhattan Expressway, in their words, “An urban trench that slashes through Washington Heights.” Matter sought to humanize this tunnel, opening it up to the air. They propose that people driving through the neighborhood will connect to local information through their car windshield. And while a rendering might have served to convey this idea, Matter built a model of this car, and photographed it. Showing a digital concept with an analog medium makes for a fascinating juxtaposition.

So many of the projects deal with edges and continuities. TheVeryMany proposed new, evolving urban forms at the edge of nature and urbanity, while Leong Leong found ways to inject bio-diversity back into the built environment. Peter Macapia of labDORA conceived of intelligent streets, but the idea was born out of a Stevie Wonder video which depicts conflict in American cities. Negotiations like this became a common thread as each architect spoke of their work.

Abruzzo Bodziak Architects, for instance, presented their idea of Adaptive zoning. Photovoltaic systems sit like hats on buildings, exploiting the un-built zoning allocation on rooftops. Air becomes a space to generate energy, as each of these hats is constructed so as to take full advantage of sunlight, while allowing its neighbors to do the same. A simple loophole in urban policy becomes an opportunity for buildings to symbiotically generate energy, not just for themselves, but for cars as well. "We tried to look at mobility from the standpoint of energy," says Emily Abbruzzo, "because energy is the most important product," thus once again using a vision of the future to neatly tie together the material and the immaterial.