Urban Alloy Towers

New York is an anthropomorphic alloy—an engine of innovation and social cohesion—whose evolving demographics will shape the dynamic societies of the future. As near-instant communication increases the importance of urban livability, New York must continue to grow in smart ways, drawing Manhattan’s energy into the outer boroughs without disrupting existing land use.

Urban Alloy proposes a residential typology rooted in the remnant spaces around transportation infrastructure, capturing the air rights above elevated train lines and freeway interchanges. With escalating land prices and accelerating migration, urban-renewal-based densification is no longer fit for the contemporary city. By locating housing directly at the intersections of surface and elevated train lines—using the LIRR/7 train junction as a test case—we create heterogeneous, highly linked living environments. The one-size-fits-all paradigm is obsolete; urban citizens want diverse, personalized spaces where they can work, play, eat, and rest within a pedestrian zone.