Cover image: Detail from "The Book of the Random Flaneur", page 19
Random Flaneur is an experimental, architectural design project which was completed at graduation studio of Istanbul Technical University. A building block at the end of The High Line in Manhattan, NY was defined as the project site to create a long distance challenge for the architectural design process. It is the conclusion of use of wide variety of data which was collected through Google Earth application, personal blogs and Instagram pages of numerous New Yorkers, maps and detailed websites about the city.
Random Flaneur is the story of a random New Yorker as both physical and digital stroller. Besides it is a research of daily life of citizens through the term flaneur which had been described by Walter Benjamin as the essential figure of the modern urban spectator, an amateur detective and investigator of the city. A sketchbook format was imagined as diary of the flaneur, and used as research, design and also final presentation method in the project; final images was titled as pages of this imaginary The Book of the Random Flaneur.
Random Flaneur stands at the end of The High Line. The building and its spaces present various images all day long, and remind the quickness and randomness of social media as opposed to the curated structure of the park and entire promenade.
JANUARY, 2016
Fake "The New Yorker" cover
The fake cover refers to the daily monotony of the citizens of NY. A New Yorker watches oneself through analogue and digital publications all day long, but in Random Flaneur, these contents turn into elements of the space such as digital surfaces, live broadcast screens, machine-like paths, etc.
“The [place] is not already there before the bridge is. Before the bridge stands, there are of course many spots along the stream that can be occupied by something. One of them proves to be a [place], and does so because of the bridge. Thus the bridge does not come first to a [place] to stand in it; rather a [place] comes into existence only by virtue of the bridge.”
Heidegger for Architects, 2007, p. 52.
“Manhattan is a ”lab” for the invention and testing of a metropolitan lifestyle and its architecture.”
Delirious New York: A Retroactive Manifesto for Manhattan, 1997, p. 32.
The Book of the Random Flaneur, page 13 & 14
Main view of Hudson Yards neighborhood; Javits Convention Center, the pier, end of the West Side Rail Road,
34th Station of the NY Subway, ongoing Hudson Yards real estate project.
Midtown Manhattan which includes The High Line park, Hudson Yards and Chelsea neighborhoods is changing day by day because of the gentrification projects in recent years. Both New Yorkers and tourists which are not the actual habitants come to the neighborhood to experience art and various events, or just consume their times. When someone enters to The High Line, that person experiences Manhattan from the upper level, and finds oneself in a "curated" path that is surrounded by famous buildings, ongoing big projects and also Hudson River. In this time the visitor gets excited by the "designed nature".
The Book of the Random Flaneur, page 15
A close look to the Random Flaneur and final part of The High Line
The Book of the Random Flaneur, page 16
Neighborhood, 01: NY Subway, some unused lands
The Book of the Random Flaneur, page 17
Neighborhood, 02: ongoing Hudson Yards real estate development
The Book of the Random Flaneur, page 18
Neighborhood, 03
Meanwhile some curious New Yorkers act as a flaneur, and still discover new places through both visible (streets, parks, buildings) and invisible (old railways, subway tunnels, sewage systems) spaces. According to explanation of the term, a flaneur is the owner and active user of the city. In this case, the term depicts a New Yorker rather than an ordinary observer.
But what does Manhattan look like to its users from inside the imperative route of The High Line?
The Book of the Random Flaneur, pages 1 - 6
Cropped building images that were collected through Google Earth app. + drawings.
A digital journey or Flânerie / act of strolling.
Text from page 1 & 2: When a flaneur starts to explore Manhattan, that person realizes some famous buildings (Empire State, Javits Convention Center, etc.), ongoing projects (Hudson Yards), roads and stop points, pedestrians and movements, green and touristic areas (The High Line) at the same time. Yellow marked citizens and buildings depict the lack of information about related object in the first experience. The sky was also drawn; the stroller can not focus on entire built environment. In this scene, the flaneur looks at post-industrial buildings, entrance of the Javits Convention Center, trees, street lambs, cars and The High Line.
Text from page 3 & 4: In these scenes, extended surfaces depict the density of solid objects on air, above The High Line. The buildings are in a race, and they have to pass the maximum height of the adjacent competitor. Meanwhile, the buildings turn into "walls", and conquer entire air; the users of The High Line can only see these facades now, and experience a different vista rather than an ordinary stroller.
Text from page 5 & 6: First idea about the project site; proposed design acts as a flaneur or a "bridge", and combine different materials together.
Exterior of Random Flaneur at different times of the day
As Walter Benjamin says, flaneur can be a bridge between the modern city and the citizens. This 20th century expression overlaps with both "place" and "bridge" concepts of Heidegger and multilayered core of Manhattan which includes all New Yorkers without the need of gentrification. So, is it possible to identify a bridge between New Yorkers and the city to create a suitable space to live in, and also to get rid of the curated Manhattan visions of The High Line?
The answer hides in the social media and its randomness.
Timeline view of any social media application which dominates this age, expose the user to random images continuously. People always lives in the digital media even they do not think to share anything. So if the social media can be turn into a physical structure with helps of the flaneurs, maybe that building can acts as a web blog or a live broadcast service. When an image, a location or a feeling status is shared by anyone in Manhattan, it appears on facade of Random Flaneur instantly. Each image contains a data, and creates "the bridge" between the city, the building and New Yorkers. and moreover Random Flaneur builds itself with accumulation of the data in time.
When a flaneur gets closer to the end of The High Line, starts to see shiny screens of Random Flaneur that are filled with live broadcasts and performative events, daily posts and also exhibition passages. However, the visitor can decide to enter this designed complexity or not.
Random Flaneur plays its "bridge" role magnificently through W34 Street and entire neighborhood. The building is an intersection area between Hudson River, new subway station, last part of The High Line, Javits Convention Center and some underground railways as New Jersey Transit. Moreover, Times Square and Central Park are in the "aura" of Random Flaneur through any social media post.
The Book of the Random Flaneur, pages 7 - 12
Each sketch is the first idea of some parts of the building program.
Next images are the final designs of the same numbered sketches.
Diagram about working principles of each machine part of Random Flaneur
Next three pages are the comic book sub-parts of The Book of the Random Flaneur, and each dual-image depicts the most crucial part of the building.
3d plans; Center Part of "Random Flaneur"
3d plans; Center Part and Housing Area of "Random Flaneur"
Section and elevation of "Random Flaneur"
Thank you!
