New York

Welcome to New York City! We arrived here a few days ago and are slowly settling in. In what has become tradition since Japan, my instincts immediately led me to two iconic 1950s buildings on Park Avenue. Jotting down some observations is one thing, yet I feel that exploring this city may need some more structure this time.

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New York is smaller geographically and in terms of inhabitants than Tokyo, but you feel easily more overwhelmed here. I don’t float like I did in Japan. I’m more in the thick of it, much more part of this place already as I speak the language and am familiar with the culture.

New York is also a place that has been explored in myriad ways in English before, and that includes its iconic architecture and its socio-economic space. So it will be difficult to find an angle from which to close in on here in an original way – a way that will prove rewarding intellectually but perhaps also open up another unexpected door.

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Lever House (left) and Seagram Building (right), both on Park Avenue

But I’m sure there is one. In Tokyo, it crystallised more and more towards the end of my stay. It proved to be the linking of history / social sciences with architecture. My own part in the book project I started off specifically deals with finding parallels in the Japanese post-war economic miracle and buildings from that time.

Remixing the social sciences and finding spatial manifestations. Understanding society through space…

I look forward to living in this great city.

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