Experiments In Motion

Experiments in Motion Exhibition

An exhibition marking the end of the first year of Experiments in Motion, a partnership between Audi of America and Columbia GSAPP through the Audi Urban Future Initiative. Open to the public at the Essex Street Warehouse in New York City September 15-24. More info here.

Experiments in Motion aims to imagine new forms of urban motion, new spaces for mobility and new visions for the future of New York City. Audi of America and Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (GSAPP), have come together for a research think tank and a series of architectural design studios with the goal of challenging both partners to rethink motion, think differently about mobility, and work together to imagine future cities. As part of the Audi Urban Future Initiative, Experiments in Motion is a research component in a world wide network that seeks to bring together experts from within Audi with architects, planners, and visionaries with the purpose of generating innovative solutions for mobility in cities.

Partnering with the LowLine, Audi of America and Columbia are excited to connect their research on mobility to one of the most innovative proposals for a new kind of public space in New York City . As part of the partnership, students from the program have spent the summer researching all transportation systems in New York City, with special attention on exposing the potential of underground spaces. The research and designs generated by Experiments in Motion represent the future visions for how transportation spaces and infrastructures can be reimagined as sites for invention. The nine design proposals range from new architectural solutions for mobility today to provocative visions for the future.

The fifty foot floating model of Manhattan was researched with the help of the MTA, the DOT, and the Center for Urban Real Estate (CURE). The suspended aluminum street grid is a 1:1500 scale replica of Manhattan’s road infrastructure while the plexiglass below presents a never before seen view of the architectural volumes of every subway station on the island. Projected onto the floor below is an animated shadow that reveals the flows of motion through the city. Subways, buses, bike lanes, ferries, tunnels and bridges are described as flows of motion which come together to expose the city as a interconnected system for mobility - a city of motion.

Exhibition Design Team: George Dolidze, Mengyi Fan, Kelsey Lents
Exhibition Installation: Art Domantay
Projections: Nuit Blanche
Animation Consultant: Casey Rehm / Studio Kinch
Fabrication: Flatcut_, FABberz
Special Thanks: Jesse Keenan, Pedro Zevallos, DOT, MTA, Transit Museum, Lowline
Rendering by Mengyi Fan courtesy of Therrien–Barley

The Experiments in Motion exhibition is opening tomorrow! The exhibition is the culmination of a yearlong partnership between Audi of America and Columbia GSAPP. These photographs by Michael Moran provide a sneak peek at what is to come.

The exhibition is open to the public at the Essex Street Warehouse in New York City September 15-24. More info here.

Great article on our exhibition with the #lowline by transportation nation:

Check out pictures of the technology needed to turn an underground space into a park: (via Proposed Lowline Underground Park Debuts “Solar Harvesters” for Subterranean Photosynthesis (PICS) | Transportation Nation)

Installation In Motion

In order to install the Experiments In Motion model, the construction team headed by Art Domantay built out this incredible moving rig allowing the model to be worked on at any desired height before it is raised up to its hanging positon and the table is removed. The installation is slated to be open to the public on Sept 15th at the Old Essex Market (corner of Broome and Essex).