Neighbors have been resistant to the idea of putting big-box retail within SPURA, the undeveloped Lower East Side parking lots that have been earmarked for redevelopment for the past 40 years. (Exactly what will happen to SPURA's commercial space is still up for debate.) Would locals be any more open to big-box chains if the stores were topped by giant artificial mountains on which people could hike in summer and ski in winter? Probably not. But it makes for an entertaining thought experiment from architect Ju-Hyun Kim. Kim tells Co.Design that SPURA so far is "conventional development, which can be planned in anywhere in the world?.There should be a new attraction, some new shock and awe, but one that's sustainable." Or maybe the fact that SPURA's happening at all provides enough shock and awe.
Here's the big box mountain in summer:
· Architect Wants to Link NYC's Big-Box Stores With a Fake Mountain [Co.Design]
· Manhattan Mountain [juhyunkim.com]
· SPURA coverage [Curbed]
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