Grid System In New York City

Lastly, the perfect alignment of the building to the street may not create the dramatic anticipation at the Trevi fountain, but the vertical view on the streets are undisturbed. For example, when someone stands at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and East 58th Street, looking towards the downtown direction, his vision of the sky is not fully covered by the tall skyscrapers on both sides. The pointy gap between the skyscrapers is rendered with the sky. Another example would be the Manhattanhenge(fig.2) where people also taking advantage of the unique vision to take photos of the sunset. This is a different kind of experience that is different than the stage of Trevi Fountain. The grid system does improve the efficiency of modern living. However, one may feel lost in the lack of character on the streets because every intersection shares a similar image; the uniform placement of the traffic light, the same width of the crossroad and the similar corner stores appear twice in the neighborhood. Yet there are moments in New York that breaks down the grid system and reveal the unique characters of the city like the anticipation of the Trevi fountain view.

the triangular tip of the building is not parallel to the street, which broadens the view of the city by looking from the interior to the exterior. At the same time, when people approach from the streets, the facade stands out from the rest of the buildings that follow the grid. Although it is not as dramatic as the appearance of the Trevi Fountain, the beauty of allowing both modern and traditional city planning ideas to merge together is remarkable. John Berger describes his experience of walking on the street in