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Research Articles

No. 10 (2023): The matter

Scaffolding in New York: an extreme case of materialisation of ideas

Submitted
September 29, 2023
Published
2023-12-14

Abstract

Like Robert Venturi, Denise Scott Brown and Steven Izenour did with Las Vegas, John Willson uses the existing and its singularity as a common thread. He embraces reality rather than denying it and uses the unpredictable as a working methodology. He does this by questioning a specific theme in each episode. In the second episode of the first season (2020) of his documentary series How to..., entitled “How to erect scaffolding”, he wonders about the amount of scaffolding in New York City and why this is so. He explains that in 1979 there was an accident in which a person died as a result of a collapsed facade.

In response to this misfortune, City Ordinance 10 was passed in 1980, and in 1998, Local Law 11 was enacted, which affects approximately 16,000 buildings throughout the city. In theory, a building with scaffolding is actively being inspected or repaired. In practice, in New York, 285 scaffolds have been “active” for more than 5 years.

How has this situation come about? What are the effects of this materialisation? This article proposes to provide answers to these questions.

References

  1. Abebe,Nitsuh. “The Genius Behind the Weirdest Show on TV”. The New York Times Magazine, 9 de diciembre de 2021.
  2. Active Sidewalk Shed Permits. Disponible en: https://www.nyc.gov/assets/buildings/html/sidewalk-shed-map.html (Última consulta 30 septiembre 2023).
  3. Anuta, Joe. “New map shows scaffolding darkening 270 miles of NYC sidewalks”. CRAIN’S NEW YORK Business, 11 de abril de 2018.
  4. Beling, “Sarah. “Why All the Sheds and Scaffolding? How an $8 Billion Industry Rose After the 1979 Death of a New York Student”. W42ST, 11 de marzo de 2022.
  5. Carpenter, Jason. “The Mysterious World of Scaffolding and Why We’ll Be Seeing More of It”. 6sqft, 14 de abril de 2014.
  6. Corona, Alberto. “John Wilson: ‘El mundo es inherentemente gracioso desde su normalidad’”, Cinemanía, 26 de noviembre de 2021.
  7. Echarri. Miquel. “Over 370 miles of construction scaffolding mar the streets of New York City”. El País, 26 abril de 2023.
  8. Elstein, Aaron. “The Law That Created the Billion-Dollar Scaffold Industry Has Turned City Sidewalks Into an Obstacle Course”. 34th Street NYC, 24 de enero de 2016.
  9. How To with John Wilson, Temporada 1, Episodio 2, “Cómo montar un andamio”, 2020, en HBO. Disponible en https://www.hbomax.com/es/es/series/urn:hbo:series:GX1pL-A4sIcMslAEAAAAy
  10. Frost, Emily. “Business Owners Get Creative with Scaffolding Decorations”. DNAinfo, 7 de mayo de 2015.
  11. Marshall, Aarian. “4 Ways to Reimagine Boring Old Scaffolding”. Bloomberg, 29 de diciembre de 2015.
  12. Stott, Rory. “Nueva York: Zaha Hadid convierte un refugio para peatones en sinuosa instalación en el High Line”. ArchDaily, 20 de agosto de 2015. Disponible en: https://www.archdaily.cl/cl/772217/nueva-york-zaha-hadid-convierte-un-refugio-para-peatones-en-sinuosa-instalacion-en-el-high-line (Última consulta 30 septiembre 2023).
  13. Suárez Hormazábal, Julio. “El andamio como elemento arquitectónico”. Rita 13 (2020): 136-141.
  14. Troutman, Matt. “When ‘Temporary’ Scaffolding Turns Permanent in NYC”, Patch, 11 de junio de 2021.

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