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Envisioning New York's Aerotropolis in 1939
By
Jen Carlson
Published Jan 7, 2008
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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By
Jen Carlson
Published Jan 7, 2008
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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In the November 1939 issue of Popular Science, New York commercial artist Nicholas DeSantis designed a "metropolitan skyport of tomorrow". His five years of study led to a proposal that included a 200-story building topped off with a landing field spanning 8 city blocks long and three wide. And to top that all off, the 50 highest floors in the building were reserved for light aircraft, so one could commute to work in the city and leave their plane in the hangars while 250,000 private cars and taxis awaited to whisk them off to work.
The remaining floors under the “aerotrop-olis” would contain offices, restaurants, theaters and "two enormous arenas for football and baseball games." Needless to say, tomorrow never came and we're pretty sure these days a plan like this would be a logistical nightmare for the FAA. [via Boing Boing]
Tagged
aerotropolis
boing boing
history
new york
popular science
science
the city
the future
Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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