LABNOTES | Urban Space Lab

LABNOTES -- Here we share news, updates, and meditations by all of us at the Lab. From time to time we also invite guest contributions from colleagues who want to help us think about concepts, methods, and findings related to urban spatial and landscape research. Please read the guidelines before posting.

Bart Orr

Oct 17

Infrastructure: Product to Process

The release of President Biden’s initial infrastructure plan set off a flurry of controversy and partisan debate—what constitutes...

Noah Allison

Oct 12

Street Hustle as Spatial Practice

Figure 1. Roland’s work on canvas. Photograph taken by the Noah Allison, 2024. In the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, I was...

Communities and shorelines in the South Bronx

Sofya Krasnaya

Jul 10

Communities and shorelines in the South Bronx

View of Soundview Park (center right) and Hunts Point (left) along the Bronx River. Courtesy of Google Earth. Here at the Urban Space...

Carlos Celis

Jul 9

Who cares for New York City?

We are all, in a sense, caregivers. We cook, clean, wash dishes, water plants, change diapers, pet dogs and cats, call our grandparents,...

Estefania Mompean Botias

Jul 9

Architectures of Emergency

It is June 2024. I arrive in sweltering New York City, prompted by a heatwave and pollution warning amidst the asylum seeker crisis and...

Mapping Religious Structures in Multiethnic Queens

Isis Gamble

Jul 7

Mapping Religious Structures in Multiethnic Queens

For the ‘Adapted for Devotion’ project, we are currently in the process of identifying and cataloging various religious structures in our...

Joseph Heathcott

Jul 1

Distributional Space

This photographic essay tours the architecture and landscape condition of a large-scale collection of facilities on the western periphery...

Carole Alazki

Jun 21

Decommodifying Housing and Green Spaces

After moving to Crown Heights, Brooklyn, my research trajectory took an unexpected but enriching turn. Joining the local community garden...

COVID-19 and the Changing Geographies of Care

Urban Space Lab

Jun 6

COVID-19 and the Changing Geographies of Care

Oscar Sosa López and Carlos J. Celis We made some significant progress in the project during the spring of 2024. We updated the research...

Aratrika Debnath

Jun 5

Finding Faith in Familiar Spaces

Imagine a bustling Queens street, a vibrant collage of cultures moving through and inhabiting space. Here, amidst the bodegas and...

Carole Alazki

Jun 1

The right to the future green Gowanus

Gowanus Green Development Plan. (Source: SCAPE Studio, 2020) The relentless pursuit of economic growth has led to extensive environmental...

Religious Diversity and Transcultural Placemaking

Aratrika Debnath

May 16

Religious Diversity and Transcultural Placemaking

Fan Yin Sin Monastery, Flushing. The Monastery is located in an ordinary suburban home, but with the installation of an elaborate garden...

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