The urban grid, from Hippodamus’ Miletus to Cerda’s Barcelona, served the infills within for shadow to be casted at. Egalitarian in plea yet polarized in zoning as is/was Manhattan’s grids. Parks are the anomaly of intersecting the diagonal Broadway and the big hole of Central Park. Otherwise, buildings occupy the city blocks, from higher to highest, all the way to the swaying flimsy super talls, maximizing footprint build-ups!
Now, what if the grid was the park and all else was subtractive? Nothing casts shadow on it and it overlooks instead of being overlooked. The park/grid can be the terrain or, more precisely, a raised terrain forming a connected urban roof. The once domineering city blocks are now anti-monuments that are carved. They are subtractive, rather than an additive acts; think Michael Heizer’s North, East, South, West at Dia Beacon or the Memorial pools in downtown Manhattan. The city blocks superstructure underpass, rather than oversee the continuous park grid. It cascades from it, wraps around within it, and creates a Down Under the Park Grid Overhang; DUPGO.
