Urban Renewal in New York Project, New York, New York, Aerial perspective

Hans Hollein

1964

A 1964 photomontage by Hans Hollein—made by cutting and pasting a gelatin silver photograph onto another—that superimposes futuristic, biomorphic architectural elements onto an aerial photograph of Manhattan to propose a provocative urban‑renewal scheme.

The familiar rectilinear grid of Manhattan is suddenly invaded at its southern tip by bulbous, mechanical pods and sweeping, organic forms that read like a hovering organism grafted onto the city, creating a disconcerting mix of the real and the imagined.

This work exemplifies 1960s architectural speculation and the use of photomontage as a design tool, turning visionary images into instruments of critique and expanding how architects could propose, promote, and contest urban change.

Palette

Art Terms

Photomontage Gelatin silverprint (developing-out paper) Photography Architecture Cityscape Biomorphic Built environment

Exhibitions

The New City: Architecture and Urban Renewal

1967

Visionary Architecture

1960

Contemporary Architecture in California

1935

Architecture in the New York Area

1952