Public natures

"As elements of the constructed landscape, infrastructure is a means rather than an end--rail and subway lines, distribution grids, waterways, traffic signals and signs, on-and-off ramps, highways, and bridges of our cities are essential in a practical sense but dead in a social one. They create boundaries and perform as agents of separation, preventing one metropolis from physically connecting with another. But their very physical presence may reveal latent qualities of places that are key to vitalizing urban life, and by leveraging that presence to support a broader range of ecological, institutional, and cultural imperatives, these utilitarian structures could transcend their pragmatic roles and become points of meaningful public exchange. In Public Natures: Evolutionary Infrastructures, New York City-based firm Weiss/Manfredi tests such a possibility and takes the pursuit to practice, in turn crafting a manifesto/monograph hybrid replete with essays, roundtable discussions, and projects that explore new obligations and opportunities for infrastructure"--