This dense city block in New York City rests on a foundation of Manhattan schist. The juxtaposition of massive stone buildings—such as the Dakota, visible on the right—and the dark, metamorphic bedrock below creates an interplay between urban and geologic density.
Beneath the streets lies not only rock but an intricate network of infrastructure. Water supply lines, wastewater systems, electrical conduits, steam, gas, and telecommunications occupy the subsurface alongside the subway tunnels that cut through the schist. The bedrock provides the structural support that allows both the buildings above and the systems below to function within such a concentrated urban environment.
The surface landscape and subway station were photographed on a summer afternoon, capturing more than one hundred images to assemble a single city block and an adjoining section of Central Park. The Manhattan schist was photographed in exposed sections within the park and in tunnel environments across the city. These photographs were digitally composed to construct the full subsurface view. The vertical lines of the buildings were intentionally adjusted to remove perspective distortion, emphasizing the rectilinear geometry of the city rising above its bedrock base.