Jeremy's Shares: December 2011

Monday, December 26, 2011

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Historical Thursday: The Other Manhattan Project

Historical Thursday: The Other Manhattan Project:

There are ideas that work in theory, but not in reality. There are ideas that sound dubious to begin with, but then work out in the end. This idea is neither of the latter. It’s bad/stupid/preposterous/absurd in every single possible way. Oscar Newman, a city planner and architect, had the notion to protect New York City from nuclear attack during the coldest of wars. Hey, that’s not so bad. Wait, what’s that? He wanted to do this by recreating the metropolis underground in a massive orb?

Oh god… why…

white trash repairs - Historical Thursday: The Other Manhattan Project

Yes, the idea is exactly as ridiculous as it sounds and here’s why. New York City is big, really big. I’m no mathologist but I’m pretty sure its population in 1969 – when the plan was proposed – was close to 37 million. That’s a lot of people to move and a lot of room they’re gonna need. And spheres make efficient use of space, so it might be sorta somewhat doable.. right? No. No way. At all. Ever.

white trash repairs - manhattan project1

On his science book blog John Ptak puts the size of the underground city at a volume of 1.2 cubic miles, meaning it would be one of the biggest man-made holes in the world, so just it’s basic construction would be an immense undertaking. Newman’s answer to this? Use the stuff we’re trying to protect the city from to make that hole. Yep, he wanted to nuke the ground under Manhattan, hoping it would magically create a large gap in the earth and not suffer the effects of radiation.

He has to be joking right? He had to acknowledge there was some faults to his plan, didn’t he? Don’t worry, he did.

“…the real problem in an underground city would be the lack of views and fresh air…”

You read that correctly. Oscar’s biggest concern was that the view wouldn’t be pretty and the air wouldn’t be fresh. Nevermind the eternal darkness, lack of running water, or the fact that no sane person would ever consider moving there. And he even had a plan to make up for the lack of views.

white trash repairs - manhattan project

Notice how the city is only built halfway up the sphere? That’s because he planned for the giant dome ceiling to be a backdrop for projections, so the populace of New New New York (extra ‘new’ thanks to Matt Groening) could gaze up at their maddening creating and see images of the world they moved away from. Oh, and ads for Coca-Cola.