The Binary System is a set of lenses that compares the north and south tip of Manhattan, the least and most valuable 60 blocks, through the 12 factors that were considered as the main contributors to land values in 1970s urban planning studies. The System has enabled us to pinpoint lots that are considered unworthy in the conventional definition, hence an opportunity to realize the paradox within this system.
Block 22 in Inwood (I-22), which is W 207th St, is deemed unworthy by the Binary System due to its scarcity in lot sizes, building heights and income, but in reality, it serves as a vibrant community center and main street in Inwood. The store owners and the street vendors are constantly conflicting over the usage of the sidewalk, introducing hostile installations such as traffic cones to occupy the space.
The intervention is developed upon the study of the limits of assembly, the choreography of standardised scaffoldings. Deriving 4 extreme conditions where it serves a singular purpose, either to advertise, to access, to transit or to idle. As the hyperboles exchange with one another, the system begins to present possibilities for negotiations, as scaffolding becomes a device to frame, demarcate, obstruct and abide. The flexible system is expected to change constantly until the day that it reaches the point of equilibrium agreed upon its users, a state that manifests the intersection of values.
