This project porposes an artist book under a background of a fictional historic district. In this version of history, NYCHA and Robert Moses never put their sights on the neighborhood of San Juan Hill, roughly from West 60th Street to West 65th Street, and from Amsterdam Ave to West End Ave. Under this setting, no Amsterdam Houses, Lincoln Center and other urban renwal projects constructed. A vast number of untold stories were hidden behind the buildings that were demolished by the Redevelopment, from the vulnerable businesses housed in the old-law tenements, to trade school and churches that served this community for decades. As the same standard, they all have the potential to be eligible to the National Register. However, Lincoln Ceneters and other new developments, are also be loved buildings and represented a post-war cultural significance of this neighborhood. This project uses the fictional world and National Register Nominations as the metaphor to the complicated history of the Urban Renewal. The book is designed to read in two directions. Spiral binding makes the book flexible enough to flip, and a small 5x7 size makes the readers easy to rotate the book frequently. The fictional nomination form is printed on both sides of the book with the same format and content as a formal document. Historic streetscape panoramas made by the 1940 Tax Photos are printed in the center pages of the book.
