Beginning in the late 1950s cities entered a new phase of transportation with the implementation of interstate highways and infrastructure networks. Highways running through the heart of a city was once considered a beacon of modernism, resulting in economic development at the expense of the splitting existing communities and previous transportation networks.

Today, two related events are occurring. The first is the slow replacement process of the interstate networks that have reached the end of their lifespans. The old strategies effectively split cities into forced artificial districts, so new solutions attempt to integrate replacement structures into the urban environment.

The second event is a technological revolution: the development of autonomous vehicles. This new system of transportation brings its own series of opportunities to shape the built environment, as driverless cars become more widespread. As a safer and more efficient means of transportation, the full potential of the technology cannot be realized without implementing significant changes to the urban fabric. Infrastructure and autonomous vehicles must be in relationship to one another and to the urban environment.

A good city is a dense and pedestrian-friendly environment, so this project aims to increase density in the center of the city and to enhance area-wide mobility by improving alternate networks of transportation. The redevelopment of I-81 in Syracuse will be a test case for infrastructural solutions to repair urban fabric and sprawl.

The problem is not the highway: it is the way we think about highways. If we accept it and make it integral, we can address some of the problems it has caused. This project accepts infrastructure not as a divider but as a seam around which the city develops.