Towers in the Park

In the third article in our Typecast series, Brad Fox travels to Staten Island's Todt Hill Houses and reminds us that amid debates on how design and policy can produce environments of opportunity, people are what ultimately make a place.

Sarika Bansal investigates how local traditions of advocacy, a history of community tensions, and the chronic underfunding of public housing inform residents' opposition to a controversial new development proposal at Smith Houses.

Labor journalist Ari Paul visits Electchester, a Queens housing complex constructed by a labor union of electricians, and uncovers a history that provokes urgent questions about contemporary housing challenges.

Typecast is a long-term Architectural League study into architectural typologies that begins with a closer look at five "towers-in-the-park," one in each borough of New York City.

As part of Typecast, an investigation into five "towers-in-the-park" across New York City, Amani Willett photographs Co-op City in the Bronx.

As part of Typecast, an investigation into five "towers-in-the-park" across New York City, David Lang photographs Sea Rise in Coney Island, Brooklyn.

As part of Typecast, an investigation into five "towers-in-the-park" across New York City, Ben Stechschulte photographs the Todt Hill Houses in Castleton Corners, Staten Island.

As part of Typecast, an investigation into five "towers-in-the-park" across New York City, Cameron Blaylock photographs Electchester in Pomonok, Queens.

As part of Typecast, an investigation into five "towers-in-the-park" across New York City, Anna Beeke photographs the Alfred E. Smith Houses and Vladeck Houses in Two Bridges, Manhattan.