New York: Pseudocosm  
by Mitchell Pride
MArch II Studio Project
Instructors:
John Zissovici and Yanni A. Loukissas
Cornell Department of Architecture
 
 

The pseudoguide from Queens use New York City as a playground for playing pranks on unsuspeciting mid-western freeloaders. Taking advantage of the freeloaders' unfamiliarity with New York, the pseudoguide forms an image of the city for freeloaders based on fake landmarks--places, buildings, etc., that could be mistaken for the real landmarks of NYC. Two sets of places matter for the pseudoguide, the fake landmarks in Queens and the real landmarks in Manhattan. The image of the city for the pseudoguide is a network of nodes (fake landmarks), the edges between the nodes, and the paths of the fake tours as well as the real landmarks themselves. These are the new elements of the city for the pseudoguide. The composition of these elements allows the freeloaders to see cross-sections of the city, a different pseudcosm within each tour.