Strategies for designing public space seek to economise and to facilitate the process by using a fictitious body constructed of medians and averages. This practice limits possibilities and constructs a narrative of who can participate and who cannot. This project questions what happens when designers look beyond simple function for a particular type of body and instead create spaces and objects that encourage new forms of behavior and take into account all types of bodily experiences in the public sphere. The Moynihan Train Hall in midtown Manhattan, NY, has been used to frame a critique of transit hubs as faceless, alienating, “in-between” spaces designed to direct, classify, and restrict the diverse people inhabiting them. The project employs craft methods to promote engagement with our own bodies and exploring alternative strategies of representation.

The project has been developed within the context of the MFA Interior Design program at Parsons School of Design.