Tag: history of technology

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Civil Rights Rebellion in the Essex County Jail

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Season 13, Episode 6 of the Abandoned Engineering series for Discovery Channel, explores the old Essex County Jail in Newark, New Jersey. After seeing my research and reading my Master’s thesis project, Discovery Channel approached me about co-creating a documentary about this jail, which was streamed in July 2024, both in the U.S. and internationally in 20 languages. Based on recorded interviews with me, this documentary commemorates those incarcerated here by highlighting the building’s historical significance and broader themes of injustice.

As published by: Discovery Channel / UK Channel 4 VIEW PUBLICATION >

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Jersey City: Urban Planning in Historical Perspective

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This urban planning pamphlet was commissioned by the Jersey City Public Library as an educational tool about the city’s history from 1900 to today. The project overlays citywide maps of every building in 1873, 1919, and today – to reveal changing land use patterns. The project also includes a PDF booklet about Jersey City’s six master plans, each of which captures the spirit of the city and the governing philosophies of city planners at the time. These documents reveal the city’s evolution in response to urban challenges and broader themes in U.S. urban history.

As published by Jersey City Public Library with financial support from Hudson County government VIEW PUBLICATION >

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Reflections on my experience as PhD student, halfway through the program

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As a third-year PhD student, I thought to write this reflection on my academic journey and the challenges faced in navigating elite institutions. In the interest of helping future applicants to PhD programs navigate a process that appears opaque from the outside, I share my program experience and the text of my prelim reading list, minor, and major essays. VIEW PUBLICATION >

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Newark Changing in Maps: 1889, 1927, 1930

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This project overlays historical city-wide fire insurance and tax maps above the contemporary geography to reveal change over time. Detailed maps of building footprints from 1889, 1927, and 1930 reveal different patterns of land use, community life, and walkable streets. Find your building, your workplace, or any site in Newark – and identify who lived there a century ago with the unique tool of this interactive map. VIEW PUBLICATION >

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Eastern State Penitentiary Construction Sequence

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This time-lapse animation with audio narration uses the tools of virtual reality to reconstruct the appearance of Eastern State Penitentiary during each year of its 148 years of operation from 1823 to 1971. This reconstruction is based on original plans and primary sources about the jail’s architecture. It uses film to reveal how the building’s envelope was expanded and modified each decade in response to evolving design philosophies, public attitudes towards incarceration, and the ever-expanding size of today’s carceral state. VIEW PUBLICATION >

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The Paterson Silk Strike in Historical Perspective

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1913 to 2023 A century later, the mills of Paterson sitting abandoned, their machines silent Image source: LoC, HABS,link to left image and right image Exactly 110 years ago today – on July 28, 1913 – Paterson silk mill workers voted to end their strike. Their strike had failed. But what has changed (or not) since then frames their historical struggle in the context of ongoing labor battles. The strikers’ motivations are as relevant in 2023 as they were in 1913: the fight for a living wage, for an eight-hour day, and – ultimately – for the right to work… VIEW PUBLICATION >

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Time-lapse Animation of Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire

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Based on court transcripts, eye witness testimonies, primary sources, and historical maps, this animation reconstructs the workplace conditions and abuses that caused the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire. This fire on 25 March 1911, killed 146 garment workers and represents a turning-point moment in the history of organized labor in America. This project is the first – and only – accurate-to-the-inch virtual reality model of the entire factory floor. VIEW PUBLICATION >

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The Time Columbia Built an Artificial Moon in Low Library

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The best definition of a university is, to my mind, a city from which the universe can be surveyed. It is the universe compressed into a city the size of Morningside Heights. Low Library, built in the 1890s at Columbia University, symbolizes the ambition to encompass knowledge in a single space, merging classical aesthetics with technological advancements. While the library served as a center of learning, its eventual obsolescence and partial abandonment reflects Columbia’s own evolution as an institution now more embracing of different viewpoints.

Read essay published in Columbia College today alumni magazine. VIEW PUBLICATION >

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Cathedral of Beauvais: Sublime Visions; Thwarted Ambitions; A Sketch

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Created with Stephen Murray and published by Columbia University’s Department of Art History & Archaeology for use in Core Curriculum classes. Beauvais Cathedral, the tallest Gothic cathedral in France, began construction in 1225 but was never completed due to major collapses in 1284 and 1573. This animation chronicles its ambitious yet troubled history, showcasing its design intricacies and centuries-long phases of construction. The animation process ultimately highlights the challenges of architectural construction during medieval times.

As published by Columbia University Core Curriculum program VIEW PUBLICATION >

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Lorch Column at the University of Michigan

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The Lorch Column, a significant architectural salvage from the demolished Mutual Benefit Life Insurance building in Newark, NJ, symbolizes the intersection of history and capitalism. Originally designed to represent strength and wealth, the column was demolished just twenty years later. The column’s migration from Newark to Taubman College the University of Michigan reflects the cyclical nature of architectural life and death, capitalism and creation. In this essay, I interrogate what architecture reveals about time, place, and the culture of capitalism.

As published by the University of Michigan’s College of Architecture & Urban Planning VIEW PUBLICATION >

Historical Reconstruction of Ford Model T Assembly Line

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Based on extensive archival documents, this historically-accurate film showcases the assembly of the 1915 Model T Runabout at Ford’s Highland Park factory. This projects represents the first complete visual and cartographic documentation of this manufacturing process from 1908 to 1927. It highlights Ford’s innovative yet evolving assembly line techniques, which revolutionized car production, contrasting with previous methods. VIEW PUBLICATION >

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The Detroit Evolution Animation

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Old maps were layered and animated to reveal the scale of Detroit’s transformation from French colonial trading post, to 19th-century boom, to 20th-century decline. Cartography highlights how political policies, technological changes, and the Great Migration accelerated racial segregation and the decline of mass transit. Detroit reflects broader trends seen in American cities.

Project developed with historian Robert Fishman for an exhibit and lecture, funded by Egalitarian Metropolis grant from Mellon Foundation. VIEW PUBLICATION >

A Drop of Water

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This essay is a brief history and analysis of Newark’s water supply system, based on my experience of walking along the aqueduct from forest origins to urban destination. The journey of Newark’s water supply illustrates the connection between diverse communities in New Jersey, highlighting how the rural, suburban, and urban areas are interlinked. Despite their physical separation, the health and well-being of Newark residents depend on clean water sourced from distant, often affluent regions, revealing societal inequalities in access and environmental safety. VIEW PUBLICATION >

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Notre-Dame of Paris Construction Sequence

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The project was created with historian Stephen Murray and syndicated by the French state, LeMonde newspaper, as well as the official website and social media channels of Notre-Dame. This time-lapse construction sequence follows the cathedral’s gradual evolution from c.1060 to the present, highlighting repeated fires, disasters, and renovation campaigns. Based on detailed site plans and peer-review from experts, the film combines handmade aesthetics with digital precision. Visitors can also explore my VR cathedral model and my video tutorials for creating similar models.

As published by Columbia University, Le Monde, and website of Notre-Dame VIEW PUBLICATION >

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St. Paul’s Cathedral Dome: a synthesis of engineering and art

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This time-lapse construction sequence in film and historical essay analyzes how architect Christopher Wren synthesized engineering and art to create this cathedral. The essay analyzes St. Paul’s Cathedral, highlighting its architectural significance through the lens of Eugène-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc’s thesis-antithesis-synthesis framework. St. Paul’s is a blend of advanced engineering and artistic expression reflective of Enlightenment thought, showcasing innovation in design and construction while mirroring cultural shifts in London at the time. VIEW PUBLICATION >

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Architecture of Redemption?

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My master’s of architecture thesis at the University of Cambridge. This research explores the contradictions of solitary confinement at Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia. This prison experimented with prolonged solitary confinement in the 1830s to inspire the redemption of inmates. By analyzing Jeremy Bentham’s plans for the ideal panopticon prison, architect John Haviland’s designs for this specific prison, and visitor accounts of prison’s daily operations, my thesis examines the builders’ philosophical assumptions about utopia, architecture, and human nature. VIEW PUBLICATION >

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New York City Water Supply: animated history

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This film uses time-lapse cartography from the 19th-century to the present to highlight the city’s ongoing struggle for clean water amidst growing urban challenges. New York City supplies unfiltered drinking water to nine million people, sourcing it from 2,000 square miles in Upstate New York through extensive aqueducts. This vital infrastructure, while integral to the city, remains largely unnoticed and buried just beneath our feet. VIEW PUBLICATION >

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What’s wrong with Jeremy Bentham’s Panopticon?

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This lecture given at the Department of Architecture at the University of Cambridge discusses Jeremy Bentham’s panopticon as a symbol of surveillance. I interpret this structure through Michel Foucault’s postmodernist theories. As visual evidence, I use a virtual reality computer model of the panopticon to reveal the structure’s flaws and misinterpretations. The panopticon remains relevant today as continuing inspiration for hundreds of prisons around the world, foremost among them the Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia.
Listen to recording of presentation at the University of Cambridge in England. VIEW PUBLICATION >

Virtual Reality Computer Model of Jeremy Bentham’s Panopticon

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My master’s thesis project at the University of Cambridge explores the architecture and power dynamics of Jeremy Bentham’s panopticon. Based on exceptionally detailed and accurate-to-the-inch measurements given in Bentham’s 18th-century letters and drawings, this project reconstructs his panopticon in virtual reality. Despite his claims of total oversight, design flaws undermine effective surveillance. The project highlights how Bentham’s vision anticipates future technologies that only now – three centuries later – fully realize his original ambitions of total control.

As published by literary magazine Aeon: A World of Ideas VIEW PUBLICATION >

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The Panopticon: a problem of definition

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The panopticon is a conceptual proposal for a building developed by philosopher Jeremy Bentham in the 1790s. The panopticon claims to be an architectural model of surveillance for institutions that include prisons, hospitals, workhouses, factories, and schools. While Bentham envisioned it as an all-seeing design, practical implementations, such as the Eastern State Penitentiary, reveal significant design flaws that hinder its efficacy. Modern interpretations, in turn, link the panopticon to contemporary surveillance and the operations of the internet. VIEW PUBLICATION >

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California Waterscape: time-lapse history of water supply

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This time-lapse film visualizes the evolution of this state’s water delivery infrastructure from 1913 to 2019 through geo-referenced data on aqueducts, reservoir capacities, and land use. The animated film showcases population growth, urbanization, and agricultural demands, presenting cartographic snapshots that reflect the state’s increasing water needs over the decades. VIEW PUBLICATION >

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Manufacturing the Picturesque at Central Park

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Central Park, designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux in the 1850s, represents the tension between natural and manmade landscapes. Intended to offer an escape from urban life, its construction required extensive engineering and planning while masking the degree to which its landscape was artificial. The park’s design reflects real estate interests, infrastructure needs, and the divisions of social class in 19th-century New York. VIEW PUBLICATION >

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Here Grows New York City

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Here Grows New York is an American urban planning film directed by Myles Zhang and advised by urban historians Kenneth T. Jackson and Gergely Baics. The data visualization uses time-lapse cartography to follow the history of New York City’s infrastructure and street system development from 1609 to the present day. The video quickly went viral, gaining over five million views. The film is used in dozens of architecture and urban planning classes about the history of the urban form. VIEW PUBLICATION >

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The Origins of Gothic at the Church of Saint-Denis

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This undergraduate thesis, mentored by architectural historian Stephen Murray, explores the origins of Gothic architecture in the 12th-century church of Saint-Denis near Paris. The claim that Saint-Denis was one of the first Gothic churches reveals a tendency to tell history – particularly architectural history – in terms of individual structures. In fact, the origins of the Gothic style are more complex and nuanced. Abandoning a Paris- and Saint-Denis-centric origins story reveals the range of local sources from which medieval masons drew inspiration to create the Gothic style. VIEW PUBLICATION >

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Eiffel Tower Construction Sequence

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The Eiffel Tower was built over 18 months – from August 1887 to March 1889. This time-lapse film, based on Gustave Eiffel’s hundreds of archived plans, follows the tower’s construction sequence, from foundations to cupola. Publication highlighted by Open Culture as among “the best cultural and educational media on the web.” VIEW PUBLICATION >

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Burford Church Construction Sequence: 1175-1475

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This time-lapse film about an English parish church visualizes the structure’s construction, gradual demolition, and expansion from 1175 to 1475. Created with Dr. Cathy Oakes while I was an undergraduate studying art history at the University of Oxford. VIEW PUBLICATION >

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Amiens Cathedral Construction Sequences

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Amiens Cathedral is a key subject in the Art Humanities Core Curriculum class that is required of all undergraduates at Columbia University. This research project is now used in the classroom instruction of 1,400 Columbia undergrads each year. This project created with Stephen Murray uses computer models and films to visualize the centuries-long time-lapse construction sequence of Amiens Cathedral. This research highlights the cathedral’s role in medieval society: as symbol of civic identity, as economic engine, and as nation-building tool for the future French state.

As published by Columbia University Core Curriculum program. Visit: projects.mcah.columbia.edu/amiens-arthum VIEW PUBLICATION >

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The Urban Development of Newark: 1660-2016

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As Newark celebrated the 350th anniversary of its 1666 founding, I created this series of time-lapse drawings based on historical images and maps. As Newark develops from a small town to a bustling and industrial metropolis, the sounds of my animation shift from quiet woodlands to the din of the vibrant city with rising skyscrapers. This two-minute film aims to represent history as a living, fluid process. VIEW PUBLICATION >

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The Legacy of Vitruvius

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Essay selected from successful 2014 application to the Telluride Association Summer Program at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

In this essay, I reflect on the Roman architect Vitruvius and ask: Rome left a footprint on the built environment. What will our society leave? VIEW PUBLICATION >