Fixing a New York City Eyesore: Redesigning the Sidewalk Shed

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As human beings, we often accept “the way things are” without questioning the reasons underlying the status quo. This is true in New York, where anyone who has walked its streets has inevitably walked under reams of scaffolding without asking why this otherwise beautiful city blithely accepts the presence of such ugliness. These eyesores cover more than 200 miles of sidewalks around the five boroughs. Scaffolding, or sidewalk sheds as they’re colloquially referred to, are known for their dreariness and residents either block them from memory entirely (aka habituation) or complain about them… a lot.

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