To design the 21st century street, we made two key observations.

1. The street is not the same at all times of the day. Traffic ebbs and flows with the circadian rhythm of the city.
2. New York City, the city of congestion has thrived despite over-crowding and difficulty of car navigation.

In order to prioritize pedestrians, we believe that role of the car, the nature of the intersection, and the relationship between car, pedestrian and bike must change.

ROAD as a gradient
We view the road as a temporally-differentiated gradient. In other words, the usage of the road and its prioritization change over time.

Cars and People can be friends
Conventional wisdom says crosswalks need to be away from cars and limited to a small strip near the intersection. We believe if the road is only one lane wide and cars stop where they are, leaving space between cars, that the cars can be viewed as docile and gentle creatures. People are free to walk amongst and about them.

The city of Congestion
Cars with GPS avoid congestion. We constrict the road at particular times of the day with vehicular barriers and all of a sudden we have a pedestrian road. Other cars avoid this intersection and it becomes a temporary pedestrian haven.

The city as a network, fluid flows and exchanges
Street intersections can contract and expand, creating a dynamic system of interchanges between vehicle and pedestrian. The constriction of the road slows down the cars, allowing pedestrians to pass more easily. Furthermore, the road area is given over almost entirely to pedestrians facilitation an easy-pass system and creating more fluid movement in the intersection.