About

Urban Layers is an interactive map created by Morphocode that explores the structure of Manhattan's urban fabric.

The map lets you navigate through historical fragments of the borough that have been preserved and are currently embedded in its densely built environment. The rigid archipelago of building blocks has been mapped as a succession of structural episodes starting from 1765.

The Growth of Manhattan

The 1811 New York City Commissioners’ Plan for Manhattan fixed an orthogonal matrix of 2,028 blocks — The Manhattan Grid. The Plan provided room for a sevenfold expansion of Manhattan's built-up area at the time and that expansion did occur between 1810 and 1900.

By the end of the 19th century most of Manhattan was already built up, while its population grew almost twentyfold. What remains of that period in terms of built environment is one of the principal sources of the island’s sense of human scale.