Downtown Alliance
Telephone Booth

Designed for Cooper Robertson’s revisions of the street furniture in lower Manhattan, the telephone booth is essentially legalized street advertising. When even the poorest citizens have mobile phones, the telephone book is an anachronistic bit of nostalgia. So why not create a place to stand out of the rain, or sun, for a moment? Or possibly a wifi hotspot? Or a smoking booth?

Whatever the use, the bizarre economics are that the advertising is worth so much that these booths as a source of income the city can’t pass up. Our proposal includes a glass roof and posters both parallel and perpendicular to the curb. Not really enclosed but shielded from the wind and weather, these simple little “umbrellas” would give a temporary respite from life’s inconveniences.