Imagining Construction's Future

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“I’m Frank, your project manager. Welcome to our design center,” Frank Gomez said as he shook Ali Haddad’s hand warmly. A charismatic man in his 40s, Frank was a founder of the engineering firm in charge of the design, construction and operation of Amadeus Towers, the future home of Sapientia Financial.

"Sorry to wake you."

Sam groggily opened his eyes. "What is it, No. 1?"

He smelled the rank odors of oil and aging garbage as he laid facedown in the dark. His ear was pressed against the floor, and he no longer heard the constant hum of the tunnels exhaust systems, which meant he was no longer in Level F3.

We were rising now, slowly, through the Central Lift Building. The WinSteel walls of the elevator gave a bizarre voyeur's view of the guts of the structure. Layers of steel beams sandwiched themselves between wood-paneled lobbies and art-deco hallways.

So here I am waiting to get started on a senior center I’m building. Eight stories, 300 units, right in the middle of lower Manhattan, it would give the people what they wanted—safe, walkable neighborhoods, a cool-looking façade and techno-supported microapartments meeting their every need.

The ironworkers eagerly awaited the start of their shift. It was six-thirty in the morning, and crew was sitting in the parking lot.

I remember my great-grandfather, a retired ironworker from local 40, telling me it all started happening about 120 years ago, back in the summer of 2013, when he was in his early 20s. He said the world leaders had been discussing global warming for a number of years, maybe as early as the 1970s.

Slick as Vaseline, we grabbed its feet and flipped it off.

Roger wore his tool belt like a gunslinger, about as low around his hips as it could go without sliding down his legs into the dirt.

“12 minutes and 48 seconds to lunch. [Image of Lunch Items] Total calories: 428. Today’s bonus for arriving on time: [Image of chocolate ice cream] 35 calories”

George’s workroom walls flashed.