Structures of NYC and Its Cultural Philharmonic

Jolene Chan, Kavian Williams, Veronica Zheng

The cover zine depicts the entrance of Prospect Park as vibrant and colorful with banners going around the entrance. This is intended to make the space feel welcoming for all people, despite their culture and background, to use and explore. Alongside that, when people would come, we wanted to make them aware of the history behind the land that they’re on, so we included two phrases on the engraving of the top of this monumental gate. The first is Munsee Lenape, which is the name of the Native American tribe that occupied the land that Prospect Park is now on. And the second is Wutohtimion, a word in Algonquian language (the language that the tribe uses) and it means “those that live on this land”. By including the two phrases, it’s a way to acknowledge and show respect for the Native land we all use today and to raise awareness of Native history that is often suppressed or forgotten. When making the zine, we thought it was important to incorporate the Algonquian language since it is one of the Native languages that is almost extinct as fewer people use them today. It was a way to preserve and pay tribute to a piece of their culture as other cultures simultaneously blend and dwell on the land.

For the second cover zine, we chose to depict a myriad of musical and architectural elements. To highlight architectural achievements and celebrated landmarks, the Empire State Building and the One World Trade Center were drawn on opposite corners of the cover. Both structures have made prominent features and appearances in pop-culture songs like the Empire State of Mind. To further demonstrate the diversity in sound and music of NYC, instruments from various cultures are depicted all over the cover. From Djembe drums to banjos, we aim to unify different genres within cultural music under the umbrella of NYC sound.

The hustle and bustle of the city creates the ambience and white noise we are all accustomed to.