Industrial Palimpsest: The City of Newark, NJ

Recognizing Newark’s industrial heritage and new design concepts by students

Initiated in Nina Rappaport’s classes in the School of Public Architecture, at Kean University this collaborative study documents the rich industrial heritage of Newark, New Jersey, and its industrial palimpsest: it is a record of many of the thousands of factories that are still extant as well as others that are in ruin or have been demolished.

The research along with proposed design interventions highlight Newark’s current industrial potential and ways to make industry visible. Recognizing the labor and entrepreneurship of workers past and present, from the invention of M&M’s and push pins to a center of leather and jewelry production through expansion at each World Wars, Newark’s significant past can inspire a new industrial paradigm.

Illustrated with numerous historic and contemporary images the book highlights the intensive activity in our formerly industrial cities.