CREATIVE ADVENTURES - 30

Imagine You Own A Historical Building At The Heart of Manhattan

What will you do with it?

In this exercise, you will imagine that you own a historical building at the heart of Manhattan, New York. Please respond to the following questions:

1. Create a story of why you came to own this building. This building is understandably very expensive. How come you came to own it? Create your story.
2. Where exactly is this building? Which neighborhood is this? What is the history of the building? Does this building have a name? How many floors does it have? Describe the physical properties of the building.
3. Think of 25 different uses for this building, including crazy, fun, and foolish uses.
4. Think of seven different ways to make this building a famous tourist landmark in the world. Which scenario is the most promising one? Choose that one and write down the story of how this building became a worldwide attraction.
5. Imagine that your building has five floors. You want to allocate each floor to a different function or organization. Think of five different scenarios and goals. Create a story for each.
6. Imagine that your goal is to maximize your wealth. How would you use this building and allocate its five floors to maximize your wealth?
7. Imagine that your goal is to maximize individual creativity and contribute to the arts scene in Manhattan. How would you use this building and allocate its five floors?
8. Imagine that your goal is to maximize job creation and contribute to youth employment in Manhattan. How would you use this building and allocate its five floors?
9. Imagine that your goal is to combat climate change and global warming. You want to contribute to sustainability and climate action at the global level. How would you use this building and allocate its five floors?
10. Imagine that your goal is to maximize individual creativity and contribute to the arts scene in Manhattan. How would you use this building and allocate its five floors?
11. Imagine that your goal is to create your own long-term legacy at the global level. You will create your own institutions in the areas that you care about. How would you use this building and allocate its five floors?
12. Imagine that you can collaborate with anyone in the world towards your noble and idealist goals. Whom would you invite to this building? What are some of the projects you would create with them? Why?
13. Create a thriller or mystery story that takes place in this building. Who are the heroes? Who are the antagonists? What happens here?
14. Create a Netflix show that takes place in this building. It can be a reality show, a film, a TV series, a documentary, a quiz show, a fashion show, a cooking show, a history show, or anything else. What is the title of this show? Who is the target audience? Develop your ideas and the format for this program.
15. You will turn this building into a world-famous niche museum. How would you do this? Choose a niche that you are passionate about. Create ideas and strategies for curation, marketing, tourism, cultural contribution, etc.
16. Imagine that you can use this building as a time machine capsule. You can go back in time or go forward to the future. Which year or time would you travel to? Create a story of what happens next.

Fahri Karakas is the author of the Self-making Studio. You can explore more here.