Month: September 2016

Archtober Fast Approaches

Archtober 2016 is almost here! The Center for Architecture and 66 partner organizations will be bringing you a jam-packed month of architecture and design activities. From weekend walking tours to lectures and symposia, children’s programs, and exhibitions, Archtober has something for everyone!

We invite you all to help us kick off the festival tomorrow with the opening of “Authenticity and Innovation,” an exhibition that explores preservation and adaptive reuse in New York City. While you’re here, don’t forget to head to the Archtober lounge, this year designed by Pentagram and SOFTlab, to pick up your favorite Building of the Day postcards. Continue reading “Archtober Fast Approaches”

Architects, Pick Your Leaders!

We invite all AIA members to join us at the Center for Architecture on 10.04.16 at 6:00 pm to participate in AIA New York’s democratic process and name candidates for the 2017 Nominating Committee Ballot. At this meeting, members will have a say in who picks the next members of the Board of Directors and elected committees. Help shape AIANY’s future leadership and network with fellow architects! Bring a friend, coworker, former classmate, or ARE study buddy with you!

RSVP here.

Archtober Itinerary: David Rockwell, FAIA

David Rockwell, FAIA, Founder and President of the Rockwell Group, takes us around the city during Archtober. See more itineraries by NYC design voices here.

There’s a wealth of inspiration during Archtober, from tours of the Noguchi Museum and Louis Kahn’s Four Freedoms Park on Roosevelt Island, to a walk between the warehouses of the South Street Seaport and a boat ride under of all of Manhattan’s 18 bridges. I’m excited about artist Spencer Finch’s miniature live Redwood forest, which will grow in Brooklyn between October and next spring.  Continue reading “Archtober Itinerary: David Rockwell, FAIA”

5 Questions with Donald Albrecht

Opening this week at the Center for Architecture as the kickoff to our month-long Archtober festival, the exhibition “Authenticity and Innovation” taps into celebrated curator Donald Albrecht’s vast knowledge of cultural and architectural history. A Fellow of the American Academy in Rome, Albrecht has curated exhibitions that range from the “National Design Triennial” for the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum to “The Work of Charles and Ray Eames” for the Library of Congress and Vitra Design Museum.

For “Authenticity and Innovation” – a topic selected as the presidential theme of 2016 AIANY President Carol Loewenson, FAIA, – Albrecht zooms in on 28 pivotal adaptive reuse and preservation projects in New York City that are outside the scope of the Landmarks Preservation Commission. Here, he tells us what’s surprising about the featured structures and hints at what’s next on his curatorial horizon. (Several are profiled in the Fall issue of Oculus magazine, online here). Continue reading “5 Questions with Donald Albrecht”

Architects Advocate for Climate Change Action

Last week’s United Nations General Assembly saw more than 20 world leaders formally binding their governments to the 2015 Paris Agreement, all but ensuring that the climate accord will go into force by the end of the year. In the fight to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and earnestly address global climate change, architects are on the front lines. In the United States, the impact of our current urban design approach is the source of about 70% of GHG emissions. Continue reading “Architects Advocate for Climate Change Action”

Oculus Book Review: Recoded City: Co-creating Urban Futures

Thomas Ermacora made a Wizard of Oz-like video appearance during the October Oculus Book Talk on 09.12.16. He explained that Recoded City: Co-creating Urban Futures, the book he has co-authored with Lucy Bullivant, Ph.D., Hon. FRIBA, was intended to be a resource and compendium for activists who work in “bottom-up” participatory placemaking. The reality is that the book is much more – it is an ambitious mechanism to enable the public to change the way our cities and towns operate. Continue reading “Oculus Book Review: Recoded City: Co-creating Urban Futures”

2016 New York Architects’ Regatta Challenge: More Wind, Please

It was a splendid September day for the 15th annual Architects’ Regatta that set sail from its new mooring at Hudson River Community Sailing on Pier 66 in Hudson River Park at 26th Street. There was a slight problem: strong tides and practically no wind. The 20 lovely sailboats looked so small just bobbing around in the middle of the great Hudson River. A light breeze finally kicked up, and things got (slowly) underway – and a good time was had by (almost) all!

This year, the New York Architects’ Regatta Foundation raised $125,000+ for five river-based charities: SoundWaters; Sailing Foundation of New York; Hudson River Community Sailing; Rocking the Boat; and Riverkeeper. Continue reading “2016 New York Architects’ Regatta Challenge: More Wind, Please”