Standing on a hot, crowded subway platform during the New York City summer can make the notion of increasing the city’s density a scary prospect in the minds of its inhabitants and architects. In fact, Mimi Hoang, AIA, co-founder and principal of nARCHITECTS, the firm responsible for the winning design for New York City’s adAPT NYC micro-unit competition, admitted to being “terrified” at the concept of designing microhousing when it was first proposed to her.
Density is sometimes a contentious term – easily conflated with congestion and discomfort. However, to Vishaan Charkararti, AIA, a principal at SHoP Architects and director of the Center for Urban Real Estate at Columbia University, a smart approach to increased urban density is the only solution to the issues faced by our growing cities. This made Chakrabarti the ideal moderator for “Densify,” which was organized by the AIANY Global Dialogues Committee. Speakers discussed global trends in high-density development and how these can be applied to New York City. Continue reading “Hyping Up Density”
