Urban Design Week is a new public festival created to engage New Yorkers in the fascinating and complex issues of the public realm, and to celebrate the streetscapes, sidewalks, and public spaces at the heart of city life.
Urban Design Week 2011 will kick off with the launch of By the City / For the City: An Atlas of Possibility for the Future of New York, a new publication based on the results of the By the City / For the City design ideas competition. Over the following five days, a rich roster of discussions, tours, screenings, and events is scheduled to take place around the city.
"New York has such an exceptionally rich public realm, and there are so many ways for individual citizens to get involved in shaping their city," explained IfUD Executive Director Anne Guiney. "We see Urban Design Week as an opportunity to provide more people with the tools to do just that."
The Institute for Urban Design has partnered with more than 50 non-profit organizations, design firms, and city agencies to fill the festival schedule with events that cover a broad variety of urban conditions and challenges.
Thursday, 9/15: Urban Design Week Launch Party
The IfUD gathered hundreds of design challenges around NYC from its citizens through the By the City / For the City project. Over the summer, designers developed proposals that address these ideas, and now the Institute is launching the first-ever Urban Design Week with the announcement of the competition winners at the BMW Guggenheim Lab. The evening will also feature the launch of the Atlas, which will present a collective portrait of how we imagine the city's future.
6:00 pm at the BMW Guggenheim Lab, Houston St. & 2nd Ave.
Friday, 9/16: Digital Crowd-Gathering: Round-table Discussion
After grappling with the possibilities and limits presented by new digital media and networks for over a decade, today's community and governmental organizations, as well planning, design, and architecture professionals are looking for ways these digital "environments" can expand public dialogue in the civic realm. This digital media mix allows new strategies for engagement that, when integrated with traditional offline practices, can radically enhance the way we think about cities, from placemaking to building movements for community change. This round-table discussion will examine this paradigm shift, and share tested strategies and best practices.
12:30 pm - 2:00 pm, Center for Architecture, 536 La Guardia Place
Saturday, 9/17: On the Street: Public Art, Science and the Sustainable City
Join an interactive discussion about the environment and how artists - in partnership with scientists and community members - can help envision and activate efforts to create a more sustainable city of the future. Explore how public art and visual thinking can help urban designers, scientists, engineers, and city dwellers redefine their roles in building cities that respond to global and local environmental challenges. This program is part of Mary Miss Studio's Broadway: 1000 Steps project. It is free and open to the general public.
11:00 am - 2:00 pm at Montefiore Park, W. 137th Street and Broadway
Saturday, 9/17: 72 Hour Urban Action Workshops
The world's first real-time architecture festival is coming to Long Island City in fall of 2012. In preparation for the competition, 72HUA organizers are bringing together residents, professionals and city officials to imagine together what might be possible. Join the team for a day of brainstorming sessions, inclusive public planning workshops, talks and guided tours of Long Island City. After it's all over, join festival founders and participants for a party at the Flux Factory! Workshops are free and open to the public, but space is limited. Email laurel at 72hoururbanaction.com to RSVP if you are interested in participating.
Workshops - 9:30 am - 6:30 pm, MoMA PS1, 22-25 Jackson Ave. & the Chashama Space, 25-25 44th Dr., LIC, Queens
Party - 9:00 pm - Late, Flux Factory, 39-31 29th St., LIC, Queens
Sunday, 9/18: By the City / For the City QNS
As a prelude to the Opening Reception of Detroit Disassembled: Photographs by Andrew Moore, the IfUD will host presentations of the best ideas and designs generated through the By the City / For the City project that address urban challenges relevant to both New York City and Detroit. The event will take place in the museum's famous Panorama of the City of New York, and is free and open to the general public.
2:00 pm - 4:00 pm program, 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm opening reception, both at the Queens Museum of Art, Flushing, Queens
Monday, 9/19: GOOD Design New York City
Can good design improve everyday life in our cities? Join GOOD, CEOs for Cities, and the Department of Design and Construction as design teams present solutions for city problems to the government leaders who can help make them a reality. This event, hosted by the Museum at Eldridge Street in the recently-restored historic Eldridge Street Synagogue, will tackle issues raised by the public through By the City / For the City, ranging from concepts for utilizing forgotten infrastructure to ideas for improving the subway. This fast-paced, high-energy presentation is moderated by GOOD's Alissa Walker and will be followed by a reception and more conversation about the future of our city. Featuring: Deborah Gans and Linnaea Tillett; The Original Champions of Design; Marpillero Pollak Architects; Kate Orff, SCAPE; and Christopher Fahey, Behavior Design. The event is free and open to the general public.
6:00 pm - 9:00 pm at the Museum at Eldridge Street, 12 Eldridge Street
Tuesday, 9/20: US Premiere: Urbanized
Urbanized is a feature-length documentary about the design of cities, the third in a design trilogy that includes Helvetica and Objectified. The film looks at the issues and strategies behind urban design and features some of the world's foremost architects, planners, policymakers, builders, and thinkers. Join director Gary Hustwit and special guests from the film for a preview screening, with a post-film discussion to follow. Tickets, which cost $25, are available for purchase online.
6:30 pm - 8:00 pm & 8:30 pm - 10:00 pm at the Landmark Sunshine Cinema, 143 E. Houston Street