Quotable: City Planning Commissioner Amanda Burden

Making open spaces in streets, parks and public plazas “is the essence of city life and the measure of its success. They’re important mixing chambers of all social classes.”

via New York Times: http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/19/city-planning-commissioner-to-create-prize-for-public-spaces/

Bringing Uptown Downtown

Join the Design Trust for Public Space at the Center for Architecture for an opening reception of Intersections: Grand Concourse Beyond 100 tonight from 6-8 PM.

Section and rendering from The Grand Resource proposal

Created as a companion exhibit to the works currently on display at the Bronx Museum of the Arts (see Nicolai Ouroussoff's recent Times article), the Center for Architecture exhibit will feature the works of 12 teams (listed below) organized in four thematic categories: Insertions, Micro-urbanism, Greening and Preservation.

• A Concourse of People - Mingshu Chi, Alex Thibadoux
• CURB Play! - Jill Leckner, Jeffrey Johnson, Magda Wala, Aimee Duquette, Jessica Dobkin (SLAB Architecture)
• Inner Space - Jason Kentner, Karen Lewis (influx studio)
• Percussive Lampposts - Mike Glaser (Spank Design)
• POWERline - Luc Vrolijks and Lee Altman (Urban Progress Design), Javier Rojas-Rodriguez (Vestibule Projects)
• Reflecting the Urban Spectrum - Ricardo Zurita, Til Globig, Guglielmo Carra, Enrico Tognoni, Scott Kunstadt, Jordi Safont-Tira (Zurita Architects)
• Servicing the Public - Dylan Sauer, Moises Berrun, Quang Truong
• The Four Mile Farm - Kees Lokman (Terry Guen Design Associates)
• The State of the Bronx - Richard Garey
• Grandmaster Flash Parkway - Andrew Torres, Nancy Nowacek, Leah Davis (The Austin Annex)
• The City of Butterfly - Charles Chiang, Daehwan Chung, I-Chun Tsai

What: Opening Reception
Date: November 10, 2009
Time: 6-8 PM
Location: Center for Architecture, 536 LaGuardia Place, Manhattan
Transit: A, B, C, D, E, F, V to West 4th

Excitement in the Bronx!

The excitement is growing about our "Grand Concourse at 100--Future" exhibition at The Bronx Museum of the Arts, which officially opens to the public on Sunday, November 1st. The exhibition features models, renderings, animations, plans, videos and interactive multi-media presentations created by the 7 competition finalists exclusively for The Bronx Museum.

Here are a few behind-the-scenes shots of the exhibit as it is being installed. Tonight the competition jury is meeting to choose the grand-prize winner, so stay tuned! 

In the meantime, you can  read more about this project or visit the competition website to see the online gallery of the top submissions. 

NEST: Creative Constructions for Any Living Creature

For the 2009 Annual Benefit we commissioned our favorite creatives to craft one-of-a-kind "nests" - objects that could shelter any living creature (and fit into the back of a NYC cab). Here is a sneak preview of some of "shelters" we will auction off at the Benefit on November 5th!

Maira Kalman & Isaac Mizrahi
Jonathan Adler & Simon Doonan
Ali Tayar
Additional photos are available on our Flickr page.

Artists, architects and designers contributing "nests" include:
Jonathan Adler & Simon Doonan; Cao | Perrot Studio; Christo & Jeanne-Claude; David Ling Architect; Stephen Doyle; Eve Ashcraft Studio; Gensler; Kara Hamilton; Hariri & Hariri Architecture; Harry Allen Design; Amy Helfand; Malcolm Hill & Shamir Shah; Maira Kalman & Isaac Mizrahi; Ken Smith Landscape Architect; Lewis.Tsurumaki.Lewis Architects; Ogilvy New York; Michele Oka Doner; Piet Oudolf; David Rockwell; Slade Architecture; Courtney Smith & Ivan Navarro; Kiki Smith; Sylvia Smith & Nick Garrison, FXFOWLE; Snohetta; SPaN; Specht Harpman - Austin; Specht Harpman - New York; STUDIOS Architecture; Yeohlee Teng & Joerg Schwartz; Ali Tayar, Suzanne Tick, Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects, Marcus Tremonto, Tsao & McKown; Ulla Warchol; Andrea Woodner; WXY Architecture; and Amy Yoes

The Fun Theory

Here's one way to make public space fun and engaging, and also encourage people to use the stairs instead of the escalator -- turn the stairs into keys of a working piano. Go Sweden go! We think this is brilliant - thanks to our board member, Hugo Barreca, for sharing it with us!

On Location: Public Space Potluck Contest

If you're reading this blog, you're probably familiar with our Public Space Potluck series. Perhaps you've even trammed to Roosevelt Island, sailed the Staten Island Ferry or strolled along the Grand Concourse with us.

Now it's your turn.

The Design Trust is launching a contest to solicit YOUR ideas for future Public Space Potluck locations. Eligible Public Space Potluck locations include streets, plazas, parks, public buildings (or public space in privately-owned buildings), bridges, and public transit -- sorry, no restaurants, bars or residences. Proposed sites must be located within New York City, accessible via public transit and able to easily accommodate 30+ people.

One lucky winner will receive two tickets to our Nov. 5 Annual Benefit and enjoy a night of cocktails, hors d'ouevres and mingling with New York's top architects, artists and designers. (Sound fun? $75 tickets are also available online.)

Please e-mail entries to Kristin at klabuz@designtrust.org (subject line: Public Space Potluck Contest) by Friday, October 23. Design Trust staff will select a contest winner on Monday, October 26.

Go channel your inner William Whyte - and good luck!

Call for Fellows: Made in Midtown

Design Trust seeks three Project Fellows (Journalist, Filmmaker and Urban Designer/Planner) for Made in Midtown, a study of New York's fashion industry and the Garment District, created in partnership with the Council of Fashion Designers of America.


Phase I of this project will culminate in an interactive website and booklet which will illustrate the complex and interdependent connections between the physical spaces of Midtown, its businesses and its workers. The anticipated timeframe for Phase I is three months, beginning December 1.

Complete fellowship descriptions can be found here. The deadline to apply is Friday, October 30 by 5 PM. Questions? fellows@designtrust.org