New New York: Fast Forward
Revisited
by Urban Omnibus January 27th, 2009 |
In March 2007, the Architectural League presented the exhibition New New York: Fast Forward, a snapshot of the city’s current state and a projection of what it might look like in the years to come. The exhibition mapped and showed images of over six hundred building and planning projects either in design or under construction. As part of the exhibition, the League interviewed thirty New York architects about the current state and future development of New York City.
In these excerpts from those interviews, David Benjamin, Deborah Berke, Hugh Hardy, Gregg Pasquarelli, Marilyn Jordan Taylor, and Claire Weisz answer the question: “What does New York City need to do, in terms of architecture and planning, to sustain itself as a world capital?” Their responses touch on precisely the issues we hope to further here on Urban Omnibus: harnessing and encouraging the vitality, creativity, and diversity of New York; investing in our infrastructure, schools, and housing; embracing inclusivity, accessibility, and excellence; and exploring new ideas, both big and small, to ensure a productive, livable, and positive future.
Today, the overall picture of real estate and architecture looks very different than it did in 2007. But while many individual projects have stopped, lowered their occupancy projections, or otherwise adjusted to our current economic reality, the priorities for securing our urban future remain the same. And while the frenzied pace of development has abated, we must not lose the optimism necessary to turn this crisis into an opportunity to align and coordinate strategies to transform energy production and consumption, to create jobs, and to upgrade and retrofit infrastructure.
David Benjamin
The Living
Deborah Berke
Deborah Berke Architects
Hugh Hardy
H3 Hardy Collaboration Architecture
Gregg Pasquarelli
SHoP Architects
Marilyn Jordan Taylor
Dean, Penn Design; Former partner, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
Claire Weisz
Weisz + Yoes
