Architectural Record has devoted its September issue, entitled “The Death and Life of a Great American City,” to New York’s transformation over the past decade. A significant portion of the issue is dedicated to rebuilding efforts after 9/11, including a piece by the Architectural League’s exhibitions and digital programs director Gregory Wessner, which chronicles the tortuous history of the World Trade Center site’s redevelopment in the face of a massive building boom across the city. Wessner’s piece is based on the exhibition he curated in 2010, The City We Imagined / The City We Made, which juxtaposes a decade of ambitious proposals with the actual changes made to New York’s urban fabric since 2001. Some of those specific architectural contributions to our built environment are examined in the rest of this month’s issue of Architectural Record, including Gehry Partners’ 8 Spruce Street, Selldorf Architects’ 200 Eleventh Avenue, James Corner Field Operations’ FreshKills Park, and Grimshaw & Dattner Architects’ Via Verde. One of the things that underlies so many transformations, of course, is a new generation of decision-makers with hands in both design and the municipal oversight of urban change. So, in order both to reflect on a decade of redevelopment and to speculate on what it means for New York going forward, Architectural Record and the League have partnered to present a panel discussion next Tuesday, September 13th, that brings five influential designers into conversation about the future city.
New York Next: The Future City
Betty Chen, Guy Nordenson, Richard Olcott, Rob Rogers, and Claire Weisz
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
6:30 p.m.
McGraw-Hill
1221 Avenue of the Americas, 50th Floor
1.5 CEUs
Over the last decade a new generation of architects and engineers has helped guide New York City’s development, through significant public projects produced by their practices and through work with public commissions and agencies. Five of these influential designers—Betty Chen, Guy Nordenson, Richard Olcott, Rob Rogers, and Claire Weisz – will discuss the city’s trajectory since 2001 and look at the issues, and neighborhoods, that will demand attention in the coming years.
Architect Betty Chen is a member of the New York City Planning Commission and was until recently the Vice-President for Planning, Design and Preservation for the Trust for Governors Island.
Guy Nordenson is a partner of Guy Nordenson and Associates Structural Engineers and professor at Princeton, and has served as Commissioner and Secretary of the New York City Public Design Commission since 2006.
Richard Olcott is a founding partner and design principal at Ennead Architects, and a member of the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission from 1996 to 2007.
Rob Rogers is a principal of Rogers Marvel Architects; recent New York projects include security and streetscape design for Manhattan’s financial district and flood mitigation strategies and street furniture for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
Recent projects of Claire Weisz’s firm, WXY Architecture + Urban Design, include the Zipper bench system in Peter Minuit Plaza and public realm plans for Astor Place and Canal Street.
New York Next: The Future City is held in conjunction with the publication of the September Architectural Record, a special issue devoted to New York in the decade since 9/11, when a new focus on superior architecture and urban design helped fuel the revitalization of the city. New York Next: The Future City is co-sponsored by the Architectural League of New York and Architectural Record. Support for the program has been provided by Trespa.
Tickets are required for admission to League programs. Tickets are free for League members; $15 for non-members. To reserve a ticket e-mail: rsvp@archleague.org. Tickets will be held at the check-in desk; unclaimed tickets will be released fifteen minutes after the start of the program.
League programs are made possible, in part, by public funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts, a State Agency; and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council.
Photo: Courtesy of Architectural Record
